Melville approves Special School District partnership agreement and new coordinator-principal calibration tool

The Melville School District Board of Education on Sept. 25 approved the district’s partnership agreement with Special School District (SSD) and a principal–coordinator calibration tool designed to document and strengthen collaboration on special education services. Doctor Charity Schluter, director of special education with SSD within Melville, summarized the legal basis, the partnership’s seven practice areas and a tool that coordinators and principals will complete and analyze.

“To meet these IDEA requirements, DESE has in place the Missouri State Plan for Special Education,” Schluter said, and noted Regulation 15 requires partner districts and special school districts to maintain assurances. The partnership agreement formalizes shared responsibilities across staffing, teaching and learning, student services, transportation, data and technology, career and technical education, and resource allocation. Schluter said both superintendents and both board presidents must sign the agreement before submission to SSD’s central office; the document is due Oct. 1.

Schluter described a four-focus calibration tool principals and special-education coordinators will complete: communication and accessibility; understanding roles in advancing system priorities; collaborative decision making and problem solving; and partnership in hiring, evaluation and development of staff. The tool uses a 1–4 scale (1 = practice not yet in place; 4 = sustainable and established) and the district’s most recent baseline scores averaged between 3.3 and 3.6 across the four focus areas, Schluter said. She added that 100% of principals and coordinators completed the tool in the prior cycle and that next steps include additional walk-throughs and joint professional-learning planning.

A formal motion to approve the 2025–26 SSD partnership agreement passed 7–0. The board recorded that the agreement and the principal-calibration baseline will be submitted to SSD and that the district will use the tool’s data to target improvements and professional learning. Schluter and the administrative team also listed the five special-education coordinators who will use the tool and indicated a final baseline for 2026 will be due June 30, 2026.