Bigfork school board approves new special education plan

Bigfork Eagle

Lily Potterbaum is an energetic 12 year-old.

But she doesn’t learn the same as other children her age. She has a learning disability called Pervasive Developmental Delay.

The Potterbaums moved to Bigfork in the fall to be closer to family, and enrolled Lily in Bigfork schools.

“The staff has been amazing at Bigfork,” Becky Potterbaum, Lily’s mom, said. They worked to tailor a program to Lily and made the Potterbaums feel welcome and confident in the school.

“We were treated as special because of how they treated her,” Becky said. The staff would bring Lily out to the car each day and share the progress she’d made.

“Whenever any little victory happened it was celebrated,” Becky said, “and that gives you confidence in the school.”

However, the school wasn’t really equipped to serve a student with Lily’s intensive needs to the fullest. Lily requires constant attention, which Bigfork was underequipped to provide. So the school decided to send her to Kalispell middle school for the remainder of the year, while they worked to revamp the special education program.

The Bigfork Schools board of trustees recently approved a new special-education plan for the 2014-2015 school year at their meeting March 26.

Bigfork interim superintendent Russ Kinzer and special education director Mary Meehan presented the proposal to the board. They sought to expand special education services offered in Bigfork, due to an increase of students with disabilities, like Lily, who require more specialized programming.

“We want students to learn how to overcome their disabilities,” Kinzer said.

Under the new model, many of the special-education students in kindergarten through seventh grade will receive instruction in a regular classroom and special services within that classroom. Students in grades eighth through 12 will receive regular classroom instruction, and separate special education services. Students with significant needs that require concentrated services would be assigned to the Community Learning program, which will be similar to the program in Kalispell, and focus on life skills and development of community access.

This is the program Lily will be enrolled in.

“My daughter is athletic, she wants to run around and do stuff,” Becky said.

The Kalispell program focuses on teaching life skills like how to do laundry, and prepare food. It’s hands on and has a 2 to 1 student to teacher ratio. But Becky would still like to see her daughter at school closer to home.

“I would love to see her here in Bigfork, with the kind of situation she might currently have now in Kalispell,” Becky said.

The new program will require hiring two new special education teachers, and a small reduction of paraprofessional staff. The district now has three fulltime special education teachers, providing special services outside of the regular education classroom.

Much of the Community Learning program will be funded by a levy under Senate Bill 191, which aims to revise school tuition and levy laws related to special needs students. Approximately $8,000 of the community learning costs would be paid from general funds.

The projected cost for the 2014-2015 special education program will be around $390,000.

Because of the levy and cuts to paraprofessional staffing the district will save approximately $50,000 in the general fund, that in the past has been used to subsidize the special education program. Those funds will be held to deal with any unexpected issues that might arise. The special education population is always fluid, according to Kinzer, and the district has to be ready to deal with the unexpected.

“As students progress through a special education program their needs may change,” he said.

Another key piece of the new program is to have a special services director at Bigfork.

Kinzer has given administrative approval for high school principal Matt Porrovecchio to become the new elementary and middle school assistant principal. Porrovecchio, who has a special education endorsement, would then also fulfill the director duties. The board of trustees still has to approve the appointment at their next board meeting.

As the new special education program begins to take shape it means students like Lily will be able to get the education they need — right here in Bigfork.

 “I’m excited to have a new program here,” Becky said, “I just love the staff here already, to me that’s going to be the ideal scenario.”