A school in Southport for children with autism and other developmental disabilities has become a casualty of the pandemic.

Giant Steps CT will close its doors for good after nearly 30 years in the community, a decision its founder says wasn't easy.

Kathy Roberts started the school 27 years ago as a parent of a daughter with a rare developmental disability. She has remained president of the school's foundation.

"The main theme was safety from the get-go," she says.

Giant Steps closed for the school year like other schools, but as the board began looking at reopening in the fall, it found challenges in ensuring safety for students and staff.

"There are big issues related to trying to comply with even the most basic directives, so the social distancing is really hard to do," she says. "Wearing masks is important but it's really hard to do for our kids and it just goes on from there."

Roberts says 40 students, who were all placed there by their respective school districts, attend Giant Steps.

Many students are on the autism spectrum, while others have developmental disabilities or rare neurological impairments. Eighty staff members also work there.

"We've had to respond to many different things over the years. This is the first thing that we couldn't come up with an answer for," Roberts says.

Roberts tells News 12 Connecticut that she knows parents are upset and angry, but that the foundation's board will be there to help transition students and staff in any way they can.