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Experts and parents alike have been confused on whether Missouri is really the last state to have separate, state-funded schools for the severely disabled. Special education is complicated. There are so many different factors to consider- the environment, the teachers, the therapies and other services. So even though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed 40 years ago and provided a framework for the country, it’s still left up to each state to come up with their own best practices.In five-part KBIA series we explore the differing paths of Missouri's special education program.

Exploring the Paths of Missouri’s Special Education: Public v. State Schools

Heather Adams
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KBIA

Since 1975 schools have been mandated by law to provide free, appropriate education to all children, leaving states and schools to figure out what this means for educating children with special needs.The first school for the deaf in the United States opened in the early 1800’ s in Hartford, Connecticut.Since then new educational opportunities and laws have created a wide range of choices for students with disabilities.When Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, passed in 2006, there was a push for more inclusive education.This meant the closure of many separate, state - funded schools for the disabled across the country and new integration for children in standard public schools.But Missouri still has 34 state schools for the severely disabled. 

 This story is part three of a five - part series, “Exploring the Paths of Missouri’ s Special Education.”Click to read part 1 and part 2

One of Missouri’s 34 schools for the severely disabled is located in Columbia. Students at this school are considered low-functioning, and recommended by their public school district. Students typically have an IQ around 40 and have multiple physical and/or mental disabilities.These separate, state - funded schools used to be scattered across the nation.But now Missouri is the last state with them; at least on paper.Some states, instead of having completely government - funded state schools, have regional schools that are contracted out to private companies, and still at least partially funded by the state, while others keep everyone in the same building.

To explore these options, we found students with special needs in both public schools and in Delmar A. Cobble State School for the Severely Disabled. Here are their stories:

The public school:

Spencer Hoffmeister, Farmington High School

"That was one of those moments I began realizing I needed to be as educated as I could. Information and awareness was the power which would ultimately lead to the destiny of Spencer's future."

It’s 2 p.m. on a Monday at Farmington High School in Farmington, Missouri.  Tim Banger stands at the head of the classroom, asking his students questions about poems they just read. Hands shoot up in the air. Among them is the hand of Spencer Hoffmeister, eager to share his answer. 

He works alongside the rest of the students, he jokes around with them, and he answers Banger’s questions. 

Yet Spencer has a few extra challenges to face compared to many of his classmates. He learns at a different pace than his peers, and has had developmental delays with his speech. While it still may be a little difficult for strangers to understand his speech at times, his teachers, peers, and parents have noticed remarkable changes in his communication skills over the past few years.

Jenny Bowling is a paraprofessional who’s been working with Spencer since he started high school. Spencer is a junior now.

  “I remember walking down the hall the day that he called me Mrs. Bowling and I had tears in my eyes,” Bowling said. “Because it was just like we stepped over this new line, a new connection, and now he talks nonstop. He’s chatty, chatty Spencer.”

Spencer’s mom, Michelle Hoffmeister, remembers when he was diagnosed with a cognitive impairment at age 5. She said at first she wasn’t sure where to turn.

“The maze was like too overwhelming for me,” Hoffmeister said. “I think there were resources out there, but I didn’t know if I thought I was supposed to look for them or if they were coming to me.”

In Spencer’s initial Individualized Education Program meeting, known as an IEP, it was suggested he apply for a state school. Hoffmeister wasn’t a fan of the idea. She felt her son could gain so much more in a public school setting.

“I remember not really knowing or truly understanding what a state school was,” she said. “But the manner in which the educator presented it to me was the reason I believed it wasn’t the best placement for Spencer. I did some research and in my gut believed Spencer needed a different learning environment.”

Hoffmeister said she reached out to teachers for their opinions on whether Spencer should go to a state school, and they were shocked at the suggestion. 

“That was one of those moments I began realizing I needed to be as educated as I could,” she said. “Information and awareness was the power which would ultimately lead to the destiny of Spencer’s future.” 

"Why should they have to go to a different building because whatever specialized program isn't there?"

Farmington School District Assistant Superintendent Ashley Krause said that before she took over as assistant superintendent, the district had a group of students who they thought would benefit in a state school. She said the parents liked the state school model, but they wanted their children in the public school setting. So she said they created a classroom for those students.

Krause said they used the state school curriculum, which included a lot on self-help skills. She said they also kept nurses in the room for the children with medical needs, much like at the state schools.

“I probably take it a little too personal,” Krause said. “These are our students, these are our citizens…Their residence is here. No. That child deserves to go to the school of their resident, where they’re playing with their neighbor. Why should they have to go to a different building because whatever specialized program isn’t there?” 

Hoffmeister said it became easier to navigate the resources in place for children with special needs once Spencer started kindergarten. She said his teacher was wonderful, and empowered her as a mother.

“And basically said, you’re the expert on your child,” Hoffmeister said. “If something doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it. But you know better about your child than anybody.”

The confidence Hoffmeister gained from Spencer’s kindergarten teacher helped her find her voice. Krause described her as a pioneer for special education.

“I constantly need people like Michelle in my life,” Krause said. “She’s pushed us, and that’s what’s expected. When [Spencer] graduates, there better be someone to step up and be the parent advocate for things. She’s gotten him where he is today.”

Hoffmeister really began advocating for Spencer when he was in first grade. 

“[He] was basically in segregation classes all the day except like the PE or the art or lunch or whatever, and it just… It just wasn’t right,” she said. 

She knew her son couldn’t reach his full potential by spending 90 percent of his day in a separate education classroom; she could already tell he was too sociable for that. So she spoke up. Now, Spencer spends most of his day in the typical classroom, and he’s now thriving.  

The social skills Spencer picked up are something his parents and teachers don’t believe he would have gained if it were not for classroom integration.

His teachers said he’s very accepted among the student body. Banger described him as a kid who’s just easy to say hello to. He said when Spencer’s not in class, everyone notices. 

“And it’s certainly not because he’s a disruption to the class,” Banger said. “He doesn’t get any of my attention in a negative way. He’s a very well-behaved young man.” 

Bullying is a concern some parents and educators have with sending students with special needs into the regular education classroom. For Spencer, this hasn’t seemed to be an issue. In fact, his fellow students describe him as popular. 

Credit Ashley Reese / KBIA
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KBIA
Spencer Hoffmeister helps organize a shelf at Oasis Christian Bookstore in Farmington, Missouri, on Friday, March 27, 2015. Spencer works at the bookstore through Farmington High School’s transitional services, which school administrators hope will prepare him for life after high school.

“I always see him talking to random people in the hallway that I don’t even know,” said classmate Cole Sutton. “He knows more people than I do.”

While Spencer has made progress in the Farmington School District, the district may be slightly further along in special education than many of Missouri’s rural districts. At least, Krause seems to think so. She said she believes the district has always been progressive, and when she started teaching in 1995, Farmington was one of the only districts in the area that had enough staffing and resources to begin co-teaching programs for special education. 

Since then Krause has been able to build on the foundation prior administrators built.  She said it has helped that she’s had people like Hoffmeister, and a close-knit community, to help guide the way. 

Farmington has also implemented transitional services for students with special needs, something that the rest of Missouri is still pushing for. The students help run a coffee shop in the school, and the school finds students work outside of school. Spencer works at Oasis Christian Bookstore in Farmington from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday through Friday. There he takes out the trash, helps clean the shelves, and interacts with customers. 

“He has a purpose,” Krause said. “He has a job. He has something that’s he’s going to be able to continue to do.”

Nathaniel Wright, Blair Oaks Elementary

Melissa Wright’s 8-year-old son Nathaniel recently transferred to Blair Oaks Public School just outside of Jefferson City. Nathaniel has a rare chromosome deletion; he’s nonverbal and has some other developmental delays, making it difficult for him to form words and keep up with his school work. 

In his previous school Nathaniel was in a separate classroom for students with special needs. When he moved to Blair Oaks, he was placed in the regular education classroom. 

"..they weren't making fun of him, they weren't picking on him, they were playing with him."

“After the first quarter, he had met 50 percent of all his goals, and he hadn’t done that in the Jeff City public schools ever,” Wright said. “I mean I haven’t had anything negative about the education. It’s as good [as it was in the Jefferson City public school], if not better. But the social aspect and the growth he’s had as far as that is just amazing.”

Wright said she really noticed a change in Nathaniel when they went to her older son’s football game. 

“Never before had any kids come up to Nathaniel and wanted to play with him,” Wright said. “And we were sitting there and this kid comes up and tags Nathaniel and said ‘Tag!’… and they weren’t making fun of him, they weren’t picking on him, they were playing with him.”

"...if they're not going to benefit from that interaction, then maybe state school's a better option for them.”

Wright said until that moment she hadn’t noticed Nathaniel was missing the interaction with his peers. Since then she said she’s noticed quite an improvement in his social skills. 

“If I would go somewhere he would sit on my phone or he has an iPad, and now if we go somewhere he actually looks for other kids to play with,” Wright said. 

As more students with special needs attend their local public schools, these schools are creating more individualized education programs. David Wilson, assistant director of special education for Columbia Public School district, said the schools offer an autism specific program. 

However, he said their students with more severe intellectual disabilities tend to spend 90 percent or more of their day in a separate classroom. He also said they do recommend students to move to the state schools- but they leave the decision up to parents and the state.

“If parents are just adamant that they don’t want their student at a state school, we don’t fight that with them. We would much rather continue a good strong relationship with a family than try to fight them over where they’re going to be placed,” Wilson said.

While the public school setting offers socialization with regular ed peers simply not available at a state school, he said some students might still be better off in a state school.

“The question becomes will they really benefit from that interaction?” Wilson said. “And if they’re not going to benefit from that interaction, then maybe state school’s a better option for them.” 

Wright and Spencer’s teachers agreed putting students with special needs into the regular education classroom not only helps with social interaction, but is beneficial to their non-disabled peers as well. 

Peggy Harris, a family and consumer science teacher at Farmington High School, said students learn that everyone has their own gifts.

“And you learn tolerance, you learn the world has different things, every kid in your classroom has something different,” Harris said. 

Spencer’s friend Jake Andrews said he’s learned a lot from Spencer over the years.

“He has a heart, he really does. He has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. What I’ve really learned from him is like caring. Putting other people before yourself.” Andrews said. 

When Wright first learned Nathaniel was to be placed in a regular education classroom in Jefferson City, she was concerned he would affect the learning of his fellow students. Beyond that, she was afraid he might not learn anything at all. 

This is a common fear among parents of children with special needs. How can their kids possibly keep up in a regular education classroom?

It all comes down to IEPs; those long detailed documents that lay out individualized education programs for each student and are designed by a team of parents and experts. 

Banger said technically, he should be able to recite the modifications and accommodations listed in each student’s IEP. But he said teaching these kids really isn’t any different than teaching any other. As he puts it, every kid has needs. 

“I guess it would be a teacher’s dream to hope that everyone kind of melts together and just becomes that one class that’s in the same atmosphere and has to survive together,” Banger said.

The State Schools for the Severely Disabled:

Sophia, Delmar A. Cobble

Sophia attended her first day of kindergarten in the Columbia Public School district, but instead of being in a room with her peers, Sophia was taken into a separate classroom. She is blind and has cerebral palsy, making it difficult for her to be in the regular education classroom. 

Sophia’s not her real name, it’s an alias because she is a foster child, taken during an emergency situation

The school worked with her guardian, Lisa Thomas, to test her IQ. It was decided the best placement for Sophia would be at Delmar A. Cobble State School for the Severely Disabled, where she has been for the past two years. Thomas said she likes the school because Sophia needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, orientation of mobility, music therapy, speech therapy, and has various medical needs, all of which she can receive at the state school.

“Since it’s a whole school, the therapists are able to take her out of the classroom and work with her outside on the playground, in the hallway, they have a big room that she has gym and things like that,” Thomas said. “So, I kind of like the fact that she’s able to spread out. It’s not just one self-contained classroom.”

With Sophia’s disabilities Thomas said a school designed to fit all her needs is important, especially after all the hurdles she’s been through. 

"We try to indicate employment skills, vocational skills, and independent care skills. So, there they will be some sense of independence when they graduate."

When Sophia came to live with Thomas, Thomas was only told three things: Sophia was five years old, she was blind and had cerebral palsy, and she bit. Since then, Thomas said Sophia has grown tremendously. But in the future, Thomas wants to focus on academics, like reading, which she works on with her every night. It’s something she said the school isn’t providing and maybe can’t provide. 

Sophia used to step out of the state school in Columbia and into Parkade Elementary for a music class once a week. But Thomas said she accompanied her and feels she wasn’t being included enough, so she pulled the outing from Sophia’s IEP. 

However, Columbia Public Schools say they accommodate their students, especially their guests. 

Thomas said she is afraid Sophia wouldn’t get the help she needs if she went to a public school full-time. 

“She is getting the therapy she needed, there is not, the teachers are totally and aides are totally dedicated and able to concentrate on the students and work with them one on one. They’re not having to get students out of drawers, they’re not having to get them out of filing cabinets, they’re not having to tell them to stop banging their heads on the wall. They’re not having to tell them to do all this other stuff. They’re able to just concentrate on the students and work with them,” Thomas said.

Academics at the state school, however, are not necessarily about learning ABC’s or learning to count; instead, there is a large focus on daily living skills.  Janice Gerken is the building administrator for E.W. Thompson State School for the Severely Disabled. She said their focus is ultimately on making the students as independent as possible. 

“The whole purpose of the school here is to progress them through the transition to where they can graduate,” Gerken said. “So, we try to indicate employment skills, vocational skills, and independent care skills. So, there they will be some sense of independence when they graduate.” 

A core part of any school are the teachers. But sometimes the State Schools have trouble finding qualified teachers and have to lean on substitutes.  Teachers must have a bachelor’s degree and Missouri teaching certificate in special education. There are currently about 16 teaching vacancies listed on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.  Robin Williams is the director for the State Schools for the Severely Disabled in the northwest part of the state. She said it can be difficult to fill the void of a teacher but sometimes substitutes step up, even going back to school for their teaching degree.

“Some of our people are actually, they will come into here sometimes by accident,” Gerkin said. “Lots of, a lot of our folks will substitute with us in some capacity with us first and find that they really do love it.”

Delmar A. Cobble offers various training for both beginning teachers and substitutes. Williams said the staff all work together to help each other when they have a question. Teachers are also expected to help with various therapies throughout the day, even when the therapist isn’t there. 

At the end of the day, students at the state school get on the bus and are taken home. But many of the schools serve students two hours away, leaving them on a bus for up to four hours a day. Aides at Delmar A. Cobble try to compensate the long rides with singing or reading to students, but this entertainment is not required. 

One of the reasons bus rides have been so long is the closing of closer state schools. Overall, there have been 75 state schools built in Missouri since 1957. However, only 34 remain. Since then, the demographics of students at the state schools have changed, leaving only the students with the most severe disabilities at the State Schools as more students have moved to public schools. But Gerken said one teacher remembers a time when that wasn’t the case. 

“She will say that at one point in time when she actually had students in her room that would read at a third and fourth grade level,” Gerken said. “Well, that’s just not part of the population that we have here anymore, because they are served now in the public school.”

In the future, Thomas wants Sophia to continue going to the state school, getting the therapies she needs. But for academics, she felt she will have to continue to look to outside resources, getting more books in braille and books with raised squares and triangles Sophia can feel to help her learn her shapes.

While Missouri’s continuum of services may be a little different from other states, it works to address the needs of students, which vary significantly.

But all of these options get a little complicated. And the phrasing of IDEA doesn’t give the state a clear picture of what exactly special education should look like, leaving it up to parents, teachers and administrators to know what’s best for students like Spencer, Nathaniel, Sophia and many others.

Music by Arborea and James Blackshaw.