NW BOCES celebrates 50 years

NW BOCES will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary this month of September but they are postponing their planned festivities.

Administrative Director Carolyn Conner said that due to the COVID pandemic, they made the decision to wait until the spring of 2021 to wait and see if they can have a big celebration on the grounds. They plan to invite all the people who have helped them: the board members from their 18 different districts, superintendents, special education directors, parents of former students, former students, current staff, former staff and staff that is still in this community, to have "a great, terrific celebration" according to Conner. 

NW BOCES is short for North West Wyoming Board of Cooperative Educational Services. 

Conner explained that NW BOCES serves youth from all over the state of Wyoming, kindergarten through 8th grade, focusing on elementary and middle school kids with needs. She said, "We serve children that have behavioral and emotional disabilities that other placements have been tried in the school district, resource rooms, all students are on an IEP, individualized education plan, they are special education services. They've already been identified from the district. We also take students that are court-ordered, not students that are in trouble with the law or juvenile delinquents, but children in need of services. Children that are acting out in the home that need some help with their emotional disabilities. Those students also are on an IEP." 

The main reason students come to NW BOCES is because of behavioral issues. They do a treatment program that includes intense psychological counseling and behavior management. They work towards having the child stay as short a time as possible and reunite with family and back in their local school district. 

Regarding Conner's role, on a daily basis, she works with the youth, helping the staff, to the academic, the behavioral, the therapy programs and as well as the residential program. She supervises a staff of 45-50 people who help 12-15 students.

She said, "That sounds like a huge amount of staff for that but it is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week staffing with kids that need help, especially when they first come in. They need one or two staff of people to help them out, which includes consultants that we use for speech, OT, physical therapy, counseling needs. And working with our member districts and the Department of Family Services to let them know how our programs are going, working with parents. A big part of our program is helping our parents so they can make progress too."

Conner has been in this role since 2002 and has been at NW BOCES for 36 years. She first started as a school social worker, then was the principal and now the director. 

Things haven't always been the same at NW BOCES either. One of the biggest changes has been switching from who they serviced. In the beginning, NW BOCES served students who had multiple disabilities, mental health, as far as low cognitive abilities and physical disabilities. For years they had a lot of youth in wheelchairs, they were nonverbal or needed extensive physical therapy. But as time passed the districts voiced to make a change based upon what our member districts said they needed. 

The districts said they need an elementary school program for mostly disturbed students. Conner said, "They were able to start serving the multi-disabled population back in the districts, also we served in the past traumatic brain-injured students, medically fragile kids. But our districts said what we need is a place for these youths so they can get back into school." The switch occurred in 1997. 

The biggest ongoing obstacle they face is funding. Conner said, "We are not given money to run our operation. We are a fee-for-service. So, it's based on tuition. So, enrollment matters and our enrollments always fluctuate. Sometimes we'll have 10 students, 12, sometimes 18 and so staffing for that, having reserve funds for staff when our population is low. Always wondering if there is a better avenue, asking the state to help out a little bit. Our member districts though do help. Some of our 18 member districts do provide us with a mill levy fund. Such as Hot Springs County does half of a mill. So, that helps with program continuation finances as in any school in a financial aspect from year to year."

Conner emphasized and said, "Even though we are a behavioral program, we very much emphasize academics for our students. And districts are most pleased with us and the academic progress our students make. They make great gains and we use testing from Hot Springs County School District, trying to make sure our kids are making as much or more growth as the districts are in the MAP, a standard of education assessment. We have a goal that 80% or more of our students who have completed the program that they never return to residential placement again, and we are achieving that 80%."