Valparaiso Community Schools' superintendent is promising improvements to special education. Dr. Jim McCall presented the findings of a third-party review of the Porter County Education Services (PCES) cooperative, during Thursday's school board meeting.
He said that while PCES is able to offer a variety of services and teachers believe the program is generally effective, there are significant communication and staffing challenges. "I also believe that there will be profound and dramatic improvements before the fall of '24 within the current interlocal agreement by working together as an interlocal," McCall said.
The report noted that roughly 16 percent of the district's school-age children receive special education services, which is higher than the national rate. The vast majority spend most of the school day in general education classrooms. But 33 Valpo students with severe disabilities or intensive behavior needs go to the co-op's Special Education Learning Facility (SELF) which is in need of an estimated $9.7 million in upgrades.
The Duneland School Corporation recently announced plans to shift away from using SELF over the next two years and employ its special ed teachers directly.
Leslie Nuss is the president of the SELF PTO. She is in favor of Valparaiso Community Schools remaining in the co-op.
"I think, really, we all know the way to go is to raise the salary because once you raise the salaries, then teachers will stay and we'll have more [paraprofessionals] and everything is going to start to bloom once again," Nuss told board members.
She added that while SELF is a segregated learning environment, some students really benefit from being there.
McCall promised to give regular updates as special ed discussions continue.
