ESE Consolidation Proposed

BARTOW | In a move school officials say will save $1.25 million, some of Polk County's special education students who require the most attention are likely to be moved into one school in Lakeland next year.

But at least one School Board member is questioning whether ESE students affected by consolidation who live in East Polk will end up spending hours a day on a bus.

The district has about 12,000 ESE students. Sixty to 80 students who have the most serious learning and medical disorders and now attend four schools - in Lake Alfred, Lake Wales and two in Lakeland - would be affected by the consolidation.

If the School Board approves the move at a meeting in June, the students will be taught at the Dwight Smith Center at 951 Mount Airy Ave. in the Crystal Lake area of Lakeland.

Board member Brenda Reddout is uneasy about the amount of time students in East Polk would spend on a bus traveling to Lakeland.

"The amount of transportation has got to be reduced," Reddout said. "The best practice is not 2 1/2 hours on a bus."

Fred Murphy, the district's assistant superintendent of support services, said most of the students live closer to the consolidated site.

"You're putting it more in the center of the district where the overwhelming majority of the people are," Murphy said.

But Murphy acknowledged that students in Lake Wales and other areas in East Polk could spend at least two hours a day on a bus.

Murphy and ESE leader Nancy Woolcock said they will try to find ways to keep the students engaged on the long rides, possibly by providing iPods or DVDs to watch.

The estimated $1.25 million in savings will come mostly from lower transportation costs and a reduction in teachers and other workers, according to the district.

The ESE department will need two fewer secretaries, 13 fewer paraeducators and nine fewer ESE teachers. Those people losing their positions would be transferred to other positions in the district when vacancies occur, Woolcock said.

A mental health professional who currently rotates among the four different sites will be permanently stationed at the center in Lakeland for crisis situations along with a new principal to oversee the school.

Eight portable classrooms throughout the county will no longer be needed. Some students and instructors in portables will be moved to the three other schools in Lakeland, Lake Alfred and Lake Wales.

The proposal for the consolidated center comes at a time when the Exceptional Student Educational Department is trying to improve its standing in the state. The 2006-07 figures show that the district graduates ESE students at a 33 percent rate, 7 percentage points lower than the state, but up 5 points from the 2005-06 numbers.

Woolcock was hired as ESE leader in July. She oversees 724 teachers and about 12,000 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

[ John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com or 863-802-7588. ]