AIKEN - The county school board is studying ways to provide special assistance for pupils with emotional disabilities.

Pat Silva, the director of special education for the Aiken County school district, said alternative classes would allow the pupils to learn in a controlled environment.

The board is looking at four alternatives to help about 100 pupils in the district. The classes would teach the pupils how to act in a classroom environment, officials say.

Options currently on the table range in cost from about $52,700 to $170,500.

One of the programs currently being considered would utilize existing classroom space, but would entail hiring new teachers and a clinical staff at a cost of $170,500 a year, Ms. Silva said. But part of the cost for this alternative would be partially reimbursed by Medicaid funds, she said.

A second plan being considered would serve pupils in middle school, but not elementary or high school, and has the district teaming with Clemson University's Camp Long program located in Aiken County, which is designed to assist at-risk youth, Ms. Silva said.

That plan would cost $52,700, but like the first option, the program also would be partially reimbursed by Medicaid funds, Ms. Silva said.

The third alternative costs $70,000 and involves hiring a teacher and paraprofessional for pupils of all grades to be taught at the Pinecrest Educational and Opportunity Academy in Aiken, Ms. Silva said.

The fourth plan on the table places elementary pupils in existing classroom space and involves hiring a teacher and paraprofessional at a cost of $70,500.

Jack Hunter, a school board member, said a program such as the ones being discussed would be beneficial to the educational system, but strict federal guidelines could make it difficult to implement.

"It may not be a bad idea but when you get the problems with the federal law and the financial issues involved, it can be very difficult to make something like that happen," Mr. Hunter said.

The board already has announced it must raise taxes in the 2006-2007 budget or lose state funding.

Mike Paget, a state Education Department associate who works with exceptional children, said when options such as the programs being discussed in Aiken are combined with initiatives that reward positive behavior they are beneficial and pupils eventually are able to return to a regular classroom.

"It's a better service when the schools that the kids come from increase their ability to help those kids when they are back," Mr. Paget said.

Reach Nathan Dickinson at (803) 648-1395, ext. 109 or nathan.dickinson@augustachronicle.com.