Bentonville board approves adding teachers for special programs

BENTONVILLE -- Superintendent Debbie Jones plans to provide junior high school students with an option to continue their education during an expulsion.

Elementary schools also need an option for children needing intensive intervention for severe aggressive behaviors, she said.

Staffing approved

• Two English-as-a-second language teacher positions

• Two special education teacher positions

• One teacher and two aides for a new alternative learning program for junior high students

• One teacher and two aides for one of elementary behavior intervention classrooms opening next school year

• One teacher for Benton County Juvenile Detention Center program

Source: Bentonville School District

School Board members on Monday approved adding staff for programs in the 2017-18 school year targeted at students needing services for learning English, for special education, discipline and behavior.

The positions for student support programs are projected to total nearly $573,000, though state and federal money for some positions will reduce the impact to the district operating budget to about $321,600, according to information from the district.

The board approved adding two English-as-a-second-language teachers and two special education teachers for West High School. They also approved adding a teacher and two aides for a new junior high school alternative education program, a teacher and two aides for elementary behavior intervention classrooms and one teacher for the district-run education program at the Benton County Juvenile Detention Center.

When high school students are expelled from their home campuses, they can continue their education through the Regional Educational Alternative Program in Rogers, Jones said. That program is limited to freshmen through seniors and isn't available for younger students.

"We've had several junior high expulsions come before the board this year," Jones told the board on Monday. "We have no place to send them."

The new alternative program for seventh- and eighth-graders will be designed with small classes, a mix of direct and online instruction and a reward system that is meant to teach them discipline, Jones said. The option allows them to stay on track for graduation.

"It's really sad sometimes when they make mistakes as junior high kids sometimes do," Jones said. "They lose a year."

The district has seen successes in the alternative learning environments available for elementary and high school students, but the district does not have options for middle and junior high students, said Dena Ross, the district's chief operating officer. The junior high level was a higher priority for the 2017-18 school year. The district has not selected a location for the program.

Ross plans to return next spring to request staffing for a middle school alternative program, she said.

Board member Brent Leas asked district staff to improve communication about alternative learning programs.

The district also has seen an increase in the number of elementary children with significant behavior needs, Ross said. The district this school year also has received a dozen worker's compensation claims for because of injuries that have occurred when school staff have interacted with these children, according to district information.

The district had behavior classrooms for special education students, but discontinued those this school year, said Tanya Sharp, executive director of student services. Some students with behavior needs have high intelligence, and a self-contained special education classrooms wasn't an appropriate placement for them, she said.

The district plans to create two elementary behavior intervention classrooms that would have about six students with one teacher and two aides, Jones said.

Students would be referred for intensive intervention, Sharp said. A functional behavioral assessment will help to identify unwanted behaviors. A plan of interventions will tackle the most significant issues first.

The instructors will provide intensive support to help the children transition back into the regular classroom, Sharp said.

NW News on 05/16/2017

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