County Special Services School Districts mission is to promote the unique role of county special services school districts as providers of highly specialized placements for students with severe and multiple disabilities and cost-effective shared services for local districts.

1. County Special Services Districts:
Public Partners for In-District
Special Education Solutions
October 27, 2015

2. Session Highlights
Special Services School District Overview
Five CSSSD Superintendents share innovative
and cost effective solutions
Learn about specific services including:
• Inclusive program models
• Transition and job
coaching services
• Alternative school
programs
• Deaf and hard of hearing
programs in district
• Related services
• Transportation services

3. Special Services School District Overview

4. The 8 Special Services Districts in New Jersey
 Atlantic
 Bergen
 Burlington
 Cape May
 Gloucester
 Mercer
 Salem
 Warren
The eight county supported districts
provide a wide range of educational
services for students with low incidence
disabilities.
Full-time educational placements for
about 3900 of the most severely disabled
students.

5. County Special Services School District Programs
Major Programs:
• Autism
• Moderate to Severe Intellectually Disabled
• Multiple Disabilities
• Emotional Disabilities
• Preschool Disabilities
• Early Intervention
• Auditory Impairments
• Alternative High School
• Severe Medical Disabilities
• Vocational training/life skills/job coaching
Special Services Districts can work with districts to create programming for students
based on need.

6. Shared Services for Local Districts
• Child Study Team
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Speech/Language Therapy
• Assistive Technology
• Transportation
• Services for deaf/hard of
hearing
• Augmentative Communication
• Transition services/job coaching
• Vocational/life skills training
• Structured learning (SLE)
• Substance Awareness
Coordinator
• Special Child Health Services
• Autism consultation
• Inclusion services
• Center for Family Guidance
• Chapter 192/193
• Other nonpublic school services
• Home instruction
• Staff development
• Juvenile Detention Programs
• Technology Services
• Grant writing

7. Why Special Services?
• Cost Effective for Districts
• Collaborative Approach
• Experienced/Qualified Staffing
• Specialized needs can often be met through
existing programming

8. District Accessibility/Accountability
Visit and research programming in our schools
Work collaboratively with us to meet your district needs

9. Transition Requirements
• All districts required to provide services to classified students
up to age 21.
• Students educated in local districts entitled to transition
services and career training and support.
• NJAC 6A:14: At age 16 (or younger): IEP must contain
appropriate and measurable goals based on age appropriate
transition assessments related to training, education,
employment and independent living.
• Revised 21st Century Life and Career Standards include work
skills specific to each placement, developing a level of
independence, and applying skills to situations.

10. Transition Services and Career Training
• Atlantic County Special Services tiered program
prepares students for jobs.
• Our students and local district post-graduates ages
18-21.
• Students begin to build vocational skills then
progress to on-site jobs (recycling, cleaning,
restaurant etc.)
• Students then move to off-site work at hospitals,
colleges, nursing homes and the casinos.
• Students supported by teachers, aides and mentors.

11. Job Coaching & Support
• Students prepare to enter the workplace through tiered
training, then assigned an on-site mentor.
• Goal is job placement with support for 2 years.
• The coaching role has changed to align with current work
expectations that support students long term:
– From Total Control to Empowering Students
– From Expert to Facilitator
– From Trainer to Consultant
– From Rule- Maker to Interpreter
• Teachers and students build natural supports in the workplace
to foster independence and help students adapt to changes in
jobs and environments.
• Support is gradually decreased as independent skills emerge.

12. Burlington County
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Education Initiative
Changing the face of Deaf Education
in Burlington County New Jersey
As part of the Burlington County Special Services
tuition, the Comprehensive Model addresses the
linguistic and conceptual gaps between deaf and hard of
hearing students and their hearing peers by providing a
total team approach in a setting accessible to students
with multiple disabilities. Burlington County Special
Services, School District, Westampton Township, New
Jersey, Educational programs, for students age 3
through 21.
Deaf/hard of hearing students who wish to be a part of
their local school community are eligible for District
Model services.
Students following this model are those with minimal
gaps in learning, are socially and emotionally engaged
with their hearing peers and need minimal support in
language-based subjects.
The Bridge Model offers the unique opportunity for
students who are deaf and hard of hearing to be taught
with other deaf and hard of hearing peers.
Bridge High School classrooms offer deaf and hard of
hearing students the opportunity to learn and socialize
with deaf and hard of hearing peers, while receiving the
support necessary to bridge the communication gap
with hearing peers in the general education setting.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing programs offered:
• Eastampton School
• BCIT Medford & Westampton Campuses
• Northern Burlington Regional High School
Integrated Preschool Program addresses the linguistic
gap between deaf and hard of hearing preschool
students and their hearing peers. Preschool classrooms
offer deaf and hard of hearing students the opportunity
to learn and socialize in community based preschools
while addressing their hearing needs.

13. Burlington County Alternative School
Middle School and High School
Rowan College at Burlington County College, Mt. Laurel, NJ
BCAHSBCAMS
Burlington County Alternative High School, located on the
Mt. Laurel Campus of Burlington County College, is a
proficiency-based program for students who experience
difficulty achieving their potential at their traditional high
schools.
Students at BCAHS meet or exceed state and local
graduation requirements through highly individualized
programs provided by state certified high school teachers
and college instructors.
BCAS Mission
The mission of BCAS is to challenge, instruct and guide
students to develop the abilities to:
• Achieve academically through student- centered
projects, experiential learning activities, and creative
expression
• Build resiliency by strengthening mental health,
emotional health, and interpersonal skills
• Contribute to the school family and society by becoming
responsible, well adjusted, and motivated young adults
ready to transition to high school in their local school
district
Students in the middle school program at the
Burlington County Alternative Middle School meet or
exceed state standards through an interactive theme-
based curriculum, supportive counseling services, and
the benefit of a small learning community.
Any student in 6th-8th who is not succeeding in their
home school is eligible to attend. We often see
students with anxiety, depression, mild behavioral
problems, etc. We accept both general and special
education students.

14. Gloucester Center for Regional
Education Support Services (CRESS)
• CSSSDs share educational programs and services within
their local schools.
• Provide quality services to school districts in a cost
effective manner.
• Develop and provide specialized services to meet new
and emerging needs in response to increasingly diverse
student populations in the schools.
• Related Services include consultation, evaluation,
treatment, staff recruitment, supervision and training.

15. Center for Regional Education
Support Services (CRESS)
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Speech-Language Therapy
• Teacher of the Deaf
• Teacher of the Handicapped
• School Social Work
• Homebound Instruction
• Educational Sign Language
Interpreter
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst
(BCBA)
Specialized Services include:
• Consultation, IEP review and
services for children with cochlear
implants.
• Autism Services – home program
and parent training.
• Autism Services (direct) and
consultation to district programs.
• Assistive Technology
• County-Wide Community
Workshops
• Social Skills Training
• Behavior Services
• Crisis Management Training

16. Center for Regional Education
Support Services (CRESS) (con’t)
• Professional Development
• Specialized regional workshops,
in-services and trainings
requested by county
professionals
• Approved CEU provider for Board
Certified Behavior Analysts
• Substitute School Nurse
Clearinghouse
• Comprehensive Early Intervention
Program
• Member of the Southern New
Jersey Regional Early Intervention
Collaborative (SNJREIC)
• Discipline specific assessments and
consultations
• Individual Family Service Plans
(IFSP) developed and implemented
by direct OTs, PTs, SLPs, and
teachers in natural environment
• Transition services from IDEA Part
C to IDEA Part B
Affiliations with local college
programs for OT, PT, Speech-Language
Pathology and Teacher of the Deaf
student practicum and fieldwork
placements.

17. Cooperative Transportation
• Cooperative county-wide system of coordinated transportation services
for special education/vocational/homeless/public and non-pubic students.
• Safe, economical and timely transportation
• Routes formulated to meet local district transportation needs.
• Students from multiple districts combined onto one route to schools in the
same geographic area.
• Creates substantial cost savings
• GCSSSD transports 1,400 students on 237 routes. Approximately 125 are
shared routes
• Example: Route S5876 – Shared route with Clearview (1), Greenwich (1),
Paulsboro (1)
• Route Cost $299.00 per day ÷ 3 students = $99.66 per student per day
• 7% administration fee

18. Cooperative Transportation (con’t)
• GCSSSD creates jointures with local districts that provide cost
savings to both the sending school district and the district
providing transportation.
• GCSSSD will quote routes for any unanticipated transportation
needs, ad will advertise for bids if above threshold (currently
$18,800).
• GCSSSD will annually review and renew eligible routes based
on CPI cost factor. Adding additional students to existing
routes further saves ing districts transportation costs.

19. Host Site Model
• Specialized program located in local district(LEA)
• Facilitated and administered by SSSD
• Accept students from other LEA’s (regional)
• Host LEA receives both rent and inclusion fees from
SSSD
• BCSS partners with 14 districts and serves 390
students via inclusive programming

20. County-Wide Professional Development
• BCSS Cape Resource Center
– Resource for educational professionals
– Workshops for parents and professionals
– Provide BCBA credits and graduate credits via
university partnerships
• Ed Enterprises provides direct services and
customized PD for district staff (transition, AT,
behavior, inclusion etc.)

21. More Information
Dr. Howard Lerner, Bergen County Special Services:
howler@bergen.org
John Swain, Salem County Special Services
jswain@scsssd.org
Dr. Kerri McGinely, Atlantic County Special Services
kmcginley@acsssd.net
Dr. Christopher Manno, Burlington County Special Services
cmanno@bcsssd.k12.nj.us
Michael Dicken, Gloucester County Special Services
mdicken@gcecnj.org
Joint Council of County Special Services Districts new website:
www.njspecialservices.org (coming soon!)
Judy Savage, consultant: js@judysavage.net