High school alternative class moves to North

The Central High School District Board of Education will be moving its Alternative Special Education program for students in grades 10 -12 from Central High School to North for the upcoming school year, to join program students in grades 7-9. The move is now raising an alert from several local parents.

According to District Director of Special Education, Michelle Gay, the Alternative Special Education or A.S.E. program is designed for youngsters who are not responding well to traditional education settings. Gay explains that the current enrollment is about a dozen students from grades 7-12. They are put into small classes with one teacher, one teacher’s assistant and no more than nine students. “The students are given additional support and receive close monitoring from teachers,” Gay said.

The program has existed for more than 10 years and runs throughout the school year. “The program meets the needs of many students who respond well to the level of support and individual attention,” Gay said. “It has helped many students graduate from high school.”

Resident complaints

“My main issues with the program are about safety,” said Vincent
Toma, a concerned parent and president of the Civic Association in Franklin Square — where North High School is located — who said he is speaking on behalf of a group of 15 to 20 parents. “The parents are concerned about the lack of transparency with the program and the safety of their children.”

Toma explained that he was contacted by other parents about the A.S.E program in late July. In response to hearing the parents’ issues, Toma said he has spoken with some school officials. According to Toma, he sent a list of questions to Superintendent Dr. Marc Bernstein and the Board of Education asking for answers about the program.

“A vast majority of the parents did not even know this program existed,” Toma said. “I am very concerned about the nature of the program. Concerned parents want facts about the issue.” Among his biggest questions are if the program’s students are separated from the other students and if there been any criminal or physical incidents with the A.S.E. students.

Toma explained that parents are very unhappy with what they said is a lack of true facts about the program and its students, including what types of students are placed in this program and what measures are taken to ensure the safety of others. He wonders who is making the decisions to place some teenagers in this program. “Are they bad kids?” he asked. “I was unable to locate information about an A.S.E. program. Due to the lack of information, we have requested that the board consider not moving the program to North and allow parents time to obtain the facts during the school year.”

He is unsure as to whether North High School can shoulder the extra students and fears that negative changes will happen.

District officials weigh in

In response to the complaints, Bernstein and Board President Kenneth Cummings explained that every concerned parent will have a chance to voice their opinions and concerns at the upcoming Board of Education meeting on Aug. 31. Bernstein said he plans to address all parents’ and residents’ worries. “We will be discussing questions that people have about the issue in public,” he said.

“This issue has taken on a life of its own,” Cummings said on behalf of the board. “We want to get people in one room and everyone can speak about it.”

Bernstein added that it is hard to always communicate with everyone about an issue like this with such a big district. “We cannot notify the community of each thing we do,” Bernstein said. “It is too large of a district, but we encourage people to come to board meetings with questions.”

Bernstein also explained the reasons why the district decided to make the move — educational and financial. “This year, we had three sections of the program — one section of grades 7-9 in North, two sections of grades 10-12 in Central — with nine students, one teacher and one teacher’s assistant. When we were planning the program back in the spring, we had not more than three students in grades 7-9. It is not financially feasible to separate sections, when we can have all three sections at North.”

According to Bernstein and Board Vice President Jeanne Greco-Jacobs, residents were notified of the move during a board meeting last year. Bernstein responded to Toma’s complaints that he is unsure where the students are coming from. “We notified Mr. Toma that the issue is on the next board meeting’s agenda,” Bernstein said. “I am surprised about the level of concern because the program has been in the district for many years.”

Bernstein added that that he cannot say, in good conscience, if there have been police-related incidents associated with the program, but he does not believe any incidents are unique to the program or disproportionate to other regular education programs. And he said he is currently checking into reports from parents of an assault related to the program.

Greco-Jacobs responded that no complaints were made prior to the first week in August, before she said Toma called the district to question the move. “Nothing strikes me about this program as being so different from other programs,” Jacobs said. “Why the community is so focused on this program, I am not quite sure. I think it is a misunderstanding about the kids’ classifications.

“I think there is nothing to fear about the program in any building,” she continued. “We try to provide for all the kids. We treat kids of all needs and we do what is required to do. Unfortunately, we had to move the program because of the budget.”

She said that because the program had no ninth-grade students this past year, if any incoming grade 9 students were to come in now, the district would have to hire another teacher, which would be another expense. But by moving the program under one roof at North, the district can save costs. And she assured the public that North has plenty of social workers, psychologists and support staff for the program, which was one of her main concerns.

Thomas Troisi, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, explained that the program is only open to district residents. “It is a legitimate special education program,” he said. “Kids come with special needs in small class sizes and individual class instruction.”

The next step

Any residents who want more information or have concerns can attend the next Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 31.