By Anthony Romanello, County Administrator, Stafford County, Virginia 

For local governments and public school systems, the escalating number of autism cases can strain budgets. It is estimated that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism, and an estimated 1.5 million individuals in the United States and tens of millions worldwide are affected. These numbers continue to increase each year.

To combat this issue, the Stafford County, Virginia, Office of Human Services and Stafford County Public Schools joined forces to create the Heather Empfield Day School and Transition Center. This is the culmination of a five-year plan that responds to the increase in students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disabilities who require unique specialized services.

In September 2009, the day school and transition center opened its doors to serve elementary and secondary-level students with autism disorders who require a highly-structured learning environment with minimal distractions, small classroom sizes, and intense behavioral interventions to access their education.

Currently, there are two separate programs, elementary through secondary, within the public day school. One program is for students with autism and the other program is for students with intellectual and emotional disabilities.

Students who are enrolled in both programs are significantly below their same-age peers in academic and social interaction abilities. Both programs offer an educational atmosphere that concentrates on literacy and mathematics skills as identified in each student’s individualized educational program (IEP) plan, which is a written plan developed by the parents and the school’s special education team. It specifies a student’s academic goals and the method to succeed and achieve them.

The program focuses on providing students with the necessary tools to navigate and understand the world around them and potentially enable them to return to their public school classroom and eventually successfully integrate into their local community. Behavioral support and such other specialized services as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and transition assistance are available.

The program includes a structured educational learning environment on the elementary and secondary level with social development, behavioral support and modification, and sensory integration with such specific sensory activities as swinging, bouncing, brushing, and rolling that can help students regulate their sensory response to daily environmental and emotional stressors.

The outcome of these activities may be better focus, improved behavior, and reduced anxiety to help a student get through the school day. Assistive technology is also used to help improve speech and communication.

The public day school is also committed to addressing transition challenges through hands-on training at the on-site Transition Center, which provides a practical vocational program that can help students express interest in potential careers while learning necessary life skills that will help them live and work more independently.

In the transition program, students learn the process of manufacturing and repair based on an assembly process. A student’s interests and abilities are assessed by a transition specialist who determines the student’s individual strengths, needs, aptitudes, and interests and then provides appropriate instruction in carpentry, small-engine maintenance, and bicycle repair. Skills that are taught include changing a tire, diagnosing and repairing motorized equipment, and calculating the costs of repairs. Students often repair lawn mower motors for local residents for a minimal $10 fee.

Throughout the school year, teachers implement each student’s IEP plan and curriculum, along with quality academic lessons, and collaboratively work with the transition specialist and social worker to monitor any type of behavioral change. Students attending the public day school qualify for the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program, which is designed to evaluate the performance of students with significant cognitive disabilities who are working on academic standards that have been reduced in complexity and depth. This content is derived from the standards of learning and is referred to as the aligned standards of learning.

Family support and parent training on the components of the program are available through additional community-based services accessed through the family assessment and planning team. This support provides a seamless service that assists the children in transitioning from school to home and into the community.

Special transportation is also available that includes staff assistance and positive behavioral support. Extended school year services are determined individually for each child through their IEP. Students within this program, however, are expected to require a continuation of support beyond the typical calendar school year to maximize opportunities for growth and development in language, behavior, social skills, and interests.

Prior to the establishment of the public day school, students requiring this level of support and specialized methodologies were served in other localities in private schools at a cost to Stafford County of $45,000 to $109,000 per student annually. As of July 2011, the average cost of a student in the public day school is $28,000 annually, saving the county an estimated $311,326 in its first year.

The costs for starting and operating the program are shared between Stafford County and the school system. Some funding is received from the state, based on the Comprehensive Services Act, a 1993 Virginia law that provides for the pooling of eight specific funding streams used to purchase services for high-risk youth.

These funds are then returned to the localities with a required state/local match and are managed by two local interagency teams who decide which services are needed and where to allocate the funds. Participating entities are community services, juvenile justice department, department of social services, and Stafford County Public Schools.

Using a combination of local and federal stimulus funds, the school system was able to renovate the basement at a middle school for the public day school.  The construction process was long and challenging and involved the collaboration of more than 20 departments between the county and the school system.

The cost of renovating the basement was approximately $482,807; $127,958 of federal stimulus funding was used for furniture and such equipment as smart boards, projectors, locks, telephones, cabinets, appliances, computers, and other technology.

The teachers and staff have constant and intentional focus on each individual student’s developmental and educational goals, including speech, behavioral issues, and academics. When the school opened in 2009, the initial staffing levels included one special education teacher, one part-time speech pathologist, and one part-time occupational therapist.

Also needed were adaptive physical education services, or modified, physical education services designed to meet the individualized gross motor needs and other disability-related challenges of the students; a social worker and case manager, behavioral support assistants for each student, and student/teacher assistants for overall program support. The current teacher to student ratio is 1:7.

When the day school opened its doors in 2009, officials anticipated double enrollment within a year. With a student capacity of 20 students, to date, a total of 33 students have participated in the program. The school served 12 students for the 2010–2011 school year.

The school is named after Heather Empfield, an autism coordinator for Stafford County who was instrumental in planning and developing the school before her death in May 2009.