Preschool Inclusion in a Public School System

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Preschool Inclusion in a Public School System

• A Road Less Traveled,
• But Worth Every Bump!

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Granite School District

• Set in the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah
• 70,000 students Pre-K through 12
• Ranks as one of the nations 40 largest school
  districts
• 20.5 Hispanic
• 3.4 Pacific Islander
• 3.3 Asian
• 1.7 African American
• 1.2 American Indian
• 69.9 Caucasian

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Granite Preschool History

• Preschool happening but not together!
• Long standing district sponsored parent co-op
  preschool for 3 and 4 year olds.
• Hit and miss Title 1 funded preschool at some but
  not all Title 1 schools no standard for
  services/curriculum
• Long standing segregated preschool special
  education classes
• Once upon a time Head Start Grantee

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Preschool - THEN

• 16 self-contained classes in 15 schools
• 17 Title 1 classes in 16 schools
• 16 Co-op classes in 14 schools
• Serving 1800 children
• Curriculum teacher made
• Head Start eligible children received SpEd
  services only in district preschools
• Very little collaboration, cooperation,
  communication between preschools even those
  located in the same building
• Preschool under separate leadership departments
• All professional development done separately and
  sporadic

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Granite School DistrictPreschool Options

• Community Education Preschool Parent Co-op
  Tuition based
• Title I Preschool
• Special Education Preschool
• Head Start
• Childrens Center
• Carmen Pingree School
• Utah Schools for the Deaf Blind
• Even Start
• High School Applied Technology Child Development

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Timeline for ChangeThe Early Stages

• 2002
• July-October gathering information about
  existing preschools (separate departments within
  district)
• October-December newly formed Leadership Team
  to discuss future Preschool Department
• Members Co-op, Sp Ed, Title 1, Even Start,
  Applied Technology

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Timeline Continued

• 2003
• January Preschool Advisory Committee formed
  (included preschool representatives from
  different departments plus parents 25 members)
• February-March- 1)Advisory and Leadership groups
  met 2) meetings with district level
  administrators to intro proposed inclusion model
  3)focus group meetings held with School level
  Title 1 specialists, preschool teachers, related
  services staff, classroom teaching assistants and
  principals

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Timeline

• 2003 continued
• March Co-op teachers started anti-inclusion
  campaign with parents
• Parent meeting was held to address concerns
• Question/Answer sheet developed and sent to
  all Co-op parents
• May-June Advisory Committee and Leadership Team
  developed proposed plan for the 2003-2004 school
  year
• Letters to the school board and newspapers
  caused much up-roar board questions the purpose
  of the Big Change

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2003-2004A year of compromise

• Preschool Department formed
• 2 schools to pilot inclusive preschools
  side-by-side with self-contained classes
• All other schools with multiple classrooms are
  encouraged to provide inclusive opportunities
  (13 schools identified)
• Creative Curriculum adopted district wide
• All professional development will be done as a
  department focus on literacy, numeracy and
  social development
• Development of department policy/procedure manual
• Continue to develop the phase in plan for
  inclusion

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Enter New Director

• 2003
• August-October pilot implemented at 2 schools
• Department struggles to come together a mix of
  philosophies, curriculum, education background
  etc
• November New director hiredthe pilot and phase
  in plan gets overhauled
• December parent meetings held all 3 were well
  attended
• Principal meetings held to get feedback, input,
  and ask/answer questions
• Dialogue with district superintendency parent
  and principal meeting outcomes shared/discussed

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Parent Meetings

• Brief introduction of current preschool programs
  (Co-op, Title 1 and Special Ed)
• Brief introduction of laws, regulations, and
  state rules that govern preschools
• Brief introduction to proposed plan
• Open dialogue without judgmentall responses from
  parents are recorded the good, the bad and the
  VERY ugly

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School Board Presentation

• January 2004 Closed session with the school
  board and upper administration. Presentation
  centered around IDEA statute, regs and state
  rules regarding LRE and placement.
• Open meeting with School Board attended by
  numerous parents and staff members
• February Board unanimously supports full
  inclusion for preschool to begin August 2004

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Fast Track to Inclusion District-wide

• Multiple meetings with staff to prepare for
  2004-05 school year colorful dialogue with
  staff many threats to leave program, fears were
  revealed, but mostly anticipation and excitement
• Coordinators worked all summer to ensure that
  professional development was ready to meet the
  needs of staff
• New pay scale was approved all staff received a
  raise
• Work with transportation to get children from 14
  schools to 34 schools

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Preschool - NOW

• Preschool at 38 elementary schools
• 64 classrooms 180 sessions of preschool each
  week
• 250 staff members
• 2500 children served
• 18 children per session 3-5 children with
  disabilities
• All lead teachers have minimum of CDA- Many with
  BS or higher
• Teacher Assistants number per class dictated by
  childrens needs
• Secured increased support from Title 1,
  Special Education and tuition increase approved

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• Special Education teachers/consultants assigned
  to each classroom
• Related services provided based on childrens
  needs
• Head Start eligible children receive all services
  at Head Start
• Professional Development each month special
  education staff meetings/trainings
• Teacher resource library
• Department Coordinators have gelled work
  together toward a common end network support
• Great new department location together
  evaluation centervery visible

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1 year under our belt

• Effective communication continues to be a
  struggle within the department
• Monthly Professional Development was successful
  Share Fair was very popular
• Those who were the loudest doubters have become
  die hard supportersand very vocal about it!
• Year end Celebration of Our Successes was very
  emotional so many stories to share

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• Questions still surround roles of each staff
  team member a bit of the turf wars
• Zero parent complaints received by Board of
  Education a first for preschool!
• District support is more evident
  transportation, upper administration, human
  resources, buildings/boundaries
• Word is getting aroundwe have had the largest
  number of high quality applicants in preschool
  history!

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Whats Next?

• Continue to improve communication within the
  department
• Continue monthly professional development staff
  have now identified areas of needed
  training/information
• Look forward to preschool classrooms in each
  elementary all children would then attend their
  neighborhood school
• CELEBRATE our SUCCESSES, LEARN from our
  CHALLENGES!

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Need More Information?

• brenda.broadbent_at_granite.k12.ut.us
• maryann.fetzer_at_granite.k12.ut.us
• Granite School District
• Preschool Services Department
• 2500 South State
• Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
• 801-646-4670