480 Looks to Aid Special Ed and ESL Students

The number of special ed and ESL students in Liberal is growing. With that in mind the USD 480 Board gave the district permission to hire more para professionals for the district. The district may one additional para for special ed students at LHS, West Middle School, Cottonwood, Sunflower, Garfield, MacArthur, and two more at Washington. The board also gave the district permission to hire two more paras for English as a Second Language (ESL) students with one at West and one at LHS. The board also gave the district permission to purchase a special ed bus.

The USD 480 board took a step toward purchasing property for one of the new elementary schools. They passed a resolution to condemn property needed for the bond program at 11th and Calvert. This begins the process of acquiring the land through imminent domain for one of the elementary schools.

District officials reported the number of students in Liberal increased by 81 this year. There are 4,826 students in Liberal’s 480 school district.