Marblehead issues report on special ed programs

MARBLEHEAD – Director of Student Services Robert Bellucci’s annual report on Marblehead special education programs reads like a spreadsheet.In a 55-page report Bellucci told the School Committee Thursday that special education will cost the School Department $1.7 million next year for 27 programs which will educate 160 Marblehead students.However, those programs will be conducted in Marblehead – and Bellucci also told the committee that the same services would cost the town $6.4 million in tuitions and transportation if 115 students were sent out-of-town.Bellucci’s biggest bargain is the 7-year-old Glover School STEPS (Systematic Teaching for Educational Progress in School) program for children in Grades 1-3, which combines academics with behavior management.The program costs the town $362. It is supported in part by tuition from an out-of-town student and grants.There are three Marblehead students enrolled. If they had to be sent out-of-town the cost would be $66,000 per student, or $198,000.Another plus is the 12-year-old Marblehead High Life Skills transitional program, which has served students in Grade 9 to age 22. It has three Marblehead students and four out-of-towners. That program is actually earning the department $84,940 this year.If the town had to place three students out-of-town, the cost would be $44,000 per student, or $132,000.Bellucci’s proposed changes for next year are in his Life Skills programs, creating an additional section for the Access Program for Kindergarten-Grade 3 and an additional high school program. The Transitional Program will be for students in Grades 9-12 and a new VOICE program (Vocational Opportunities, Independence and Continuing Education) will be for students 18-22.Bellucci assured the committee that his changes will not require any additional funding and expressed his awareness of “the leaner times we’re heading into.”