The Missouri Board of Education is considering recommendations that aim to better provide services to students with disabilities.

The state has 34 schools for the severely disabled with about 600 students enrolled.

The Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled is a state operated program established by state law in 1957 and serves children and youth between the ages of five and 21. According to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Missouri is the only state that still uses a system of separate state-operated schools for students with extensive support needs.

A recommendation the board is debating is whether to permanently close 12 state-operated school buildings. During Tuesday’s State Board of Education meeting, Mark Wheatley, Assistant Commissioner with the dep

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