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GREENSBORO — Some local parents of autistic children may be a little more comfortable with Guilford County Schools’ plan to build two , rather than three,  autism classroom wings after meeting with district officials Wednesday night .

The school district held the meeting so families could weigh in on a proposal to reduce the number of classroom wings from three to two.

Some parents worried that any classroom wings would mean their children would spend more time separated from children without disabilities. “How are we preparing these children for a world that’s less inclusive to their needs?” Shelley Dia z asked. She worried the wings would not prepare children to accept students such as her daughter Brisa. 

During the meeting, school officials said they will form a team of parents that will be asked to review inclusion and curriculum plans for the new autism facilities. “I think doors are opening,” Diaz said after the meeting.

Betty Anne Chandler , executive director  of the district’s exceptional children department , said the new facilities will provide inclusion.

“This district is totally committed to fully including, to the maximum possible, our students with disabilities,” she said.

Voters approved, as part of the 2008 school construction bond referendum, building three  classroom wings that would serve autistic students. Each wing was to serve 48 students  and be added to Ragsdale High , a planned airport-area high school  and a proposed southeast Guilford elementary school .

Earlier this month,  district officials told the school board that they believe building the wings as originally proposed places them outside of the areas where the students are concentrated.

Instead, the team is proposing building two larger classroom wings that could serve 120 students each . One wing still would be added to Ragsdale High but the team did not make a recommendation for where the second wing should be built.

School officials say two larger wings would strengthen the sense of community among families with autistic students. That, in turn, could result in more parent support for the schools. Officials said having more students at one location would allow for easier groupings by age and ability levels, and the larger sites could result in a state-funded principal position  for the wings. The team also said fewer two wings could be more cost effective, but budget impacts will remain unclear until the second location is determined.

School board Chairman Alan Duncan  told parents at Wednesday night’s meeting that finding property to accommodate the two planned schools with an autism wing has been difficult.

Dwight Meredith  is a parent and also a member of the building advisory team for the autism facilities. He said the revised building plan is a benefit for many reasons, including  making space for nearly 100  more students. That is a benefit, officials said, because the autistic population  continues to grow.

“Kids with autism, at every other place I’ve been except Greensboro, have been the kids who lost out,” Meredith said. He and his family moved from Atlanta to Guilford County because of the district’s exceptional children program.

The school board is expected to take the issue up again at its Dec. 1  meeting when a vote on the revised building plan is likely.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com