Non Public School (NPS) contracts are agreements formed between MUSD schools and Non Public Schools to provide a better suited learning environment for certain students who have needs that are not able to be met at MHS. These students were identified by their respective Individualized Education Program (IEP) team to require a more specialized instructional setting, Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison said.
A student’s IEP team will identify what interventions and services a student needs if they require them, Executive Director of Inclusive Services for All Learners Mary Jude Doerpinghaus said. This may include resource support, occupational therapy, or speech therapy, Doerpinghaus added.
“Students with significant behavioral and/or mental health challenges often land in NPS, where the layers of support for these needs are more extensive than what is offered in a typical school setting,” Coordinator of Student Services Stacey Lillard said. “The students that embody these profiles often meet special education eligibility criteria under the categories of other health impaired or emotional disturbance.”
For example, students that are hard of hearing or deaf may require to be placed in a program that offers sign language, which is not offered at MHS, Hutchison said.
To decide on which students may benefit the most from a referral to a Non Public School, the thought process of each student’s IEP team includes whether they should be placed in the least restrictive environment and the most restrictive environment, Doperinghaus said.
Least restrictive environments include instructional settings in which a special needs student is included in the full extent of a normal classroom setting along with their non-disabled peers, according to The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University. A most restrictive environment includes different instructional environments such as a residential facility or hospital that separates the student from their peers.
“The student’s IEP team also looks at the student’s goals and progress on goals to determine whether the student is progressing in their current placement,” Doerpinghaus said. “They may say, ’They need more support,’ or ’They have a very specialized need,’ or ‘Their evaluation identifies a specific kind of need that is not something we have in our district.’”
If the needs of the student can not be met at the school with all of the resources and programs offered, then students may be referred to a Non Public School, Doerperinghaus said.
“NPS campuses are also much smaller, and students have a calming room to access when they are frustrated,” Lillard said. “Students are also monitored very closely, especially during transitions from one room to another.”
Additional services at an NPS may include full-time therapists to provide emotional support to students and smaller class settings, Lillard said.
“We have about 1000 students in the district who have IEPs, and there’s very few that go out to a Non Public school,” Doerpinghaus said. “Most people are able to be served within our district.”