| Family involvement plays key role in success for Special Education Students | |
| Bartlesville Public Schools has 727 students enrolled in Special Education Services of some kind this year. These programs have been under-funded since being mandated by the federal government nearly 30 years ago. It is through generous local businesses and families, special education students receive care or therapy they otherwise might not. | |
| One local family, David and Patty Noland, have done more than their fair share of work for Special Education Services. Their daughter is enrolled in special education in the district, and they wanted to help. “One family can make a difference,” Patty says. “We just had a desire to help in Special Education in anyway we could.” | |
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One of the big things they did was to create the “Special Kids Wish List Fund”. “So far we’ve contributed about $5200, which has all been matched by my husband’s company, ConocoPhillips,” Noland said. The Noland’s make contributions twice a year to the fund. Their generosity has brought several new special education tools and resource items into our district that benefits many special education students. Twice a semester, the Special Kids Wish List Committee meets to determine what items are most needed. So far, the committee has bought: 7 Intellikeys Software packages which enables students with limited mobility to have access to the computer, 7 dozen fluta-phones, 11 exercise cushions, a new audiometer to measure hearing, several special “visual” timers for autistic children, and playground equipment for Will Rogers Pre-School Special Services “Our goal is to buy a new audiometer every year,” said Noland, “as long as the money is available, we’ll continue to purchase one annually, until there are enough to meet the student needs, they costs about a thousand dollars each.” Other parents volunteer their time to help Bartlesville Public Schools improve their services. Two years ago, the Special Education Advisory Committee was formed to research the districts programs. Parents, special education teachers, classroom teachers, and other special education professionals met together and addressed key areas of the Special Education Program. As they established areas of focus, the recommendations they made to the school board were largely implemented. Co-Chairperson of the committee, Donna Botts is still pleased with the results of the committee, “The thing I am most proud of from the Special Education Advisory Committee, is it brought awareness to the school board, the school district, the parents about changes that were needed, and the teachers. The teachers need our support and understanding.” Sherri Wardinsky also volunteered on that committee. “Having served on the Advisory committee, I have to say I was amazed that the school district was willing to make the changes that were recommended. Bartlesville made 95% of the changes we recommended. It was fabulous.” If you’d like to get involved with the Special Kids Wish List Fund, volunteer in the classroom, or assist in another way, please contact the Education Service Center at 336-8600. In our next article in this special education series, we’ll look at some of the good things happening at Bartlesville Public Schools Special Services.Bartlesville Public Schools, Christina Hoskin, Community Relations Supervisor |
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