BY JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Starting this fall, the Hopewell school system will have a program in place to keep more special-education students within the city's schools.

The program is for students who, without additional support, could end up being placed in centers outside the school system -- something that costs $100 to $300 a day, per student, said Sheila B. Bailey, Hopewell's director of student services.

The initiative also will serve as a bridge for students who are coming back into the city schools, Bailey said. They will receive intense instruction in reading and math.

"Our proposal is to bring them back in this transitional program that's supported with a full-time special-ed teacher, a full-time special-ed paraprofessional and a full-time counselor," Bailey said.

Currently, 36 Hopewell students attend the LEAD Center, a private therapeutic day school in Hopewell that serves students ages 5 to 21 with mental and emotional disabilities. An additional 30 students have been identified for possible placement outside the school system, said Superintendent Winston O. Odom.

"Our desire is to keep them from day placement and residential placement," he said. "If we keep those 30 out of day placement and bring back the 36 [students at the LEAD Center], over time the impact will be significant."

The school district's special-education population of 688 students is growing and with it the costs, Odom said.

"It is a concern not only from our perspective but the state as well."

Funding for special-education students comes from federal, state and local governments. The Hopewell special-education transition program is expected to cost $206,632.

It is uncertain at this point how much the school system will save with the program, but since some of the resources needed for the program are already in place, in the long run it would cost less than enrolling students outside the schools, said S. Ray Watson, assistant superintendent for administration.

The program will serve all grade levels, Bailey said.

"We really want to get our students back into the classroom so they can benefit from a full school service," she said. "The secondary benefit [is that] there is cost savings."

Contact jlizama at jlizama@timesdispatch.com.