At $60,000 a year, Ohio school serves students with disabilities

From The Cincinnati Enquirer:

MADISONVILLE, Ohio - In many ways, the Bobbie B. Fairfax School is just like other public schools.

Students' artwork is taped to walls and doors. The faces of graduates smile from framed photos in a hallway. The smells of school lunch wafts from the kitchen.

But then there's this: Hallways are lined with wheelchairs and modified walkers. Adults sometimes outnumber the students in the classroom. Many students need help performing basic tasks like walking, talking and eating.

The Fairfax school and its counterpart, the Margaret B. Rost school in Green Township, are run by Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services (formerly the Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities). An education at one of these special schools costs about $59,898 per year per student -much of which is paid by taxpayers through the agency and school districts, both of which are funded by tax levies.

Starting with the 2010 school year, the public school districts in Hamilton County will have to pay nearly twice as much to send students to agency schools next year.

DDS, which currently pays about 75 percent of the costs, says its recent tax levy isn't big enough so it can no longer afford to contribute as much. Although the amount of the levy jumped 12 percent, agency officials say it will not generate quite enough to keep up with the expected skyrocketing demand for service, particularly for infants and their families. County commissioners reduced the agency's original levy request because of the economy. Legally the agency isn't required to provide any financial help to school districts at all.

The schools and several satellite classrooms serve an average of 218 students ages 5 to 22 with severe disabilities. The agency has offered special schooling since at least the 1960s. Fairfax school opened in 1980, Rost in 1981. A third school closed in 2006 as the agency sought to cut costs.

The funding change means average annual fees that the districts pay for the schooling will increase next year from $19,346 per student to around $32,340 for students who require both schooling and transportation. The increase is smaller for students who don't require transportation or who go to satellite classrooms instead of the Rost or Fairfax schools.

The cost per student varies depending on whether extra services are included like aides to assist the students.

It is unclear what the fee changes will mean for school districts or for students.

Cincinnati Public Schools paid $1.2 million to send 74 students to special schools or satellite classrooms during the 2008-2009 school year, the most of any school district. District officials weren't available this week to talk about the impact because of the holiday break. Deer Park sends the second-most students to special schools or classrooms, 13 students, and Finneytown sends 10. Neither of those districts responded to calls this week.

Most districts send students with severe disabilities to the special schools because they aren't equipped to handle the students in their own classrooms. So if a district can no longer afford to send as many students to agency schools, the students might not be able to go to school at all.

"Each (student) has very, very specific needs; intense needs," said Fairfax Principal Cindy Meinking. "If we weren't here, they'd be at home."

The money -a total of about $13 million this school year - pays for staff, transportation, equipment and general operations at agency schools and classrooms.

For example, on a recent Tuesday morning at Fairfax, one classroom held seven students and six adults - the teacher, a speech language pathologist, a physical therapist, two teaching assistants and a one-on-one aid for a student who needs extra help with certain tasks.

With great animation and enthusiasm, Speech Language Pathologist Karen Ross engaged the students, ages 8-11. She showed off a book about a gingerbread man. When Troy Melnyk (pictured), 11, pressed the proper button the speech device in front of him, a pre-recorded voice called out "Can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread man."

Everyone praised Troy.

Almost all of the students in this school are non-verbal, meaning they rely on computerized communication devices to help them relay their thoughts. They often need help with physical tasks as well such as getting into or out of a wheelchair or getting a drink of water. In Troy's case, he needs to go on a walk every 10 minutes or so in order to stay calm and focused.

In other classrooms, "medically fragile" children need help with feeding tubes or other medical issues. Some of the older children are outnumbered almost two to one by adults because their disabilities lead to behavioral issues like throwing things. One classroom is dedicated solely to "sensory" devices like sounds, lights or music to stimulate a student's senses. Another holds all kinds of equipment from lifts to swings to bicycles with three wheels and hand pedals -one of which can cost $5,000. "We try to make them last," said Meinking.

Schools like Fairfax - heavily staffed with lots of special equipment - are expensive. But the cost of not having them would be greater, officials and parents said.

"Really if we don't offer these kids every opportunity to succeed ...then these individuals won't work up to their potential in society which will result in a huge financial drain on society," said Troy Melnyk's mother, Cassandra Clement, of Clifton. "Why did we send Troy? It's because we want him to do his very best in the future and if we don't do it, more people are going to have to swoop in later to help him. That costs a lot."

Troy was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, a genetic disorder that can result in developmental delays, speech problems, and walking and balance disorders. His brain functions at about the level of a 2-year-old, said his mother. He needs help from a speech therapist and a physical therapist. He just started walking at age 7 and requires a special vest that helps keep him calm and focused.

The Fairfax staff knows how to handle Troy, said Clement.

"We chose (agency) schools because we felt like everyone who worked there had a complete understanding of children with disabilities," she said. "Unless you have a child with special needs you have no idea the impact that child has on your family," she said. "He's never going to drive a car. He is going to be with us until we can no longer take care of him. That's something that a parent never really expects. You need people to help you do what your child needs."