Laois parents of special needs children left in limbo waiting for school offer

Parents in Laois are being "left in limbo" waiting to hear if their child will be offered a place in an ASD secondary school next September.

At this time of year, parents and sixth-class students across the county are receiving word from secondary schools as to where they will be attending next year. An exciting milestone for many children, but one that is proving to be particularly daunting for some families with children who have special needs.

At the November meeting of Laois County Council, Cllr Tommy Mulligan implored the council to make contact with the National Council for Special Education and the Department of Education to immediately address the chronic shortage of special education places in secondary schools in Laois.

Cllr Mulligan told the council that numerous parents have reached out to him whose children still haven't received an offer for an ASD place next September.

Faced with such uncertainty, Cllr Mulligan said: "It's proved to be an extremely stressful and worrying time for all parents. Parents feel powerless and that they have little or no options. They are on a waiting list for the short to medium term, and they don't know where their child will end up in September if they receive an offer for an ASD place at all."

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He also raised the question, if these children do not get offered a place in an ASD school and have to go to another secondary school then what supports will be available there?

He added: "Many of these children have never been fully integrated in mainstream classes and such an experience would be completely overwhelming for them." 

The waiting lists for ASD classes demonstrates the chronic shortage in Laois' secondary schools. Cllr Mulligan said that St Francis secondary school in Portlaoise alone has 50 applications for just 12 places.

He also said Portlaoise College has a waiting list of 16, Portlaoise CBS has 20, Scoil Chríost Rí in Portlaoise has 4, Heywood Community School has 11, and Coláiste Íosagáin Portarlington also has 11.

Many other councillors supported Cllr Mulligan's motion, urging that these vulnerable children be looked after.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme