GREAT BAY--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Melissa Gumbs has outlined how the new Educational Care Center (ECC) will operate, explaining that students experiencing serious and persistent behavioral challenges will receive full-day educational and therapeutic interventions while remaining officially enrolled at their regular schools. The center, which will be housed at the rebuilt Charles Leopold Bell School, is being established as a temporary intervention program rather than a separate educational institution.
The Minister provided the clarification during the 2027 national budget debate in response to questions from Members of Parliament Lyndon Lewis and Ardwell Irion, who sought details on the center's operational structure, student placements, staffing arrangements and relationship with existing student support services.
Gumbs explained that the ECC is intended for students whose behavioral challenges require more intensive and structured intervention than their regular school environment can provide. However, she emphasized that the program is not intended to become a permanent alternative to mainstream education.
"The ECC is a programme, not a separate school," the Minister stated.
Under the proposed arrangement, students will attend the center for the full school day during their placement, receiving regular academic instruction alongside targeted behavioral interventions. Their enrollment will remain with their original school, and the ultimate objective will be to help them return successfully to that environment.
The Minister stressed that not every student experiencing behavioral difficulties will require placement at the center. Many can continue receiving assistance through existing student care systems. The ECC is specifically being designed for those requiring a more intensive level of intervention.
Temporary Placements With Parental Consent
According to Gumbs, participation in the ECC will be temporary and require parental consent. Students will not be transferred out of their regular schools, even though they may attend the center for an extended period during their intervention.
She explained that a student referred from a particular school would continue to be registered there while receiving specialized assistance at the ECC. During that period, the center would work with the student's parents, teachers and Student Care Coordinator to maintain educational continuity and prepare for reintegration.
The ECC will operate on a rolling admissions basis, allowing students to enter the program at different points during the academic year rather than following a single annual intake.
The length of each placement will depend on the student's individual needs, progress and intervention plan. Services will combine one-on-one support and small-group interventions, allowing the center to address behavioral challenges through approaches tailored to each student.
This structure is intended to prevent students from becoming permanently separated from their regular educational environment while ensuring they receive the additional attention necessary to address persistent behavioral difficulties.
Student Support Services Division to Play Central Role
Responding to MP Irion's questions about the relationship between the ECC and the Student Support Services Division (SSSD), Gumbs explained that the new center will complement existing student care services rather than duplicate or replace them.
Under the proposed referral system, schools will submit requests for ECC placement to SSSD using a designated referral form.
SSSD representatives and members of the ECC Care Team will jointly form a Screening and Placement Committee responsible for assessing referrals and determining whether students require placement at the center.
The division will also provide professional oversight in student care matters and participate, where necessary, in multidisciplinary case reviews and reintegration planning.
Students attending the ECC will continue to have access to existing SSSD services, including speech and language support and special education assessments.
Parents will likewise retain access to SSSD's parent support groups, while the ECC Care Team will participate in the division's established quarterly care management meetings involving public and government-subsidized schools.
Gumbs explained that these arrangements are intended to ensure continuity of care and prevent students from losing access to existing support services during their placement.
SSSD will also retain its responsibilities for crisis response and school safety coordination.
Center Will Not Replace Services for Learning Difficulties
The Minister also addressed questions from MP Lyndon Lewis about whether the ECC could accommodate students experiencing specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
Gumbs clarified that students with these conditions can already access professional assessments and specialized intervention through the existing student care system, including SSSD, which has provided services since September 2011.
She explained that special educational needs are not limited to students with significant disabilities or those requiring specialized educational settings. Students who experience specific learning difficulties while remaining in mainstream classrooms may also require additional educational support.
However, she cautioned against establishing parallel services within the ECC that would duplicate existing responsibilities, fragment service delivery and place further pressure on limited personnel and financial resources.
The priority, she said, is to strengthen existing support structures and address service gaps rather than expand the ECC beyond its intended behavioral intervention mandate.
Staffing and Financing Under Public Education
Gumbs also clarified the center's administrative and staffing arrangements following questions from MP Irion concerning whether ECC employees would be considered civil servants and how their positions would be classified.
The Minister explained that ECC personnel will be appointed under the applicable public education employment framework, with their classifications, appointments and remuneration governed by existing regulations and approval procedures.
The current public education function book will serve as the basis for staffing arrangements. Where specialized ECC positions do not correspond directly with established job titles, they will be evaluated against comparable functions, taking into account qualifications, responsibilities and duties.
The organizational structure developed for the center includes management, teaching personnel, specialized student support professionals and operational employees.
Financially, the ECC is included under the Division of Public Education (DPE), with personnel and operational expenditures provided for in the draft 2027 budget.
DPE will exercise administrative oversight, while SSSD will provide programmatic oversight and specialized student support in coordination with ECC management.
The Minister also acknowledged an existing social worker vacancy within SSSD, indicating that it would be addressed through the applicable recruitment and appointment procedures. She rejected a separate claim concerning a psychologist allegedly working while on sick leave, stating that the information was incorrect.
