Education officials are pleased with the operation of the district’s special education department.

The Board of Education heard from Mary Rose Scalo, the district’s director of special services, at a meeting Thursday.

Scalo outlined several programs her department has initiated and wants to expand on in the future.

Among the changes already implemented are:

• Expanding the peer-to-peer mentoring program. Students from throughout the district are working with special education students to help them be more social and outgoing.

Students in the program formed their own rock band. Scalo wants to expand the program to include more students.

• Implementing a social skills program.

Scalo said there is value to instructing a student in a real-world environment. Rather than just show a student how to make a grocery list, taking him or her to a store and teaching them how to shop for the products on the list is a more practical way of educating students.

Scalo also wants to expand home-based training for students and parents. The problem with that Scalo said, is that it is difficult to find people willing to do that type of work at night.

“All of these things have allowed us to return [students to the district] and retain students,” Scalo said. “This is important because we need to compete with the services that are offered in the private sector.”

The district is below average when it comes to the number of special education students it sends out of district.

About 70 students, or 5 percent of the district’s 1,700 special needs students, are sent out of district. Four students returned from out of district placements in Sept. 2010 and five more have been retained because of the programs the district now offers.

Keeping these students in Wayne also saves the district potentially thousands of dollars in tuition and other fees.

Scalo also wants to expand training for teachers so they are able to assess what works best for a particular student and what doesn’t.

“I feel it is our job to develop programs and services that enable teachers to feel confidant in their ability to address the emotional, social, and structural needs of all our students,” Scalo said.

Scalo wants to work more with the Special Parents Association of the Wayne Council of Parent Teacher Organizations and offer more training for parents of special needs children.

The presentation comes on the heels of the state Department of Education determining that the district failed to comply with 14 regulations governing districts’ special education programs. Ten of the regulations had to do with record keeping.

The district has purchased new record keeping software to ensure that files and students’ Individualized Education Plans are current.

The software informs personnel of exactly how much work has been done regarding a particular student and what needs to be done next.

A three-member Assistive Technology Team regularly works with special needs students who use technology on a daily basis to ensure they are reaching their potential.

Scalo is the first full-time director the department has had since July 2010. Board members said this prevented services from being offered on a consistent basis and records from being kept up to date and in accordance with state regulations.

Board President Donald Pavlak Jr. said the district’s special education program is in a good place.

“Everything is being fixed. We’re in good hands and special education is moving forward,” Pavlak said. “We’re using more assistive technology where we should be and hopefully we can address that need in the next budget.”