Board cuts special ed director position
Canda Harbaugh | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 4 months AGO
When the Libby School Board approved
annual contracts for the district’s administrators on Monday,
Special Services Supervisor Kari Lewinsohn was not on the list.
Next school year’s projected shortfall
is in the hundreds of thousands, and slashing Lewinsohn’s wage and
benefits will reduce the deficit by $102,000.
Libby Schools Superintendant Kirby Maki
and Curriculum Director Jael Prezeau plan to divvy up Lewinsohn’s
responsibilities, which includes collaborating with families,
teachers and principals to build programs that best meet the needs
of the more than 100 children with disabilities in the
district.
Some parents have raised concern about
how their children’s education will be affected.
“I’ve tried to assure parents my
background coming from my previous school where I was special
education director, as well as curriculum director, as well as
superintendent ...,”Maki said at Monday’s board meeting. “I have a
real strong feeling about all kids having an opportunity within
their particular program to succeed.”
Strict federal guidelines lay out
methods and requirements of individualized education for special
needs kids. The process also involves cumbersome reporting, work
that will fall on Prezeau, district secretaries and himself, Maki
said.
“Anytime you eliminate (a position),
other people pick up the work,” he said. “In this case we need to
save money. It’s unfortunate but we’re not going to let special
needs kids suffer. We’re going to look out for all kids.”
Lewinsohn was hired in 2007. She also
serves as coordinator for the district’s limited gifted and
talented program.
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