CARTHAGE — A state Education Department official says Carthage Central School District Superintendent Carl H. Militello has misinterpreted a special education review, which the district is using to justify reorganizing its special education department and eliminate eight teaching jobs.

Mr. Militello said the Effective Instructional Practices Focused Review, completed in June, has found that Carthage special education students are "over-serviced and over-classified."

But Suzanne Jackson, supervisor of the Central Regional Office of the state Education Department, said, "I don't see anything in the report that speaks to that."

Asked by the Times last week if the report concludes that the district has too may special education teachers with students being over-classified, she said, "That's not the function of the report. There are areas that we are looking at — are the teachers qualified, are the IEPs (individual educational plans) being developed directly. It's not intended to look at those (consultancy and over-classification) issues."

"It's much more about, are you giving the most appropriate services to students with disabilities? The audit assesses if this is the best way to deliver special education models."

Several teachers in the district, who would not speak on the record, have told the Times they believe the review, or audit, is being misused by the district.

At an April 28 Board of Education meeting, Mr. Militello cited a portion of the review that said: "Current direct consultant services are often provided by teaching assistants as opposed to certified special educators, which doesn't align with Part 200 of the Regulations. At the elementary level, there is an excessive amount of consultant services provided that doesn't correspond with students' needs."

While Mr. Militello said the statement shows the district has too many special education teachers per pupil, Mrs. Jackson said the statement means children may require services other than those they are receiving.

"It doesn't say there are too many consultants," she said. "But the district should look at services provided to make sure they are meeting student needs."

Mr. Militello also said the audit is advising the district to look at cutting costs and staffing needs. The audit says the district should, "Analyze special education programming and examine the staff/cost effectiveness of current special education service delivery models."

Lisa A. Parsons, former Copenhagen superintendent hired in January as special education consultant in Carthage, would not comment on the audit because she is "in the process of going through it to gather information."

Katherine E. Robertson, mother of a special education student at Carthage and director of the Northern New York Autism Clinic in Black River, said the audit brought up more questions than answers.

"It definitely shows they're not in compliance and I'm kind of amazed by that," she said. "But if parents were asked to come into a meeting and plans were laid out, then I don't think we'd be where we're at right now."

She said a lot of the confusion among parents in the district could have been avoided.

"A lot of this information needs to be put out there at least for the parents of special ed students and explained," she said. "If you leave parents out of the loop, you can't be surprised if they're irate. If you appear as if you're taking services away, we're going to be irate. But, if you explain things that are going on and explain why the services are changing, the parents are going to be able to understand that."

CHANGES MADE IN DUNKIRK

This is not the first time Mr. Militello has raised the ire of his special education department. In the Dunkirk City School District, where he was superintendent for six years before he came to Carthage, he also revamped the special education department.

The two situations are not exactly the same, but there seem to be similar patterns, said Joseph E. Sweeny, the former union president in Dunkirk.

After teachers were hired to meet state regulations, several positions were cut when the district needed to tighten spending.

Several teachers felt the cuts were taking away necessary services to special education students and appealed to the state Education Department. In October 2006, the state sided with the union and found the district was, in fact, violating federal law by cutting services to students.

Mr. Militello is trying to quiet the waters in the Carthage district. Today, he is meeting with the father of a special education student, Juston J. LaJoie, who is circulating petitions to have funding reinstated for the department. In his petition, Mr. LaJoie also is asking that Mr. Militello be fired.

But Mr. Militello said that during the meeting he will discuss schedules for students next year and ask Mr. LaJoie to be on the special education advisory committee forming this summer.

"I want him to be the founding member of this committee where we will work during the year once a month to communicate and reduce misconceptions," Mr. Militello said.

He also said he is looking for more volunteers within the community to be on the committee.