November 21, 2011 Interview with Sandy Gold--Special Services Director Q1: How might you describe your

job or role with the Willard Schools? How might you describe an average day as a special services director? A: The main administrative thing I do is put out fires. The leadership role is not just with our staff but with guiding the parents so that we can come to a consensus over what their goals are with their children. Its shifted from managing/overseeing to working closely with parents. The shift comes from higher parent demands, a higher population of students with severe needs and outside agencies. The expectations are different than they used to be. I am typically in the office by 7:00am and if Im home by 5:30 or 6:00pm, thats a good day. I spend more time in parent meetings and with principals and Im in and out of buildings a lot. Q2: Tell me about your background leading up to your current position. A: I knew I wanted to be a teacher, and I thought Id be one right out of college, but then I decided I wanted to stay home with my children. I had a degree in Social Services. Then, I opened a clothing store in Willard, J. Hunters Clothing Store, which I started from scratch. It was open for about 4 years, but it was taking away from family time, so we decided to close. I then worked with drug and alcohol groups and was involved in the Jefferson City meetings. I also worked for the newspaper for a time as a receptionist and selling advertisements. I was in contact with the special education director and found out that they were hiring a paraprofessional. I convinced her to hire me full time and then went back to get my degree. I became the B.D. teacher and was then the first process coordinator for the Willard district. Q3: Discuss the main issues and challenges in special education? How do you think these issues impact instruction and student achievement? A: The main challenge is probably the funding. We are always trying to find enough money to fund the things we know would make a difference with our kids. At Willard were very fortunate-the school board and superintendent are very supportive of special services. Another challenge is finding appropriate services. Its getting more difficult as gauged by number the of meetings our process coordinators ask me to attend. Autism and behaviors that accompany that diagnosis are becoming more prevalent. At the elementary level, we have an autism room and services, but the middle and high schools aren't prepared for those services. The transition house at the high school level is meeting some of those needs. I feel good about our compliance on paperwork--5th cycle MSIP came out and we were 100% in compliance. Part of my job is to make sure theres a balance between paperwork and services because we can lose federal funds if found not in compliance.

Q4: What do you see as one of Willards biggest strengths in the area of special education? What might be Willards biggest weakness? A: I think our strength is the High School transition program--it is a model for other districts. I credit Caryn McDonnell for laying the groundwork for this program years ago with the high school coffee house and transition fair. One of the things we focus on is what life looks like after high school for our students. Another strength is a school board who trusts were going to do the right thing and allowing us to be visionary about what the needs are. We struggle with having appropriate staff--both with certification issues and finding the right fit for the students. The typical learning disabled student of the past is no longer the needs are much greater. One of the biggest challenges is managing the paraprofessionals. I spend hours every summer matching the right person with the right grouping. When there are multiple paraprofessionals, it takes a strong teacher and I have to recognize strengths in paraprofessionals to help students. We have 58 paraprofessionals in the district. There have been some years that most of my time was spent managing paraprofessionals. I have to credit the special education teachers who have learned to manage that a little bit better.

Q5: Discuss the number of students currently being served with special services and the types of programs involved in our district. A: Our highest number was in 2009 with 665 students. The numbers are currently down at about 620. This is due to a combination of Response to Intervention (RtI), and the speech pathologists doing a nice job of using RtI for the articulation remediation. Getting interventions in place early prevents the label. Our concern is that our 504 population has exploded. We are at about 110. This is due to federal regulations being worded differently and we want to be on the safe side legally. We have a good 504 process in place to identify if they need to be on one.

Q6: Discuss how funding sources are utilized to provide services. A: We have local, state and federal funds. Federal funding is at least 40% but they never have done that. We have a high-needs fund that is available for any child whose education costs 3 times more than the average student. There is a process to apply for those additional funds. We also utilize Medicaid billing. Our therapists log hours for therapy. We also participate in Random Moments Sampling. All staff (nurses, counselors, therapists, etc.) names are put in a pot. A name can be drawn out and at that moment their activity is documented and we can receive funds based on that activity. Some of these are optional, but worth the money that it draws.