Special services bring students back to town

By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent, 10/16/2003

Walpole officials have found a way to reduce the number of special-needs students who must attend high schools out of the district.

Walpole High School has initiated an on-campus program for students who cannot attend the regular school because of severe social, emotional, or learning difficulties. Until now, they have been placed in specialized schools outside of town, at considerable cost. The new students are attending classes in the former Plimpton school building, on the high school grounds. Eight students are currently participating in the Bridge Program, which has a capacity of 10.

Along with academic instruction, the students are provided with services, such as intensive counseling, that the regular high school does not offer.

Developed over the past year, the program is a joint venture between the Walpole school system and Walker Partnerships, a division of the Needham-based nonprofit Walker Home and School.

Staffed by two Walpole special needs teachers and a Walker social worker, classes are held in space formerly used as a fitness center for high school students. It became available when a new fitness center opened in the newly renovated high school.

Walker Home and School is a 42-year-old day and residential treatment center in Needham for children with emotional and learning disabilities and other issues. It also operates a high school in Brookline for students with emotional problems. Through Walker Partnerships, it runs or assists with a variety of programs for special needs children in about 40 public schools in approximately 20 communities, according to Thomas E. Latus, director of Walker Partnerships.

Latus said each community's needs are different. "That's why we stress this idea of partnership," he said. "It's not like one size fits all."

In Walpole, Walker is also assisting with a program at Johnson Middle School for students with social and emotional problems and learning disabilities. The program, which began as a pilot initiative last year, serves three children. The students receive specialized attention for part of the day from a Walpole teacher and a Walker social worker and behavioral specialist. The Walker staff members also serve as a resource for Johnson and the Bird Middle School.

Reducing out-of-district placements is a way for the district to save money at a time of tight fiscal constraints, officials said. The district is required to meet the tuition and transportation costs of all Walpole special needs students.

Walpole has contracted to pay Walker $192,550 this year, and officials say the immediate savings will be about $60,000 because of reduced outside tuition and transportation costs.

"We have reused money that would have spent out of district to a much better purpose in district," said Superintendent Kathleen Smith.

The savings are expected to increase as additional students return from out-of-district placements.

Officials said there are also important educational benefits to keeping students in their home community.

"It's important that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment possible," said Sandra Einsel, Walpole's director of pupil services.

The partnership with Walker will also provide the district with the benefit of the nonprofit organization's extensive experience working with children with special needs, officials said.

The Bridge Program is designed as a "bridge" for children returning to town from another placement, or for students who have been in the regular system but need an alternative arrangement. Officials hope most of the students eventually will be able to attend the regular high school.

"The whole idea is to keep them in the system, to give them a challenging curriculum, to have them pass MCAS, and receive a diploma," Einsel said.

Einsel said the Bridge Program would not have been possible without the willingness of parents to work with the school system.

"The parents we talked with were very eager to have their kids come back," said high school principal Frank A. Sambuceti. "They were delighted to think their kids would be reentering the Walpole public schools, to have access to extracurricular and curricular opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have."

Sambuceti said "a real effort has been made from the very beginning to build a quality academic component into this program." Students use the same curriculum and textbooks as the regular school.

"These are our students. In the past, because we haven't had the services both academic and/or personal that these student require, we've been obliged to send them elsewhere," Sambuceti said. "I don't think it's ever a good thing to send somebody someplace else if you don't have to. It's hard to be a member of a community and yet be physically located some place else."