More kids with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and anxiety are coming to the Palmyra Area School District, and teachers could use more help, according to Linda Bare, director of special education.
Children diagnosed on the autism spectrum have increased by 16 percent in the past two years, from 55 to 64 students. Some of them have severe enough disabilities they "play havoc" in the classroom, she said.
Students diagnosed with other health impairments, including ADHD, depression and anxiety, have increased 42 percent in two years, from 61 to 87 students.
The problem is especially acute in the elementary schools, Bare said.
"We see a lot of kids who are home alone at night," she said. "There are middle school kids caring for elementary kids because their parents work second shift."
According to Anne Hoover, director of elementary education, "our kids are carrying so much baggage."
At Thursday's school board meeting, Bare and high school principal Benjamin Ruby asked for more special education help.
Bare suggested hiring an itinerant autism support teacher who could travel from school to school to help classroom teachers as needed deal with difficult students.
She said the district is now paying the Vista School to help needy students one hour a week, but that's not enough. It's "not solving the problem," she said.
She also said several life skills classrooms are at capacity, and if more students with special needs move to the district next year the district will have to consider sending some back to IU13 classes or hiring more teachers.
Also, the district will not have a psychology intern to help out as it has for the past five years.
"It's going to be a rough year next year," Bare said.
Ruby suggested hiring an instructional assistant at the high school who could free the five regular learning support teachers from helping students during an academic prep period. The assistant could help the students with their reading, math and science while the learning support teachers could go to the regular education classrooms in the "co-teaching" model the school has adopted.
The high school has 51 more learning support students than it had two years ago, he said.
The new assistant could be someone who has a teaching certificate, but who does not want to teach in the classroom. The solution would be "a band-aid," he said.
"It's a growing concern. Our numbers continue to escalate," he said.
The discussion about special needs students came up as the school board is working toward its 2015-16 budget and struggling to keep costs down.
Superintendent Lisa Brown said the district could also use a full-time special education teacher at Pine Street Elementary.
"We could be asking for two or three positions, but we're hopeful for one," she told the school board. "I'm not comfortable that we're putting enough money into special ed," she said. "The numbers scare us."