Waterloo Elementary School's program for severely emotionally disturbed students would be scaled back next school year under a proposal to transfer half of those pupils to Stevens Forest Elementary School.
The proposal, part of a school system redistricting plan, caps a yearlong battle by the parents of some Waterloo students who claimed that the school's emotionally disturbed pupils are disruptive and depress the school's test scores.
Waterloo, which for 20 years has been the location of the county's central program for elementary school students with severe emotional problems, now has about 20 such students, down from 40 last school year.
Under the school system proposal, Waterloo would have only 10 to 12 emotionally disturbed students when school opens in September. An equal number would be sent to Stevens Forest, the only other elementary school in the county that officials say is physically capable of meeting the students' needs. Enrollment at both schools could grow during the school year.
"We had already been thinking about splitting the program," said Sandra Marx, the school system's special education director. The parents' complaints "really helped spur the process along," she said.
Although parents at Stevens Forest have yet to react to the plan, it already has drawn support from parents at Waterloo who had complained about the large number of emotionally disturbed students at that school.
"We would like to see it moved totally, but half is a good start," said Beth Wiley, Waterloo's PTA president.
Waterloo's program, which draws students from throughout the county, serves children whose emotional problems are severe enough to require a full-time psychologist, a crisis intervention 00 counselor to deal with student outbursts and a guidance counselor at the school.
The school serves as a way station for emotionally troubled students. The school gives such students intensive services in self-contained rooms, then integrates as many as are ready into regular classes and eventually sends them back to their neighborhood schools. But it also has become a permanent stop for many children who have gained so much from the program that their parents elect to keep them there until they finish elementary school.
Last year, parents of students in regular classrooms complained of emotionally troubled students who locked themselves in the bathroom for as long as three hours while teachers and administrators waited for them to come out. They also said some students' frequent disruptions wasted academic time as teachers' attention was diverted to calming the disabled students.
This school year, officials tried to keep down the number of emotionally disturbed youngsters at Waterloo, sending some to neighborhood schools and not filling vacancies left by students who moved up to middle school.
The new proposal goes a step further, in essence splitting the program between Waterloo and Stevens Forest.
Each school would be staffed with two special education teachers, a crisis intervention counselor and three instructional assistants.
Waterloo will retain its full-time psychologist, but the school system has not been decided whether Stevens Forest will have a full-time psychologist to help work with the students. No new psychologist position was placed in next fiscal year's proposed budget.
Stevens Forest was chosen as a second site for the program. Although it is an open classroom school, Stevens Forest has some self-contained classrooms that can house the emotionally disturbed program.
"Not many schools in Howard County have space anymore," Ms. Marx said. "Stevens Forest met those kinds of requirements -- they had space, and that space would be available for a long period of time."
The staff and some parents at Stevens Forest are scheduled to meet with special education workers next week to discuss the proposal. Parents were asked to send their comments or questions to the school.
"There has not been a lot of discussion in regards to the program as such," said Bill Payne, Stevens Forest's principal. "No one has come in feeling all upset. A lot of people do not know a lot about the program."
Waterloo teachers and administrators are supportive of the plan to split the program.
"I think it's time," said Brad Herling, assistant principal at Waterloo. "It needs to be done as well. On any given day, it's possible the emotionally handicapped program is taking a lot of my time that I can't get to my work."
Parents of emotionally disturbed students attending Waterloo said they hope the change wouldn't affect the program, which they said has helped their children adjust their behavior and do better in school.
"Teachers and everyone involved are so willing to work with the parents to help children progress and improve," said Cherie Wein, whose 10-year-old son has been in the program for two years.
"If they do make changes, I hope the changes won't undermine the program."
Pam DeSalvo, parent of another 10-year-old special education student, favors the proposed change.
"It could help the staff if they seemed overwhelmed," she said. "I remember my son could be very disruptive in a regular classroom, and I remembered how it was unfair to the other students."
Waterloo has always done an excellent job with the program, Mrs. DeSalvo said. "It seemed they were always there when they were needed," she said. "Whenever there was a crisis or I had to talk to a teacher [or an administrator], they were always there when I needed them."
Parents can give the school board their opinion of the proposal at a public hearing March 7. The board is scheduled to vote on the proposal March 23 as part of the overall redistricting plan.