Upper Dublin Superintendent Steven Yanni Gets A Statewide Award For Special Ed Work

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — A local school district superintendent from Montgomery County has just won a statewide recognition for his work on inclusive education practices for students with special needs.

Steven Yanni, the superintendent of the Upper Dublin School District in Montgomery County, was recently named the 2022 recipient of the Patricia J. Creegan Award from the Pennsylvania Education for All Coalition.

Yanni had received multiple nominations for the award, including one from Upper Dublin's Special Education Advisory Council and one from a parent associated with a school district where Yanni had previously worked, according to the Upper Dublin School District.

The award, which is named after PEAC founding member Patricia Creegan, is given out each year to an educational professional who demonstrates outstanding commitment to the area of inclusive education.

Winners get a certificate, an honorarium, and a one-year PEAC membership.

Yanni said he was "humbled" when he learned that he was this year's recipient since he didn't even know he had been nominated for the award.

Yanni said he has spent his career focusing on making sure that every student served in the public school setting "has every opportunity that they could possibly have."

"Special ed is a service, not a place," Yanni said in an interview with Patch. "I've been really passionate about inclusion."

Yanni, who will be accepting the award on Saturday during the PEAC's annual conference, which this year is virtual, said when special education students are removed from core curriculum, "they never get a chance to catch up."

"Kids with IEPs deserve to be educated alongside their peers," said Yanni, referring to Individualized Education Programs, a legal document developed for special education students.

Yanni said he previously taught in the Twin Valley School District, which sits in both Chester and Berks Counties, and that he also worked in both the New Hope-Solebury School District in central Bucks County as well as a school district in central Pennsylvania.

He said special education inclusion is something he has focused on throughout his entire career, and he's honored that his efforts have been recognized with this award.

"It's a real passion of mine," he said.

According to the Upper Dublin School District, Patricia J. Creegan was a "passionate advocate for the true inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of life as well as an educator, family member, and friend."

The district said that the PEAC established the annual award to help encourage the continuation of her work.