Fulton Schools to offer new opportunity for students with special needs

Parents of students with emotional or severe behavioral issues soon will have another option within Fulton Public Schools.

The Fulton School Board gave district administrators permission recently to enter into a contract for student services with Electus Academy, a private school that is approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a day facility for students with such needs.

According to the Electus Academy's website, the school - founded in St. Peters in 2004 - offers small classes with individual assistance and regular therapy sessions with licensed and certified professional staff.

Under the agreement, the district will provide a classroom at the Fulton Education Center for Electus Academy to operate in. The program in Fulton would provide services in grades five through eight. The cost to Fulton Public Schools would be $1,500 per student per month, to be paid from special education funds.

According to information provided to the school board by Superintendent Jacque Cowherd, "students will be selected to attend Electus based on the most severe behavioral needs which include students currently placed on homebound services or partial day placements due to aggressive behaviors and/or mental health concerns."

"This is a service for those who have emotional disturbances that prevent them from getting services in a normal classroom," said FPS Director of Special Services Barbara Reid. "We have several students on a partial day placement or homebound placement. This gives them full-day placement and access to psychological and psychiatric services we can't provide."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.