Erin Hawkins

Valparaiso Community Schools is already seeing success with its special education restructuring. Currently, special ed teachers are employed by the Porter County Education Services cooperative. Starting this fall, they'll be employed directly by the school districts where they work.

Officials at Valparaiso Community Schools say they're addressing some of the barriers to students' education through social emotional learning. Director of Social Emotional Learning Dr. Erin Hawkins told the school board Thursday that SEL is about more than just mental health but also about taking care of the whole child.