PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Association of Teachers rallied Tuesday ahead of a Portland Public Schools Board of Education meeting to urge the board to reconsider cuts to special education.

This has left students with special needs wondering what their school experience will be like moving forward.

Union members rallied outside the PPS building, protesting special education teams being on the chopping block of budget cuts.

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“There’s four or five of us without a job for next year,” said Mike Carlip, a behavior analyst who helps kids who may act out in the class feel engaged and relaxed so they can learn. The majority of his team was unassigned for next school year.

However, Carlip said it’s not about his lack of job security, it’s about the lack of support for students next year.

PPS plans to cut special ed teams like assistive technology specialists for non-verbal students, the feeding team, adaptive P.E., behavior analysts and multilingual supports to speech pathologists.

“All these vital services for our most impacted students with the greatest needs are being eliminated,” Carlip said.

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Students raised their voices about how cuts to their schools are impacting them.

“I have cerebral palsy — it’s hard. The disability make it hard for me to walk and run and write. School kids bully me. Adaptive P.E. makes me feel like I can do things other kids can do at P.E. It makes me feel like an athlete,” said a KairosPDX student.

“For example, our library assistant, Miss Tori, is an amazing member of our school, but her position is being eliminated. Library assistants don’t just fill bookshelves with books they fill our hearts with memories,” said Alice, a student at Lewis Elementary.

Lisa Doane, a speech pathologist who was also unassigned next year, said she wants to make parents aware of how this will impact their students.

“When change does happen, it’s usually from parents advocating, so I want to make sure they have the chance to do that,” she said.

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The school district said they have to make roughly $30 million in cuts from this budget. However, it is not the primary driver behind these staffing shifts. They said it’s part of their new model to move special education students to their neighborhood schools.

The district said students with specialized needs in their individual education program (IEP) will have their needs met.

PPS has been sharing the following message with families:

• We will provide PE support so that students receiving special education services can learn alongside their peers. This is not currently the case, with far too many students with disabilities receiving separate PE sections with only other students with disabilities. We will continue to provide Adapted Physical  Education services to students with the most significant motor/medical needs, but we will also shift staff back into schools to support students engaging in physical education with their nondisable peers.

• We will continue to staff Board Certified Behavioral Analysts centrally, within our Pioneer Program and on our District’s Rapid Response Team. We are shifting some central FTE, who are also licensed, into schools.

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