Educational Service Unit #1 Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service 2008-2009 Annual Report
A Note from the Administrator... This Annual Report serves the following purposes: to meet legal requirements as set forth by state statute; to provide information about ESU #1 activities to our schools, the ESU #1 Board and the public; to provide a benchmark in our continuous improvement journey; and to provide data by which decisions can be made. ESU #1 primarily provides contracted services to districts as determined by the needs of each individual school district. ESU #1 maintains a staff of highly qualified individuals who provide exceptional service at a reasonable price. In addition to the contracted services, each district receives assistance through Core Services, which include staff development, technology and media services. There are also a variety of grants that have been secured by ESU #1 that allow school districts additional funding and support in mandated areas. It is our intent to be sensitive to the requests of our twenty-four K-12 school districts and partner with them to meet changing needs through professional expertise, training and support. School districts have come to rely on ESU #1 as an expert in the areas of special education, core services, grant activities, and cooperative purchasing programs. Within this report you will learn about the progress we are making in providing quality service to our schools. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank you for taking the time to review this annual report. Should you have any questions after reviewing this information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Dr. Bob Uhing, Administrator
ESU #1 211 Tenth Street Wakefield, NE 68784 Phone: (402) 287-2061 Fax: (402) 287-2065 www.esu1.org
Annual Report Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
About ESU #1
Educational Service Unit #1 provides services to local school districts in Cedar, Dakota, Dixon, Knox, Thurston and Wayne counties in Northeast Nebraska. ESU #1 is one of seventeen ESUs statewide. Educational Service Units were created by the Unicameral in 1965 and later placed under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Department of Education. Historically, the purpose of the ESU has been to provide services that a school district could not economically or efficiently provide for itself. As the school districts identified their needs, a diversity of services offered by ESUs developed. ESU #1 is headquartered in Wakefield and provides a variety of special education, staff development, technology and media services to the twenty-four school districts in its six-county area. ESU #1 also operates a Severe and Profoundly Handicapped Program and Behaviorally Disordered Program in Wayne at Tower School. In the 2008-2009 school year, ESU #1 served an estimated 11,300 school age students, 200 early childhood students and 1,200 teachers through direct or indirect services.
Board of Directors
Effective January 1, 2009, there is one representative from each of the eleven Election Districts that serve on the ESU #1 Board of Directors. Th e term of office is four years. The Board meets in regular session on the sec ond Tuesday of each month at the Central Off ice, located in Wakefield. The cur rent Board members include: Chairman Dave Dowling Vice-Chairman Fred Boelter Secretary Ronald Wenstrand Sally Reinert Kelly Ballinger Wayne Goeden Joy Bock Nancy Kirkholm Pat Nauroth Rich Higgins Rodney Garwood
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2008-2009 Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
ESU #1 Advisory Council
ESU #1 is accredited by the Nebraska Department of Education and is assisted by an Advisory Council, which is composed of area administrators who represent both the small and large schools within the service area. The Advisory Council reviews, recommends and supports services offered by ESU #1. Those members currently serving on the Council include: Bill Thompson, Ponca Margaret Sandoz, Niobrara Clayton Waddle, Wakefield Russ Gade, Homer Steve Rinehart, Randolph Budgeted Revenue: Ed Stansberry, Walthill General Fund/Carryover 3,750,000 Local Receipts 437,243 Bruce Blanchard, Santee
ESU #1 Budget
Special Education Services
The ESU #1 Special Education Department consists of a diverse group of professionals from a variety of backgrounds with a shared commitment to improving the quality of education for students. ESU #1 Special Education staff is comprised of experts in many areas of education who work collaboratively and take initiative to problem solve and build relationships in an ongoing effort to improve student learning.
Special Education School Services State Funds Federal Funds Property Tax TOTAL
4,353,000 365,000 838,178 1,300,000 736,783 11,780,204
Budgeted Expenditures: General Fund Special Education Core Service State/Federal/Local TOTAL
3,854,125 4,530,225 1,060,854 2,335,000 11,780,204
Program Supervision The primary function of the Special Education Director is to recruit qualified personnel to fulfill the requirements of contracting districts in addition to the assignment, supervision and support of staff. A secondary function is to provide consultation to area districts that includes budget assistance, student placement, federal and state mandates and other related issues.
Audiology The Audiology Department, consisting of one full-time certified/licensed audiologist, is responsible for screening, identification, referral, follow-up, hearing conservation, equipment management and data collection for comprehensive audiological services. Over 12,500 children participated in the 2008-2009 hearing screening. 3
Annual Report Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
Special Education Services, continued Speech/Language
ESU #1 Speech/Language Pathologists are responsible for the identification and remediation of children with communication problems. They strive to reduce or eliminate speech/language difficulties that interfere with a child’s ability to communicate and to derive full benefit from their district’s educational programs. The ESU #1 Speech Department includes 22 therapists. Identified students received direct services and/or consultation in the areas of language, articulation, phonology, apraxia, voice, fluency and literacy readiness and enrichment skills, as well as screening and monitoring hearing ability.
Deaf Education The ESU #1 Deaf Education Department has and continues to provide direct and consultative services to students who have a verified hearing loss and support for families and schools in an effort to improve students’ quality of life.
School Psychology The ESU #1 School Psychology Program provides services in consultation, assessment and intervention to assist educators, parents and other professionals in understanding the learning, social-emotional and behavioral needs of students and in identifying effective strategies to help children be successful learners. During the 2008-2009 school year, approximately 500 students received individual educational and behavioral evaluations. Additionally, over 100 students received individual or group couseling. In addition, ESU #1 Psychologists continued their work to implement forwardthinking programs such as Response to Intervention (RtI) and Improving Learning for Children with Disabilities (ILCD).
Physical and Occupational Therapy The ESU #1 Physical Therapy Program addresses the areas of gross motor skills, orthopedic concerns, impaired mobility and adaptive equipment/positioning needs that interfere with the student’s educational performance. The ESU #1 Occupational Therapy Program addresses the areas of feeding and self-help skills, fine and visual motor skills, visual processing skills, sensory processing, positioning and adaptive devices or equipment. During the 2008-2009 school year, ESU #1 physical therapists served nearly 200 students and ESU #1 occupational therapists served over 400 students.
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2008-2009 Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
Special Education Services, continued Transition
The ESU #1 Transition Program is designed to help students with disabilities acquire the necessary skills and experiences to move into adult living. The Transition Specialist should be an integral part of the transition team, working with special educators, counselors, parents, students, potential employers and adult service providers. Transition takes into account each student’s preferences, interests and strengths. This process may include job shadows, interest testing and links with service providers.
Vision The ESU #1 Vision Program is designed to meet the individual needs of students with verified visual impairments. Services provided included direct instruction in the areas of braille instruction and in the areas of the expanded core curriculum for the visually impaired, consultation, material preparation/adaptation, and functional visual evaluations. During the 2008-2009 school year, one teacher of the visually impaired served 40 students in 12 different school districts in the six county service area. 5
Annual Report Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
Special Education Services, continued Tower School Severe and Profoundly Handicapped Program The ESU #1 Tower School S/P Program is designed to meet the educational, emotional, social and physical needs of students placed in the program who have been diagnosed as Mentally Handicapped: Severe/Profound. During the 2008-2009 school year, one certified teacher, along with other itinerant service providers and 6.5 Paraeducators, served 7.39 students from four school districts.
Tower School Behaviorally Disordered Program The goal of the ESU #1 Tower School BD Program is to teach students placed in the program appropriate behavior required to function positively within a traditional academic and social setting. During the 2008-2009 school year, one certified teacher, along with other itinerant service providers and 3.75 Paraeducators, served 9.98 students from nine school districts.
Early Childhood The goal of the Early Childhood program is to provide appropriate comprehensive services to all children who are referred, ages birth to five, and are verified as behaviorally disordered, deaf, developmentally delayed, hearing impaired, learning disabled, mentally handicapped, multihandicapped, orthopedically impaired, speech/language impaired, visually handicapped or children with other health impairments. During the 2008-2009 school year, eight Early Childhood Special Education Teachers and EDN Service Coordinators served 207 children, ages birth to give, by providing evaluations, consultations, and direct services.
Early Development Network The Early Development Network strives to help families of children with special needs below age three: understand their child’s disability and provide assistance in dealing with situations that interfere with the child’s development; find services to meet developmental, educational, financial, health care, child care, respite care, and other needs; work with multiple providers to make sure services are provided as needed; and become coordinators of services for their own children in the future. The Early Development Network is comprised of three staff members and one supervisor. 6
2008-2009 Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service
Core Services
ESU #1 Core Services includes staff development, technology, and instructional media personnel. The primary focus of the Core Service area is to improve student learning through the use of instructional training for teachers, technology training for both staff and students, and the provision of ancillary resources through the media center.
Staff Development
Staff Development is built around areas of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and School Improvement. The four member team supports districts in the following ways: Faciltating Data Retreats; Overviewing the North Central (NCA) School Improvement Process as well as the Nebraska Continuous Improvement Process (CIP); Preparing for External Visits; Curriculum Alignment; Reading Strategies and Interventions; Six-Trait Writing Instruction and Assessment; Writing in the Content Areas; Collecting, Organizing and Analyzing Data; and 21st Century Teaching and Learning. During the 2008-2009 school year, ESU #1 Staff Developers provided assistance to school districts though workshops, presentations and site visits and more than 175 workshops and trainings were sponsored by ESU #1.
Technology Infrastructure
The primary goal of the ESU #1 Technology Department is to provide expert advice and consultation. During the 2008-2009 school year, increasing bandwidth was a priority for the Technology Department, as schools took advantage of having 40 mg of bandwidth. Bandwidth for the Unit is planned to increase from 150 mg to 300 mg this school year. This has provided ESU #1 schools with a distinct advantage compared to many areas of the United States and, as a result, Distance Education use has and will continue to grow. Throughout the constant technology advances, ESU #1 is committed to helping support schools and helping students and teachers learn.
Technology Training
The ESU #1 Technology Trainer assists students, teachers, support staff and administrators by providing instruction in the areas of technology, technology integration and instructional materials. Projects and trainings during the 2008-2009 school year included the use of Nintendo Wii and Dance Dance Revolution in the areas of Special Education and Physical Education, the use of iPods for student testing and portfolios, and podcasting all as part of our focus on 21st Century tools for education. ESU #1 provided up to 100 Angel licenses (Learning Management System) to assist in online classes. Continued training was offered for the Angel learning management system, Hippocampus and N.R.O.C. (National Repository of Online Courses). ESU #1 also provided PowerMedia Plus to all ESU #1 students and teachers. PowerMedia Plus includes all media types with 3,300 videos, 23,000 core concept clips, 6,000 audio files, 5,000 printed resources and 25,000 images, photos and illustrations, as well as 15,000 quiz questions and 1,000 pre-made quizzes.
Media
The ESU #1 Media Center provides instructional assistance by supplying professional development resources materials, programs, satellite teleconferences, polycom access, assistive technology inventory distribution, as well as completing and delivering individual orders for duplication, binding, laminating and die cuts for administrators, teachers and staff of ESU #1 schools.
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Providing Innovation, Leadership and Service 211 Tenth Street Wakefield, NE 68784 Phone: (402) 287-2061 Fax: (402) 287-2065 www.esu1.org