Woody Wilson
Superintendent, Wrangell Public Schools
I have been an educator in rural Alaska for eight years. Initially,
I was in Alaska Gateway (Tok) and served as assistant superintendent and
special education director. Currently, I am the superintendent in
the Wrangell City School District. Not surprisingly in both of these
districts, and I suspect throughout rural Alaska, there are many similar
needs. One of the most pressing needs of all is providing appropriate
special education services. I believe this is because small, rural
districts do not have local access to specialists who have the training
and expertise needed to plan appropriate programming for students with low
incidence disabilities. It is through the assistance of SESA that
this need can directly be addressed.
In 1986, the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Alaska, recognized
that rural areas of the state were not able to recruit and maintain personnel
needed to provide the educational services of our most needy students, those
experiencing low incidence disabilities (i.e., deafness, blindness, deafblindness,
emotional disturbance, autism, multiple disabilities, etc.). The intent
when the Alaska State Legislature authorized and funded SESA under AS 14.30.600
was to provide assistance to school districts and rural education attendance
areas throughout Alaska by making more special education services available
to students experiencing these low incidence disabilities. Now, fifteen
years later, SESA is still working to provide support to districts so that
children with low incidence disabilities are served in their home communities
and provided quality educational programming.
The model that SESA promotes is one that other states could use in serving
students with low incidence disabilities because it enables educational
teams to learn directly from specialists who have expertise in the various
low incidence disabilities. Services are provided on-site, so that
specialists and educational teams work together within each student's
natural learning environment. As a result, recommendations are pertinent
to the child's educational program.
In addition to working with the school team, SESA specialists are also
willing to work directly with parents. This is important, as they
may be the only specialist whom the parent consistently sees over the years
due to the high turn-over of rural teaching staff. It is helpful
for all of us to remember that parents need support and training too.
There are times when the appropriate venue for the SESA specialist may
include a home visit. Home visits can often give parents greater ownership
in the process of program development and provides parents an opportunity
to speak directly to an expert in the environment where parents may be the
most comfortable. Also, it gives the specialist an opportunity to
see the student's home environment. Utilizing SESA's specialists
willingness to support parents during their site visits benefits everyone
and places the district in a good light for bringing quality services to
parents and children.
My recommendation for rural districts throughout Alaska is to take advantage
of the services SESA can provide you. These caring professionals
will work hard with your school staff and are also willing to coordinate
with parents. It is to everyone's advantage that SESA specialists
have knowledge about students' learning environments, including school,
home, and community. It is through this comprehensive understanding
and teaming across environments that specialists' recommendations
will have the most meaning and are most likely to be accepted and carried
out.
Over the years, I had the opportunity to work with a number of SESA specialists.
I have found them all to be professional, but most important they care about
kids. SESA provides an expertise that we in the schools cannot have,
simply because we lack the specialized training and experience.
Providing statewide services is not a luxurious life. I personally don't
envy SESA specialists when their service provision requires traveling on
small planes in severe weather conditions, sleeping on floors of gymnasiums
or classrooms, eating meals from cans, and being away from home for a week
or more. However, these are often the requirements in providing statewide
services in Alaska. It is to our advantage that SESA is able to recruit
and maintain staff when job conditions can at times be "interesting."
I am thankful that the legislature had the insight to create SESA.
I am also thankful the legislature continues to fund this organization because
they serve the needs of our most needy Alaskans. The next time you
have a minute, maybe consider writing a letter of thanks to the legislature
for their insight many years ago and their continued support to an organization
that truly services rural Alaska.
