TSC studies its place in countywide special needs program; school leaders say do not panic
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The future of special needs education in Tippecanoe County became a topic of discussion at the Lafayette school board meeting after learning that Tippecanoe School Corp. is studying the Greater Lafayette Area Special Services cooperative, commonly known as GLASS.
GLASS is a joint special education services among the county's three public school districts that works with disabled students ranging from 3 to 21 years old who are enrolled in one of the districts.
“By the guidelines, should one of the three school corporations, West Lafayette, TSC or LSC, choose to opt out of GLASS, it takes an 18-month notification to the others,” Lafayette Superintendent Les Huddle said.
“With the TSC’s announcement that they are studying and hiring a consultant to look at their participation in GLASS. I want our board, our families, and our staff to know that should this happen, it’s probably two years down the road," Huddle said. "And LSC is probably prepared today to be our own administration of our own special needs program.”
Huddle reassured families and staff that GLASS services will still be available for the foreseeable future.
When the cooperative was first established in 1973, the population of Tippecanoe County was 109,378, according to the 1970 census data. In 2020, 186,251 people live in the county, according to census data.
Census data from 1990 indicates that Tippecanoe County was home to about 22,400 school-age children. By 2020, there were 27,400 students.
Out of the three public school districts in Tippecanoe County, TSC has seen the most growth over the past decade.
TSC Superintendent, Scott Hanback emailed the J&C a response to its inquiries about GLASS' future.
“TSC's special education feasibility study is an internal programmatic review of how best to serve our students with special needs,” Hanback said.
“The TSC is and remains one of three participating schools providing a jointly operated program of special education and related services for students with special needs that would not be economically feasible for the participating school corporations to provide individually," Hanback said, noting that the GLASS agreement had been modified over the years to respond to students' needs.
The school district hired a law firm to evaluate its special education operations.
“We will allow data collection, open discussion, and thorough analysis to guide any future recommendations, if any, for revisions or changes to TSC's service of its special needs students, their families, and/or specialized staff," Hanback said. "The study is underway and will be conducted in the coming months in anticipation of a final report being provided in the fall of 2024.”
School leaders advise families with GLASS students not to worry, regardless of what the study recommends.
“The key word is don’t panic," Huddle said. "We still have kids and teachers, and if LSC ends up owning the total of our program, you’ll see good things.”
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on X at 1NoePadilla.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: TSC studying its place in special needs education
