OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Since 2023, the Osceola School District has studied how to improve their special education program, convening an advisory committee and hiring a third-party auditor to make recommendations to district leaders.
For the 2025-2026 school year, the district is implementing those recommendations, consolidating special needs classrooms in designated hub schools.
As part of the restructuring, some high-functioning special education students, who have only known “self-contained” classrooms, will be moving into general education classes, while kids with more intense disabilities are being forced to transfer schools.
The decision has been controversial. Parents and teachers spoke out against the changes last school year, formed a petition, and protested at school board meetings.
“We have built this routine, we’ve built these rapports, we’ve built relationships, and this just shattered all of that,” said special education parent Karin Baker.
Baker’s son Colin has Noonan Syndrome and had attended Harmony Middle School where he was placed in a self-contained classroom, but that option is no longer being offered there.
Colin was instead told he could attend the nearest hub school, Narcoossee Middle School, but Karin decided to pull him out of the district and homeschool him instead.
Baker said that decision stemmed from lingering questions about the changes, including the kind of support Colin would receive at his new school and staffing concerns.
“I felt like all those question marks added up to, okay, I need to come up with a solution to give him the best possible advantage,” said Baker.
Some ESE teachers also flagged challenges with the restructuring.
In a Facebook post, the Osceola County Education Association said the changes “will be hard” and would “create more frustration than ever.”
The association cited concerns about increased workloads, since more students with special needs and accommodations will be in general education classes.
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Rene Clayton told Channel 9 staff roles and responsibilities would not be changing. Clayton stated the changes were in part needed to meet state standards for inclusivity and to ensure students are learning in what is known as “the least restrictive environment.”
According to the district, the state target for students in separate Special Education classrooms is 12.7 percent. But as of January 2025, 21.4 percent of the district’s special needs students were being served in a separate class setting.
Clayton told Channel 9 the model the county is adopting for this school year is already in place in neighboring school districts including Orange County Public School.
She added the Osceola School District previously relied on a hub model before leaders decided to try having self-contained classrooms in every school back in 2020. According to Clayton, that move spread county resources too thin.
“Our outcomes show that we have declined in our student progress of learning for students with disabilities,” said Clayton.
Channel 9s Sabrina Maggiore asked Clayton how the district is ensuring special needs students are receiving all the support they need this year, especially for those being reintroduced into general education settings.
“We do hand scheduling for every single one of our students with disabilities and they are carefully placed and then whatever teachers and professional support staff are assigned to them,” Clayton said.
According to Clayton, students who are moving from self-contained to general classroom settings are being provided support staff like paraprofessionals and therapists to assist them throughout the day.
She said district leaders would be closely monitoring students in new classroom settings and are prepared to adjust for unexpected challenges.
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