School Panel Approves $600K For New Program For Students With Behavior Issues

The School Committee approved spending up to $600,000 Tuesday night to retrofit Davisville Elementary to take on students with alternative learning programs (ALPs) by September 2014. The vote, however, was contingent on the Town Council's willingness to pick up the other half of the tab. 

The School Department's half of the money would come from its fund balance, which stands at just over $2 million as of this week.

Some students with ALPs have been going to school outside the school district, which can become a very expensive proposition, school officials say – $50,000 or more a year in tuition. In some cases, Supt. Phil Auger said, those students are not getting the academic rigor they need to graduate. The idea is to bring those students back in district to this new configuration at Davisville Elementary.

In addition, those students in district who are be disruptive in the regular classroom would to also be moved to Davisville Elementary. 

According to Auger, the plan would be for students to use the Davisville Elementary program as a temporary placement while they work on returning to the regular classroom.

"I know from our special ed parents when they hear about something like this, there is a concern in that regard," Auger said in an interview last week. "I'm just not comfortable with the way our programs are working right now. I do feel they need better coordination and we have the right people to do it and we need to do it in the right place."

He continued, "Doing it in district, it's all our own people.... I see that leading to them being able to transition into the regular schools easier then, what I consider to be the alternative at this point, to go to places out of district, like Bradley Hospital."

The other part is the expense of out-of-district school placements. They are, Auger said, an exhorbitant amount of money.

"Therefore, why not do it here," he said. "We have the expertise.

The School Committee approved the plan 6-1, with Committeeman Bill Mudge the lone "no" vote.