Expansion of Special Education Aid OKd
A program aimed at expanding the number of special education students who can be taught at school has been approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.
The program, a joint effort between county mental health officials and local schools, will put four additional therapists in area schools to teach emotionally disturbed children who might otherwise have to be taught at home. There are six working in the schools now.
Mental Health Director Randall Feltman said the program needed to be expanded because the number of children classified as emotionally disturbed has more than doubled in six years to 321 this year.
Cost of the $170,000 expansion will be picked up by local schools and the county, Feltman said. But the county will be reimbursed by the state for its share, he said.
The therapists, who can teach about 10 students each, will be assigned to the Pleasant Valley, Oxnard Union High, Ventura Unified and Conejo Valley Unified school districts.
Supervisors unanimously approved the program without discussion Tuesday.
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