Met with opposition from parents of special-needs students
Upcoming changes in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program in Osceola County have some local parents outraged.
The changes, presented at the March 11 Osceola County School Board meeting are intended to enhance the services offered to these students.
A 2024 report from the Department of Education showed that Osceola County has one of the highest populations of ESE students in selfcontained classrooms in the state. At 21.4% as of January 2025, Osceola’s ESE population is much higher than the state’s 13.37%.
“It’s clear that our current posture is very different than the rest of the state and certainly different than the state’s average, and that should concern everyone,” Shanoff said. “And we are not in a position to sustain where we currently are, because our students will fall further and further behind, and we cannot have that. We are clearly seeing that the rest of the state is passing us because we have not adapted to what our students need in ESE.”
Some of the enhancements planned for the 2025-2026 school year include increasing inclusive opportunities, such as a blended VPK, and having students with disabilities in general education classes for 40-79% of their day.
Hilary DeLuca, Director for Exceptional Student Education, said the School District is in the process of communicating the upcoming changes to the schools and families, and will support transitions for the students and staff switching schools. Those moves will be necessary for students who still require instruction in the separate class setting, as there are only certain schools within the district that will continue to have full-time separate class settings.
The School District has set up a webpage with links to information about the changes, including an FAQ page, at: https://www.osceolaschools.net/domain/135.
Parents like Dena Whitfield say these changes will take away parents’ ability to choose a school that meets their children’s needs. Whitfield and her family moved to St. Cloud 11 years ago from Georgia, where she had been a publicschool teacher for many years. They have five children, two of whom were adopted and have Down Syndrome.
“When we brought them home, we knew would have battles,” she said. “But I thought it would be health battles. I thought it would be, like, our older children adjusting to having these two [new siblings]. Those kinds of battles. I just never thought that the school system would be something that I would have to fight this hard against.”
Whitfield said she has battled the last few years to find the best learning situation for their children. After a rough start at one school, a year of homeschooling one of their children, and going through mediation to have the District provide a one-on-one assistant for her son, the family school-choiced their children to Harmony.
“And so here we are now at Harmony. My children are thriving. They love school. They’re learning. We choose to go there,” Whitfield said.
But just when they found success, they were told at an Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting in February their children will be moved to Narcoossee Elementary School as part of the ESE changes.
As a former teacher, Whitfield says she understands the importance of inclusion.
“I get that inclusion is important. And it works when done correctly,” she said. “But these parents have worked so hard, taking two and three years to get the solid IEP started. Now you’re going to take that— what we worked for and what you pushed for, which for the most part was putting these children in self-contained ESE classrooms—and you’re going to throw that out the window.”
A local school administrator, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said they agree inclusion works when done correctly—in counties that provide the personnel support that Osceola teachers will not receive.
“With the gen ed teacher, they gave them a para to help with the transitions, help with the stimulation of the student … they had someone that can put them back on track when the teacher was teaching,” she said. “But asking a general teacher to do all of that for every single student—and they’re not going to have one, they’re going to have three or four being pushed in—and with a VE teacher that’s there only three or four days out of the week.
“My kindergarten teacher will get a student in diapers. She can’t change that child’s diaper without leaving 18 other students in the classroom unsupervised. And no general teachers want to change a child’s diaper, because they’re not comfortable doing that. So why are we not providing them para support?”
The administrator said the model can work in Osceola County, with that added teacher support.
“That’s the only way this model is going to work. And I believe it can. And we want our ESE students to be around general education population students, because when they become adults, they have to work in a setting with general populated citizens. So you have to get them into that routine.
“But it’s not going to be successful for all. You can’t do a one-size-fits-all. I think they’re being pushed into general ed. They’re not going to get that individualized instruction. They’re setting themselves up for failure.”
