New administrator to head exceptional children program

Islay Hedger, who has more than 25 years of experience in working with handicapped and learning disabled children, was recently named the administrator of the Southern Penobscot Regional Program for Exceptional Children.

Hedger, a resident of Prospect Harbor, will develop, implement and coordinate activities in the regional program that works with 11 area school systems in 30 communities. The communities are in an area between Bradford and Dedham and between the Airline and Etna.

The SPRPEC is an umbrella organization for five area special education programs in Bangor, Brewer, Old Town and Holden.

Hedger holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of New York at Cortland and a master’s degree in special education and administration from the University of Iowa at Iowa City.

For the past three years, she has been director of the Brewer Regional Program for Moderately and Severely Handicapped. Before that she was program director for three years at the Elizabeth Levinson Center.

She also spent five years as the coordinator for the Special Needs Preschool Services of Washington County and five years as an administrator at the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.

Hedger’s position will be funded by the state for three years. This year’s grant amounted to $76,233, which includes funding for a secretary, equipment and Hedger’s salary and benefits.

As administrator, Hedger said she will work on “issues that are critical, which, if not dealt with, are a crisis waiting to happen.”

Concerns facing the regional program include an influx of state clients and state wards in the regional program and an increasing number of more severely or multiple-handicapped children. There are also growing concerns over declining state and federal funding and the need for better coordination and communication with state agencies and the Legislature, she said.

With the increase in numbers of more severely handicapped children, more staff members may be required to meet the needs of these children. The added staff may have to include more nurses to attend to the children who need constant attention. Local programs could therefore also face increased insurance costs and lawsuits because of liability issues.

“Administrative costs are tremendous,” she said.

Of the special education pupils in the regional program, currently about 43 percent are wards of the state or have parents who live in other parts of the state.

In part, this influx of special needs children is the result of students being drawn to the area. Christine Bartlett, a special education consultant with the Maine Department of Education, said the proximity to the Levinson Center, a therapeutic center, and opportunity housing for the handicapped, as well as what is available through the regional program has made the greater Bangor area an attractive area for special needs children.

Another concern is the limited communication and coordination between local programs and the state and privately run agencies.

While all are trying to help the special needs children, Hedger said this lack of coordination has often caused duplication of efforts, delays, or a lack of consistency in the support the young people receive.

In the past, for example, some state agencies have sent a new pupil to the area one day and expected the child to start his education the next day, with little or no background information supplied to help the regional program staff, she said.