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Special needs classrooms feel sting of lost funding
By MONIQUE FIELDS, Times Staff Writer
Something wasn't right with Tyreill Simmons after his teacher assistant was transferred to another school. "Got to go bathroom," the 9-year-old told his teachers. "Got to go bathroom." He repeated the phrase every 30 minutes for two weeks at Tyrone Elementary School. Pamela Simmons, Tyreill's mother, consulted with a behavior therapist and health professionals, and they found no physical cause for Tyreill's behavior. That's when Simmons decided the change in teacher assistants had adversely affected her son. She doesn't want that to happen again. But as the Pinellas school district winds its way through a budget crisis, she and other parents of special needs students are fearful their children could lose a teacher assistant or be assigned a new one. "The only ones who are going to suffer are the children. That's upsetting," Simmons said. Last year, more than 500 disabled students left the district for private schools using McKay Scholarships, a state voucher program that enables disabled children to attend private school at the taxpayers' expense. The result was a $4-million loss of state funding to Pinellas schools. The district expects more departures by this fall. As a result, the district plans to cut 400 teacher assistants, library assistants and other support staff to save about $8-million. Teacher assistants help classroom teachers and give individual attention to small groups of students or individuals to help them complete their work. When needed, they also help children wash their faces and hands, feed those who need help, and take them to the bathroom. In some cases, they supervise students as they move from classroom to classroom. About 100 assistant positions already have been cut through attrition, and the district is asking for volunteers to take other jobs. The rest will be eliminated by seniority before the start of the 2003-04 school year. Later this year, parents will find out whether their children will be affected by the reduction. Decisions will be made based on the needs of the children and their classrooms, said Jan Rouse, assistant superintendent of middle school and exceptional student education. She, too, is frustrated. "The very structures that support successful environments for students are being compromised because of legislative and budget decisions," Rouse said. The district's plan to reduce the number of teacher assistants upset some parents, who said they worry about overburdened classroom teachers and their children's academics. Perry Fisch has a daughter who was recently placed in a larger class at Highland Lakes Elementary in Palm Harbor. "If and when her aide goes, I don't see any way any human being could possibly take care of 13 kids," Fisch said. Then there is the matter of learning. "By having an assistant, my son is able to go to therapies needed to help him in areas where he is delayed," Simmons said. Other parents complain the district hasn't been meeting the needs of their children, and they are already feeling the side effects of the budget crisis. Melissa Tremblay's 9-year-old daughter, Allison, has Down's syndrome and is on her fourth teacher assistant this school year at Cross Bayou Elementary. Such transitions are upsetting to parents because their children can't explain themselves as well as other students and may throw a tantrum or become withdrawn. Allison is in traditional classroom, but she needs extra help. While other children may be able to spell a word after hearing it twice, she may need to hear it more times. "If my daughter loses her aide, there is no way she will be successful in general ed," said Tremblay, chairwoman of Statewide Advocacy Network on Disabilities, or STAND, in Pinellas County. That is one of the reasons why parents would like the district to examine more closely why parents are using the McKay Scholarships to send their children to other schools. The district will start conducting exit interviews this spring. That's too late for many parents. Until December, Kayla Tarantino had been enrolled at Tarpon Springs Elementary School. Her mother, Reem Tarantino, said teachers and teacher assistants knew little about her condition, autism. As a result, Kayla languished in school. Her mother tried repeatedly to get the school to follow Kayla's Individual Education Plan, which spells out how she should be taught. Tarantino, who wanted her daughter to be in a traditional classroom, couldn't get anything done at the school without consulting a parent liaison. In December she stopped trying and enrolled her daughter in a private school. She paid the $670 tuition for the first month out of her own pocket. "They complain about the children leaving, but they don't give the support to the children when they are there," Tarantino said. Kayla is now on a McKay Scholarship, and her mother says she is doing well. "She will never set foot in a public school ever again."
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