East Rockaway to add 8:1:3 class, expand in‑house special‑education services

Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Vincent Healy and Kenneth Robert Kennedy told the board April 21 that the district has seen rising identification of students needing IEP services and is expanding in‑district capacity to reduce reliance on out‑of‑district placements.

Healy said the district will open another 8:1:3 self‑contained class at Center Avenue next school year to serve an incoming cohort of students with intensive needs. To improve continuity, the district has brought occupational therapy in‑house (a full‑time OT hired two years ago and a part‑time OT added last year), and it has hired or retained behavior‑consultant staff (BCBA) to reduce the turnover and missed services that sometimes occur under agency contracts.

Kennedy and Healy said bringing those services inside the district has reduced compensatory‑service obligations and produced more stable programming. Healy noted a $38,000 reduction in the consultant OT budget code due to the in‑house hire and said BOCES tuition lines increased because of placements out of district, though the district plans to bring two students back from BOCES programs for next year.

Healy also described staffing changes: adding an additional special‑education teacher at the high school to keep ICT sections serviceable and discussing how to balance student placements between RAIM and Center Avenue while minimizing disruption to children.

What this means: expanding in‑district capacity aims to keep students closer to their home school and lower transportation and placement costs, though out‑of‑district placements and BOCES tuition remain fluid and can change midyear depending on student needs.