A special-ed program eliminated

The special education program attended by John Odgren, the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School sophomore accused of stabbing to death a classmate in January, will be eliminated at the end of the school year.

The Great Opportunities program has been offered for 15 years and has typically served seven to nine students a year.

John M. Ritchie, the Lincoln-Sudbury superintendent and school principal, insisted that the decision to end the program was not prompted by the stabbing. Instead, he said, the board of directors for the Concord Area Special Education Collaborative, which runs Great Opportunities, decided to drop the program because its three current participants are graduating and no other students have applied.

"Independent of anything that happened this year, there will not be a GO program at L-S next year," he told the School Committee at a meeting Tuesday night. "It's leaving because of attrition and economics, not for any other reason."

Ritchie told the panel that school staff members who confiscated a fake gun and a pocketknife from Odgren on two occasions last year should have taken an additional step to report it to authorities.

He has declined to say whether any disciplinary action would be taken, citing confidentiality. The School Committee held an executive session to discuss personnel matters.

The Globe has reported that Odgren showed the fake gun and pocketknife to a psychologist, who alerted his supervisor. Ritchie has said that the psychologist is employed by the Concord Area collaborative.

Edward Orenstein -- director of the collaborative, which placed Odgren in the Great Opportunities program -- could not be reached for comment yesterday. The program is not offered at other schools, according to the organization's website.

After the Jan. 19 death of freshman James Alenson, 15, parents have raised questions about the special education programs at the high school and how participants are screened.

Rich Robison, executive director of the Boston-based Federation for Children With Special Needs, said the decision to drop the Great Opportunities program raises questions about the capacity of local districts to serve children with serious psychological needs, such as those faced by Odgren, who has Asperger's disorder, a form of autism.

"I can't imagine that the students have disappeared from the face of the earth," he said. "I'm assuming that there are kids who have similar needs."

The loss of the Great Opportunities program is unfortunate, said Jane Newton, mother of two sons at Lincoln-Sudbury. "It's disappointing that such a worthwhile program is no longer available to the children that need it. It probably served a very good purpose."

Rebecca Gonowich, cochairwoman of the Sudbury Special Education Advisory Council, said she thinks the decision to end the program will pacify parents who were concerned.

"It will make it easier for Lincoln-Sudbury parents and students to heal," she said. "It's not like the people screaming to get special education kids out have won any ground."

School Committee member Eileen Glovsky said she was saddened by the decision, but she added that demand for the program has dropped off. "CASE has a product that nobody wants to buy anymore," she said.

In some ways, that is a positive development, Glovsky said. "If school districts are able to meet the needs of their students within their home school, that's the best possible situation for the student."

Ritchie has defended the program, saying participants don't have "hostile tendencies" but are instead vulnerable youth who need special attention.

"I've gotten to know a number of the kids in the program over the years, many of whom have been miraculous stories of triumph," Ritchie said.

The website says Great Opportunities "provides a welcoming place for students whose significant emotional and/or psychiatric disabilities have interfered with their ability to access public education without the intensive support provided at GO." The program has a full-time coordinator, two counseling assistants, and a clinical psychologist, according to the website.

The annual cost of enrolling in Great Opportunities at Lincoln-Sudbury for communities not in the collaborative is $39,000 a year. Lincoln-Sudbury was at least Odgren's fifth school in five years.

Odgren has been arraigned on first-degree murder charges. Earlier this week, a state-hired psychologist told the court Odgren is competent to stand trial.