Leah Cantor
A new program would use four classrooms at the Aspen Community School.
In response to a teacher shortage combined with rapidly rising behavioral issues among students following the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Fe Public Schools has been making plans to contract services for high-needs students from Special Education Services, Inc., also known as Sierra Schools.
Jeff Pinkerton, the school district’s executive director of Exceptional Student Service, tells SFR the nearly $1.5 million contract up for discussion at the June 22 board meeting aims to address his concerns about “really providing quality education for students with these escalating behaviors.”
“We looked at several companies. It’s very difficult to find people in the Santa Fe area that want to work with behavioral children,” he adds.
For two years, SFPS has posted job openings for four behavioral health positions needed at the district’s elementary schools. Meanwhile, the district faces what educators around the nation have reported as an added challenge for many students struggling to reacclimate to life in the classroom following the long period of remote learning.
“I’ve not had a single person apply, not one,” Pinkerton says. “I’ve tried to talk people into switching positions, and it’s such a difficult thing. What we’re finding is people now need to be more highly trained in those specific fields. That’s what led me to look at the SESI contract.”
The new program would take place at the Aspen Community School because of the building’s vast space, central location in the city and its recent renovations.
“It’s a phenomenal facility, and it’s very under-utilized, because at one point this year, it only had about 320 students,” Pinkerton says. “It has about 370-380 right now, including the programs that are there.”
Pinkerton says he expects the program to work well for students with behavioral issues because the company focuses on providing a pathway for students to return to general education classrooms. SESI’s program, he says, gives students more support than the average classroom does.
Plans call for four classrooms with a maximum capacity of eight students per classroom—32 in the entire program. Currently, SFPS has about 16 students who would qualify for the program in August, if the school board approves the contract. In a classroom of eight students, three adults would be in the room at all times.
Pinkerton says the contract will provide resources for students the school district would otherwise be unable to provide, such as social workers and additional behavioral specialists.
Some teachers, however, have raised questions regarding the proposal. Deborah Anaya, a teacher from Aspen Community Magnet School, approached the school board during its May 10 meeting.
“Staff were told Sierra classrooms would be taking over most of the second-floor, middle-school classroom areas. They were also informed Sierra would be bringing in all of their own staff and ancillary providers,” Anaya said, noting she conducted “minimal research” on the company that “shows terrible ratings from employees; at least one lawsuit has been successfully litigated against them for physical abuse of a student. Is the board taking Sierra employee ratings into consideration?…Who is liable for students, Santa Fe Public Schools or Sierra?”
The case Anaya referenced at the meeting stems from a 2010 incident in which a Connecticut mother alleged her special-needs child was physically restrained by an SESI employee, resulting in the child being knocked unconscious from a blow to the right side of his head and having part of his ear torn off. The mother filed a lawsuit in 2013, and the case was ongoing as of 2015, but the final judgment in the case is not available to the public.
Pinkerton tells SFR he discussed the matter with SESI, who told him the incident occurred because an employee had not followed policy and that the employee was dismissed for their actions.
“I felt like they were upfront and genuine about their response to me,” Pinkerton said. “They said, ‘Look, we try our very best, because that kills our reputation, anything like that.’”
Pinkerton said the SESI contract calls for three full weeks of training on New Mexico and SFPS guidelines before the school year starts. Despite his excitement for the potential program, he says he understands why some teachers have initial reservations.
“Sometimes change is difficult, especially for educators. They’re used to it only being one way,” Pinkerton says. “The research behind all of this, they’re not used to it. They’ve never seen it before. This is the first program like this in New Mexico…The whole goal is to help the little ones understand why they’re feeling frustrated or angry, or whatever their issues are. It’s to get kids to identify and self-regulate.”
The contract was scheduled to be presented for approval at the school board’s June 8 meeting, but the meeting was canceled. The proposed contract is on the consent agenda for the Thursday meeting that begins at 5:30 pm.
