ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
BACKGROUND CHECKS and better training for aides who work with disabled children topped the list of recommendations the Special Education Advisory Committee had for Roanoke County schools.
Roanoke County schools have been urged to make background checks on all teacher's aides and other paraprofessionals who work with special education students.
The county's Special Education Advisory Committee wants school officials to determine whether applicants have police and court records before they are employed.
The committee has also recommended that aides be hired before the school year begins and that parents be involved in interviewing them.
Employing aides earlier would give them time to learn their students' needs and get any training that might be necessary to work with a particular child, the committee said.
The committee, which includes parents of children with disabilities, has made nearly 20 recommendations for improvements in the county's special education program.
In a report to school officials, the committee proposed that the county increase salaries and fringe benefits for aides and paraprofessionals who work daily with children with disabilities.
It suggested that bonuses or other incentives be offered to the aides to improve their training.
The recommendations come in the aftermath of recent complaints by some parents of special education students that the children's care and the aides' training are inadequate.
A teacher's aide recently was found guilty of assaulting a special education student at William Byrd Middle School. The aide had not been trained to work with children with disabilities.
Superintendent Deanna Gordon said county schools are considering requiring background checks on all school personnel beginning next year.
In a written response to the committee's report, Gordon said teacher aides and instructional assistants are hired when a specific need is identified and parents do participate in the interview in some cases.
County schools are providing training for aides, but finding time in their schedule for training sessions is a problem, Gordon said.
She said school officials are requesting that additional days be added to the aides' contracts to provide more training time.
Kathy Caldwell, the mother of a child with Down syndrome, told the School Board Thursday night that aides and teachers "need to be educated" on caring for special education students.
"I am appalled that Roanoke County [school officials] do not realize that the services do not meet the needs of these children," Caldwell said.
County schools should serve all children, not "just the bright and gifted," she said.
The advisory committee also wants the county to develop a plan for placing more students with disabilities in regular classrooms.
Many disabled children are not being given the opportunity to be educated in regular classes, the committee's report said, and many children who are placed in regular classes are not receiving adequate support services.
The report recommended that the county hire an "experienced inclusion specialist immediately" to promote putting more special education students in regular classes.
The committee also wants the county to mandate training for all regular classroom teachers in the diagnosis and care of children with disabilities.
"Inclusion is here, and regular education teachers need to be able to address the needs of these children in the classroom when special education teachers are not with them," the report said.
Because of Thursday night's snow, the board delayed consideration of the report, but will consider it at the next meeting.
Gordon and Carol Whitaker, director of pupil personnel services and special education for the county, have responded to each recommendation in writing with the county's plans for addressing the concerns. But some parents are not satisfied with some responses.
On most requests, Gordon and Whitaker said the county is either providing the services or plans to do so. But they note that budget pressures could affect the county's plans.
"While these recommendations are seriously considered" by school administrators, they said, "many of these requests are subject to budgetary considerations."
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