Wareham Public Schools is working to provide more support to students with emotional disabilities, bringing more resources to the table to give them a productive learning environment.

Director of Student Services Melissa Fay gave a presentation on these new services at Wednesday’s School Committee meeting.

The school has been able to use grant money to provide quality consulting and more Board Certified Behavior Analyst support to the programs in the district in an effort to strengthen all special education programming.

Two Board Certified Behavior Analysts already serve Wareham Public Schools and, with grant money, they will each be there two days a week now instead of just one. Fay said the district is also adding a training for paraprofessionals that work in special education programs to make them certified Registered Behavior Technicians.

Of students placed in out of district programs, 80 percent of them identified as having an emotional disability. Some of these are due to traumatic events in a student’s past. This is a high number of students with emotional disability compared to other school districts she’s worked in, Fay said.

“A plethora of different things account for that,” she said. She pointed to the large population of foster students in the community, poverty and drug use, which all contribute to students’ emotional health.

“In a district our size, it’s not really feasible to have alternative schools, but we can certainly build strong programming,” Fay said.

The anticipated outcomes of the increase in support for special education students a positive learning environment for students with emotional disabilities. Fay said the school district also wants to provide quality programming that serves students without relying on collaborative or private day school placements. She also hopes to create opportunities for students who are currently placed out of the district to return to a solid program in Wareham that meets their needs.