Seymour school official resigns: Special education director stepping down; plans uncertain

Seymour Community Schools has lost another high-ranking administrator with the announcement that Patsy Woods, director of

special education, is leaving.

Woods, who was hired in July 2010, implemented many changes to the special education program in her brief tenure, including the realignment of curriculum and staff in 2011 as well as the district’s separation from the Bartholomew Special Services Co-Operative this year.

Some of those changes were met with resistance by parents of special needs

students who questioned

whether they were in the best interest of their children.

In her defense, she maintains they were.

“We have accomplished a lot, and I’m very proud of that,” she said. “I think we have done great things for our kids.”

By creating new positions, eliminating and reassigning classroom aides and redirecting funds back to Seymour Schools, Woods said, the program is more efficient and “brings the focus back here.”

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