SKANEATELES - As budget season rapidly approaches, the Skaneateles Central School District will be looking at options to expand its special education department.
In a presentation given Monday by John Salatte, director of pupil personnel and special services, to the board of education, Salatte explained the need to make an existing part-time speech therapist full-time for the next school year, hire another part-time therapist, or hire a full-time therapist in addition to the part-time employee.
Currently, the district provides speech impaired and speech improvement services to its students. Speech impaired is a service that is designed for students that are classified with special needs. Therapists work one-on-one with such students.
Speech improvement is embedded in academic intervention services for students that are not classified with special needs but could benefit from additional instruction.
While speech improvement is not required under the state Education Department guidelines, Salatte said that providing students that instruction time is important to their development and could reduce the need for further interventions later on in their education.
Because speech impaired is a one-on-one service, students that need speech improvement are not receiving as much time to work on instruction, Salatte said.
He proposed three options: one in which there was no staffing change; make an existing part-time therapist full-time with a financial impact of $24,764 or, if the part-time employee was unwilling to become full-time, hire another part-time therapist at $40,764; or hire a full-time therapist in addition to the part-time therapist with a financial impact of $66,802.
The board will deliberate these options as budget season approaches; the official season begins next month
“I think as a district we'd be foolish to discount the speech improvement,” said board member Michael Card.
District Superintendent Philip D'Angelo agreed with Card.
“You keep looking at the costs, but you pay now or you pay later,” D'Angelo said.
In other news:
• Skaneateles High School was named by U.S. News and World Report as a Silver Metal School, which represents the top 3 percent of all high schools in the United States, D'Angelo said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239
Currently, the district provides speech impaired and speech improvement services to its students. Speech impaired is a service that is designed for students that are classified with special needs. Therapists work one-on-one with such students.
Speech improvement is embedded in academic intervention services for students that are not classified with special needs but could benefit from additional instruction.
While speech improvement is not required under the state Education Department guidelines, Salatte said that providing students that instruction time is important to their development and could reduce the need for further interventions later on in their education.
Because speech impaired is a one-on-one service, students that need speech improvement are not receiving as much time to work on instruction, Salatte said.
He proposed three options: one in which there was no staffing change; make an existing part-time therapist full-time with a financial impact of $24,764 or, if the part-time employee was unwilling to become full-time, hire another part-time therapist at $40,764; or hire a full-time therapist in addition to the part-time therapist with a financial impact of $66,802.
The board will deliberate these options as budget season approaches; the official season begins next month
“I think as a district we'd be foolish to discount the speech improvement,” said board member Michael Card.
District Superintendent Philip D'Angelo agreed with Card.
“You keep looking at the costs, but you pay now or you pay later,” D'Angelo said.
In other news:
• Skaneateles High School was named by U.S. News and World Report as a Silver Metal School, which represents the top 3 percent of all high schools in the United States, D'Angelo said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239
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