The High Desert Educational Service District, which provides regional services to children and students, continues to be faced with educator shortages.

This is the first year that Jenny Faircloth, executive director of early intervention and early childhood special education programs, can remember that the education service district wasn’t able to hire a full staff. The district has been searching for speech language pathologists since September.

The high costs of housing in Central Oregon are one barrier, Faircloth said. Another is that the educator shortage ensures that graduates have their pick of jobs from various areas. In the case of speech language pathologists, that can include working in a hospital, a school district or the private sector.

High Desert ESD has had to innovate to recruit staff, and supports higher education programs and career and technical pathways to teach educators and therapists.

The district’s programs for students with disabilities begin at birth and continue through high school graduation or transitional services for students until they age out at 21. Faircloth oversees programs that work with children from birth until kindergarten, while Jihan Nelson, interim executive director of the K-12 special education programs, oversees programs through high school.

“I think what’s wonderful about our program is we are free to the family, and we don’t have a waiting list, and we offer comprehensive services to support a child’s development,” said Faircloth.

Referrals and family support

The education service district receives referrals from parents, doctors, schools, Head Start and other community partners. Services from birth to age 3 are mostly home-based services. Students may also receive services at daycare, Faircloth said. After age 3, everything funnels into preschool, either in a special education classroom or in community partner preschools. Services on the early childhood side include teacher support, occupational and physical therapy, speech language therapy, autism support, support from nurses and mental health support.

“Once they turn 5, they all start to age out of early childhood, and that kindergarten year, they would qualify for our special programs,” said Nelson. “It changes from that early development and family support. They are still definitely a part and we support the families, but it’s more of that education aspect.”

The High Desert Education Service District partners with Bend-La Pine Schools, Crook County Schools, Sisters School District and Redmond School District. The K-12 special programs have additional services that school districts pay in for. This includes disability support services for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, visually impaired, have occupational or physical therapy needs, traumatic brain injury needs, require a sign language interpreter or an autism consultant, said Nelson.

The K-12 special programs serve 14 counties across the state depending on the level of need, while the early intervention programs serve Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The early intervention programs also have subcontracts with Harney, Sherman, Wheeler and Gilliam counties.

The education service district provides these services through state and federal funding. Homeschooled K-12 students are also eligible for services.

“I think what I’m passionate about with our teams who support families and children is we’re looking at a child’s strengths and hoping to remove barriers, and I have some great stories about successes of kiddos that we’ve worked with,” said Faircloth. “It’s an honor for us to provide those services and become part of a child’s journey. And it’s great to partner and look at that growth from birth to sometimes 21.”

Faircloth and Nelson shared stories of students having breakthroughs with improved vision through glasses and sign language comprehension, and families having less anxiety as their children made friends.

Aside from the school districts, the education service district partners with Better Together, Juntos Aprendemos, the Deschutes Public Library system, NeighborImpact, private preschools and others.

“We can’t do this job alone. We’re supporting the child and the family, and integrating them into where they would be if they didn’t have a disability. That’s really important, that inclusion model, so that’s why we partner with so many agencies, both internal to High Desert ESD as well as external partners,” said Faircloth.

She estimated between 500 and 800 students have early intervention and early education services in Central Oregon in a given year. Services have ongoing enrollment. Across the state, over 14,500 children were given early intervention services.