<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1FP7Z1_11I8AVw400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1FP7Z1_11I8AVw400" width="2048" height="1365" ><figcaption>One of the Developmental Education Communication Classrooms at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School in Juneau on May 15, 2025. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)</figcaption></figure>Listen here: The Juneau School District is restructuring one of its specialized education programs. While staff and administrators say the change is desperately needed, some parents are concerned about how it will affect some of the district’s most vulnerable students. District staff reviewed the changes during a board meeting last Thursday at Thunder Mountain Middle School. Teachers, paraeducators, principals and parents filled the lecture room. Heavy silences punctuated the special education staff’s descriptions of dire circumstances.“When all you can do is do your absolute best to make sure nobody dies today, that’s a significant problem,” said Phil Buettel, a paraeducator for the Developmental Education Communication Classrooms, or DEC-C, at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School. The class is meant to support students as they develop communication skills. But Buettel said that’s not happening.“We don’t have the bandwidth to accomplish our most basic objective, because we’re more concerned with making sure that kids aren’t killing each other or us,” he said.The class has 19 students this year. If the program remains unchanged, that number would jump up to 26 students next fall.Tim Owen is the head teacher for the class at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen. He’s been there two years, which makes him the longest serving teacher for the program in recent years. But Owen is resigning at the end of the school year. At the meeting, he said 26 students is too many for one class.“I know 26 doesn’t sound like a lot for a general education teacher, but with the kids that we have and the needs that they have, it is impossible,” Owen said.The increased enrollment prompted the district to work with Owen and other employees to restructure the program.The current specialized education program has four classes based at Harborview Elementary School, Mendenhall River Community School and Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary. Student Services Director Jason DeCamillis said the new program will focus on training to help staff better meet students’ needs.“We’re not training folks in this really broad, really shallow way,” he said. “We’re going deep and we’re going very narrow to ensure that students are getting the exact right people who have the exact right training.”In the restructure, each class will focus on one specific skill set, like communication, social emotional skills or navigating different environments. Classes will be placed at a specific school. The proposed class sizes will be smaller, too. The district plans to have no more than 11 students in a given class.But DeCamillis said there are some downsides to the restructuring. Up to 22 students would have to move schools to go to their new program if families want to participate in it.“Students will have to move from one school to another, and so understanding what individual student needs and family needs are related to that transition is going to be a huge key to the work that a lot of the folks on this team are gonna have to focus in on,” he said.The district’s plan includes working with families over the summer to develop ways to make the transition go smoothly for students.Alyssa Cadiente-Laiti-Blattner has a son in the class at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen. She said parents weren’t involved in initial discussions when the district first announced the program.“We are our children’s best advocates. We are there with them every day,” she said. “We live this life with them, and so I wish there had been more parent involvement.”After learning more about the program, Cadiente-Laiti-Blattner said she is hopeful about the smaller class sizes. But she’s still concerned about the district’s ability to carry it out.“I know that they do have the best intentions for our children, but it still brings concerns, and this hasn’t changed for me, that they have the plan, but they don’t have the staff, they don’t have the paras, they don’t have the logistics,” she said.The district is hiring two special education teachers for the current programs, according to job listings on the district’s website. DeCamillis said in an email the district is finalizing where to assign existing staff. Owen, who is leaving at the end of the school year, said teachers are reaching out to each student’s family to help ease their transitions.He said in an interview with KTOO that, in the end, the new program will be good for students.“For the first time in a long time, I’m actually really excited to share this with families, and I feel like they have reason for hope more than they ever have,” Owen said.The restructuring, which doesn’t need board approval, is set to move forward. The district will continue working with families through the summer to help students with the transition if they decide to opt in to the program. The district expects it to begin in the fall.</div></body>

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The Juneau School District is restructuring one of its specialized education programs. While staff and administrators say the change is desperately needed, some parents are concerned about how it will affect some of the district’s most vulnerable students. District staff reviewed the changes during a board meeting last Thursday...

Overcrowding and safety concerns prompt Juneau School District to restructure special education program

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The Juneau School District is restructuring one of its specialized education programs. While staff and administrators say the change is desperately needed,

Overcrowding and safety concerns prompt Juneau School District to restructure special education program

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