RUMFORD – Offering its own day-treatment program for special needs youngsters could save SAD 43 a substantial amount of money.

Plans are going forward to establish just such a program. At Monday’s board meeting, Director of Special Services Paige Coville described additional staff needs and numbers of students who currently receive special education services.

Of the approximately 325 students who have been identified as special education students, about 20 are currently transported to day-treatment programs in Wilton or Lewiston.

If SAD 43 establishes its own program, Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said about a dozen of these youngsters would receive their education within the district. Several others would likely continue to be educated at other facilities because of the severity of their disabilities.

But, he said, another seven or eight are likely to be identified as needing day treatment services. Also surrounding districts may decide to send several of their special needs children to the proposed SAD 43 program instead of to programs further away. He said he should know whether SAD 21, SAD 44 or Peru want to take advantage of the proposed program sometime in April.

About $250,000 to $300,000 would be needed to launch a district-based day treatment program. This money would be used to hire three special education teachers, an assistant special services director, a social worker and six educational technicians.

Hodgkin said the district pays an average of $22,000 a year per student to send its students outside of the district for educational services. He estimated a substantial reduction in that figure if the services were offered in the Rumford area, particularly because the state reimburses a larger portion of these costs when students are educated within their districts.

In addition to the potential for saving money, Hodgkin said educating special needs students in house saves on transportation costs and keeps the youngsters closer to home.

A site for housing such a program has not yet been identified; however, Hodgkin said the district is looking at acquiring a donated parcel of property. He said, too, that some of the offices in the district could be reconfigured to house the proposed new program.

The proposed day treatment program was part of the board’s work on developing the 2004-05 operating budget. In addition to the new program, Coville also said her department will need at least four new educational technicians to assist with the education of several severely disabled kindergartners who are expected to enter the district in the fall. A technology educational technician is also needed for the department.

Mountain Valley Principal Bruce Lindberg requested an expansion in the U.S. history program from one to two years. If approved, no new staff would be required, said Hodgkin.

New items requested for 2004-05 from other district administrators were primarily for textbook replacement.

Hodgkin said a tentative budget will likely be announced in mid-March. Last year’s adopted budget was $13.69 million.

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