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Round up: A look
at residential schools in
New England
MASSACHUSETTS
(October
2004 Issue)
Things remain status quo in Massachusetts' Association of Approved
766 Private Schools (MAAPS) regarding openings and closings. But
"why" isn't good.
"It's certainly good that there are no closings," says Jim Major,
executor director of MAPPS. "The problem is the approval process
for developing new programs has pretty much ground to a halt because
the [Massachusetts] state legislature has put a freeze on tuition
rates."
The reason these schools are at the mercy of the state is because
they were established as what are called "Massachusetts Chapter
766 Approved In-State Schools and Programs" that serve publicly
funded special education students. They are private institutions
serving students with disabilities when it has been determined that
their needs cannot be accommodated locally.
The right for some public school students with disabilities - which
range from Asperser's Disorder to having learning disabilities -
to attend these schools was established by Chapter 766 of the Acts
of 1972. And the laws governing placement and tuition in these programs
are now encompassed in the Massachusetts General Laws.
Major says that on average it takes at least one year for a new
residential school for the mentally ill to be approved. But with
the freeze, that estimate itself is moot. What's worse is that as
the population of students needing to be served in the state grows,
the number of beds cannot.
"It makes it very difficult," says Major.
Massachusetts has approximately 125 special education programs
in the state. And until the freeze on tuition rates is lifted, the
number of private residential schools serving the mentally ill population
will remain as is.
Jennifer Chase
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