Dear Families,

It’s that time of the year, when the leaves start to turn and fall is in the air, which means…it’s time for school to start again! Here at Northwest Regional ESD we have been hard at work getting ready to start services and are looking forward to seeing you and your children again soon. 

During the 23-24 school year we shared that a state funding shortfall would impact our  special education services for children under the age of 5 (Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education). I am writing to update you on the changes our program has made in order to provide the highest level of service despite deep staffing cuts. We have worked together to minimize the impact this state funding shortfall has on you, but there will be some noticeable changes, especially for children ages 3-5.

Services to children birth to age 3 (Early Intervention)

The Early Intervention (EI) service model will remain unchanged.

However, staff will have higher caseloads in order to serve all families.

Services to children ages 3-5 (Early Childhood Special Education)

The Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program will see a significant update in our delivery method as we implement a Primary Service Provider model. Under this model, your family has one main specialist working with you and your child. That specialist interfaces with educators in specialty areas to strengthen and individualize the care they provide to your family (i.e. speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.) Our Early Intervention team has successfully used this model for many years. It allows for a more holistic approach to supporting children. This model will offer the opportunity to build stronger relationships and allow for greater consistency for the caregivers and teachers we partner with.

Services in Community Preschools will be reduced. 

• We are no longer able to pay tuition to community preschools for children with disabilities. This only applies to those students who were attending preschool in an ESD-funded spot. Our community preschool partners were notified of this change in the spring. 
• Services to children in community preschools will be provided using a consultative model. Children who struggle to participate independently and/or successfully in community preschools may need to have services transferred to one of our early childhood classrooms at the local NWRESD Early Childhood Center so that they can receive more specialized services or focused instruction in areas of identified need.
• Instructional Assistants assigned to a disabled child for the purpose of access and mobility in community based preschool programs will be significantly reduced.

NWRESD Early Childhood Center services will be expanded.

• To better meet the learning needs of a wide variety of students, we have expanded the number of our on-site classrooms. For a large number of students, this may result in an increase in services, as many of the children who will be attending the site-based classrooms are students who were formerly being served at home.
• One of our previous classes that was three hours in length will be reduced to two hours. This will better align with the other class offerings that are 2-hours in length and work better for our transportation partners.
• This will provide a placement option for children who are struggling to be successful in community preschools, as our classrooms have fewer children, more specially trained adults, and programming that is individualized to the child’s learning needs.
• For students in our most intensive classes requiring high levels of support, we are committed to enrolling a handful of non-disabled students to create environments that are more inclusive. Our desire is to slowly build capacity to ensure that we have non-disabled students in all of our classrooms to provide skills modeling and friendship.

Educators will received professional learning to smooth the transition.

• To support our 3-5 program transition to the Primary Service Provider model, we will hold weekly team meetings and provide ongoing professional development to our staff so they can build their skills in this model.
• Our classroom teaching staff and related providers will receive ongoing targeted professional development and coaching on how to create high-quality, inclusive and culturally sustaining preschool environments that support the needs of all learners. 

Free Appropriate Public Education

In Oregon, we do not have universally funded preschool for all children. Therefore, a free appropriate public education for children under the age of 5 with disabilities means that they are entitled to special education services to address their developmental needs. It does not mean that they are entitled to free community preschool. It is important to understand that special education services can be provided in a variety of settings including the child’s home (this is considered the least restrictive environment for children under 5), in community preschool or childcare if the child’s parent has enrolled them in a program or they qualify for Head Start or Preschool Promise, or a variety of other settings such as NWRESD organized playgroups and early childhood classes. 

While these changes reflect the program’s need to adjust in response to the significant decrease in funding from the state, they are not completely unilateral. All service and placement decisions for children are made on an individualized basis with the child’s Individual Family Service Plan team members and are based on the needs of the child. However, some of the services we were previously able to provide more readily have been significantly reduced and/or unavailable and in those cases, alternatives will be sought. 

There will be opportunities for parents to be involved in advocating for more funds for this program in the next biennium, and our agency is proactively working to plan those opportunities. I will be sure to invite you to help us in the months ahead, as we need for our elected officials to understand the importance of what these services mean to you and your family.

Read the full September Caregiver Connection Newsletter. 

In partnership,

Stacy Rager
Executive Director of Early Learning