Mon, 04/10/2017 - 11:45am

SUSAN JOHNS

Wiscasset School Department is the lead department on a proposed regional project for special education students who need behavioral support, according to an email Monday from the Maine Department of Education. The email lists Boothbay Harbor-based Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98, Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12, Bath-based Regional School Unit 1, Damariscotta-based AOS 93 and Bath Regional Career and Technical Center as the others involved.

Contracts are the next stage in the work that would be funded with about $500,000 in state grant money, MDOE Communications Director Rachel Paling said in a phone interview Monday morning. “This is just the very beginning” of the process toward a project, Paling explained.

Responding to an email request for comment, SVRSU 12 Superintendent Howard Tuttle wrote: “This grant is an exciting opportunity. Establishing a collaborative regional special education program for 6-12 students who need a special placement will allow RSU 12 and its partner districts to have more input into the education of these students as well as help districts find efficiencies throughout the region for these types of specialized services.”

Responding to questions Monday, Wiscasset Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot, said the department applied to MDOE’s Educational Efficiencies and Opportunities Grant aimed at helping departments improve how they provide programming for students in more cost-effective, efficient ways through partnerships.

The proposal centered on partnering with the area departments to develop a regionalized program to better support sixth through twelfth-graders with disabilities; it was among 21 applications submitted and the seven provisionally accepted, Wilmot wrote in an email. The department got a letter April 4 from the education commissioner stating the application got one of the highest rankings, she added

“Once the program is up and running, we would likely be the host,” Wilmot wrote. The program could eventually add to the Wiscasset department’s revenue, but not the first year because the grant would cover costs, she wrote. “The application is for grades 6-12, but the program would start small, supporting older students first,” she added.

“The school departments who are looking to partner together would benefit from this work by decreasing costs associated with students who received their education in out-of-district placements,” Wilmot continued. The partnership would be similar to the one Wiscasset, AOS 98, AOS 93 and RSU 12 already have for vocational programming with RSU 1, she added.

Superintendents met Monday morning to outline next steps, including a followup meeting with special education directors and MDOE, according to Wilmot.

Paling’s email earlier Monday describes the project as a collaboration on better services for students. The email quotes Maine Commissioner of Education Robert G. Hasson, Jr. as saying, “We were particularly impressed with the Sheepscot Regional Education Program because this initiative directly benefits a population of students who are in great need of support. The research-based intervention will be an important opportunity for students in the mid-coast region to get a second chance at a successful educational experience closer to home.”

According to Paling’s email, the partnership will save on costs in staff, infrastructure and administrative and financial oversight. “The project will provide a single site for special education services for students in grades 6-12, through age 20, who need behavioral support. The day-treatment option will be a research-based intervention option for students ... prior to potential further out-of-district placement.”

Attempts to reach AOS 98 Superintendent Eileen King for comment were not immediately successful.

Wilmot told the Wiscasset School Committee Monday night, the work toward the partnership is in its infancy.