NYC-WTC_000195490

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document 1

Reforming Special Education

The Board of Education has created a new Continuum of Services for Special Education that will ensure all students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum and allow districts to individualize instructional programs. In recognising special education as a service rather than a place, the Board can better serve students who may require specific special education services but can otherwise do well in general education. This theoretical shift has already produced tangible results in the form of a declining full-time special education population. From July 2000 to January 2001, special education referrals have decreased by 1,750, and 489 more students have been decertified than during the same time period last year. To ensure a smooth transition for these decertified students, supplemental services, such as Project Read and regularly scheduled meetings with guidance counselors, may continue Ipr up to one year.

The continuum fosters the philosophy that all students deserve the opportunity to achieve high educational outcomes. As Such; those students remaining in the full-time special education program will be educated in a / general education setting whenever possible. During this school year, more than 5,000 special education students were taught in integrated classroom settings with their general education peers, an increase of 2,000 students from the prior school year. i

Capital Review

The City’s Four-Year Plan for 2002-2005 anticipates spending $4.7 billion on school construction projects and includes three years of the Board of Education’s Five-Year Plan for 2000-2004. The capital program’s primary objectives are to provide additional capacity and arrest deterioration of the physical plant. The School Construction Authority (SCA) is responsible for acquiring the new school sites, and for the design and construction of capital projects that will meet these objectives. Since 1997, the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has also participated in the rehabilitation of school buildings. Each year, the Board allocates funding to both SCA and DDC.

To address the seating shortage, the City’s Four-Year Plan provides $2.2 billion for the construction of new schools. An additional $650.0 million is allocated for system expansion associated with new leases, building additions, tifansportables, mod.ular classrooms, athletic fields and playgrounds. The Plan provides $1.3 billion to rehabilitate, replace and upgrade building components. In order to meet high standards for entire school buildings, $179.3 million is designated for existing buildings to undergo major modernizations^ Additionally, $83.1 million funds capital improvements associated with programmatic needs, including computers and science labs. Other i miscellaneous capital improvements make up the balance of funding. These include emergency projects, research and development, and prior plan completion costs ($200.5 million); and security systems, emergency lighting ! and code compliance ($124.8 million). , i / ' i ; ■

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