Schools struggle as number of children with autism soars
As the number of children found to have autism has soared nationally, districts across the New York City region are struggling to provide appropriate support services, which typically involve individualized instruction, and to manage the escalating costs. With the number of children suffering from autism increasing each year, school districts have begun looking to in-house programs to manage the escalating costs. The New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) released a report last month that singled out an increase in autism programs as a driving force in special education spending. New Jersey had 8,490 students with autism last year, compared with 4,624 in 2002. In New York, during that same time period, the number of autistic students grew to 15,471 from 9,141, and in Connecticut, the number rose to 2,855 in 2005, the latest year available, from 1,818, according to the state education departments.
Last month, the 4,000-student Nutley School District in Essex County, N.J., started its first in-house program for autistic children after years of paying for them to be educated at specialized private schools. The district has seen a steady increase in autistic students with 27 children this year, about twice the number of children five years ago. In 2006, the district, which has an annual budget of $52.7 million, spent $984,964 on private school tuition and busing for autistic students alone, according to district officials. The East Hampton, Conn., school district expanded a three-year-old autism program for students from preschool to third grade to the fourth and fifth grades this fall. Currently, a dozen students are in the program, including two from neighboring towns. In September, Gloucester County, N.J., opened an entire public school just for children with autism. The school, which has about 200 students ages 3 to 21, was built with $13.9 million in bonds. In addition, many local schools across the state have created in-house autism programs once thought to be too specialized and labor-intensive for public schools.
New Jersey’s Governor Jon Corzine spurred these efforts last winter, awarding $15 million in grants to 55 school districts to establish or expand existing autism programs. The largest grant of $700,000 went to Nutley, while the other recipients included Edison, Teaneck, Lawrence and Lakehurst. In Edison, for instance, the $600,000 grant has paid for a new preschool program that brings 15 autistic children into mainstream classrooms, and more teachers and support staff members to work with older students. Nutley district officials say they wanted to start a program not only to tamp down private school tuition bills, but also to provide a level of services that would allow autistic students to remain in their own community. The district hired three teachers who had experience with autistic children from 200 applicants. They brought in a school psychologist/behavioral specialist, three occupational, physical and speech therapists, and a part-time music therapist. They added 11 teaching aides, and brought in 6 more from other schools in the district. The program, which is divided between two schools, currently has 16 students ranging in age from 3 to 10. Two of the students are from a neighboring town, Belleville, which pays a total of $78,136 in tuition for them to attend. Another 13 Nutley students remain enrolled outside the district in private schools because their parents wanted to see how the new program fared before moving them. "We said, ‘That’s fine,’" says assistant superintendent Mariana Francioso. "We want everyone to feel comfortable."
New York Times By Winnie Hu
[Editor’s Note: The NJSBA report, which calls for increased state funding to reduce property taxes, more in-district programs for severely disabled and autistic students, and more training for classroom teachers on special education methods, is below. The report states out-of-district placements account for 10% of the special education population, but make up 40% of the cost of special education and recommends that "state government and local school districts invest in the development of more in-district programs and services for seriously disabled students."]
NJSBA report on special education policy