Carroll County Public Schools has partnered with 50 community preschools so students with severe disabilities are educated there ? a move one parent hopes Howard County will consider.
“They?re really motivated, and they?re making great strides,” said Jessica Pearsall, a Howard County parent whose son, Robby, has Down syndrome.
Several years ago, Carroll parents wanted more children with severe disabilities placed in community preschool programs to allow them to learn in educational settings with students without disabilities.
“We have found our private service providers to be wonderful,” said Stephanie Savar, director of special education for Carroll schools.
Since Carroll parents raised the issue, the number of staff members in the system?s community preschool program has gone from zero to eight, providing such services as speech and physical therapy, she said.
“We?ve had a lot of support for funding from our School Board and county,” she said.
Howard parents are seeking similar services for students with severe disabilities, said Pearsall, who was told her son, now 10, didn?t qualify for special education services in a community preschool setting.
“We were basically told that the program didn?t serve students with Down syndrome,” she said.
When children with disabilities make up 10 percent to 15 percent of a classroom, they are more likely to succeed, said Pearsall.
“The more typical peers you have, the less adult interaction needed because there?s a lot of modeling of appropriate behavior,” she said.
In Howard, a committee is examining parents? request to include more students with disabilities in community preschools, and the School Board is expected to discuss the matter during budget talks in the spring, said School Board Member Joshua Kaufman.
