Vernon, NJ: 19% of students receive SPED services; "in line with state average"

Apr 11, 2019, New Jersey Herald: Vernon's new special ed director embraces mandate https://www.njherald.com/20190411/vernon-special-ed-director-embraces-mandate# The Vernon Township School District's new special services director has a mandate to bolster its special education program at a time when Vernon and other districts facing state aid cuts are under pressure to do more with less. The hiring of a dedicated special services director, coming at a time of belt-tightening and staff reductions, follows a roughly two-year period during which the position's duties had been filled by the former schools superintendent as part of his general responsibilities. But after nearly two months on the job, Deborah Merrill -- who left a tenured position at Kittatinny Regional High School to come to Vernon -- is at peace with her decision and knows what she signed up for. … For Vernon, where the 19 percent of students receiving special education services is about in line with the state average, the hiring of a dedicated special services director was one of the goals identified by the board shortly before it began searching for a new superintendent last spring, according to D'Avino, who came on as superintendent in September. D'Avino said having Merrill on staff will go a long way toward enabling Vernon to address what had been identified as gaps in the district's special education program, both in the intervention and referral services that take place before an individualized education plan is drawn up for a given student and also in the transition services for high school students aging out of special education classes and into the workforce. "There is a large body of work that goes along with special services -- everything from before a child is identified to when they're identified to the specialized types of services we offer, whether it's in-class resource, pullout resource, specialized classes for a behavioral disability or anything related to transition," D'Avino said. "It's a huge responsibility and it takes a team approach."