ANSWER:

In the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, Ashburton Elementary School has the following special education staffing:

• 3.0 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) special education teachers (3 staff members)
• 2.0 FTE special education resource room teachers (2 staff members)
• 0.9 FTE speech pathologist for related services (1 staff member)
• 2.625 FTE special education paraeducator (5 staff members)

According to January 22, 2019, Maryland Online Individualized Education Program data, Ashburton Elementary School has a total of 55 students receiving specialized classroom instruction.  Ashburton Elementary School was allocated 3.0 special education teachers and
2.625 FTE special education paraeducators to support the 31 students in the Learning and Academically Disabled (LAD) Program.  Students in this program have more than 15 hours of classroom instruction on their Individualized Education Program (IEP).  Ashburton Elementary School’s current staff-to-student ratio is 1.0 FTE special education teacher to 10 LAD students to one 7-hour special education paraeducator.  This is a lower student-to-teacher ratio in comparison to guidelines.  Based on the staffing guidelines for the LAD program, Ashburton Elementary School currently is overstaffed by 0.5 FTE special education teacher and 0.4375 paraeducator. 

In addition to the permanent building staffing, the following critical staffing has been allocated to Ashburton Elementary School to support the needs of identified students in the LAD and Resource program:

• 13 hours per day of permanent critical staffing paraeducator
• 18 hours per day of temporary part-time critical staffing paraeducator
• Total of 31 hours

This translates to four to eight additional staff at a given time throughout the day to provide support.

If examining the 18 total staff members, teachers and paraeducators, supporting students in the classroom compared to the 55 students receiving specialized classroom instruction, the ratio would be approximately 3 students per adult.