HCPSSHCPSS Implements New Special Education Positions and Programming, July 1, 2025
July 1st, 2025
The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is making moves toward the redesign of the special education program, which is prioritized as part of the HCPSS Strategic Plan. Today, Superintendent Bill Barnes and Acting Executive Director of Special Education Jennifer Riccardi announced a plan to increase the capacity of special educators to help meet student needs through the addition of new and repurposed positions.
“As RTI International completes their review of special education services and HCPSS finalizes the Special Education Strategic Plan, our students and special education staff urgently need additional support, and I believe there are improvements we can implement during the 2025-2026 school year if we act now,” said Superintendent Bill Barnes. “In order to quickly create long-term additional capacity for direct student support, this initial plan will begin shifting central office structures to allow resource teachers and instructional facilitators more time to provide in-class support.”
As part of the new and repurposed positions, the plan adds four Coordinator positions to develop models to expand the continuum of services, examine the effectiveness of our current programs and services, and increase accountability of programmatic implementation. They will also ensure continuity across levels with increased focus on transitions between levels.
As a result of these coordinator positions, resource teachers and instructional facilitators will double the amount of time spent in school buildings. These critical staff members will now be able to spend less time in meetings and more time supporting student progress through high-quality specially designed instruction and behavioral supports. Under the direction of the coordinators, they will also provide more individualized “just in time” professional learning in buildings and increase focus on instruction, compliance and behavior.
In addition to the four coordinator positions, the following positions will be established and filled with the goal to have them in place to begin the 2025-2026 school year:
- Five dedicated Instructional Team Leaders to be placed at elementary schools with the greatest staff and student needs.
- Six Elementary Quick Response Staff to be deployed to support school teams who need immediate support.
- Four Itinerant Assessment Team members to assess K-5 students centrally through Child Find.
- Three Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Five Registered Behavior Technicians to support students who are awaiting placement or with significant needs.
- Four Program Assistants to support schools with paperwork load, materials preparation, etc. and allow special educators to focus on the delivery of instruction.
- Two Autism Specialists to analyze strengths and gaps in services for autistic students and make recommendations for immediate intervention updates or changes as well as continuum needs across all levels.
- Three Special Education Classroom Staff will be repurposed to expand the Intensive Resource Classroom model in middle school, a highly successful model that supports diploma bound students that require significant academic interventions.
New positions will be a combination of new positions funded by $1.75 million earmarked in the FY 2026 budget for the redesign of special education, and repurposed current positions. Grant funding may also be used as necessary.
This rebuilding of central supports, coupled with the addition of school-based supports, will begin to allow special educators to focus more on instruction and student support, rather than emergencies and compliance. This approach also begins to restructure programming, providing additional supports to students and special educators, and creating a stronger infrastructure.