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MCPS updates special-education annual plan and reports steady gains filling vacancies; division seeks continued staffing support
Summary
Director Tony Walker presented the special education annual plan, including federal grant allocations and set-aside amounts for parentally placed private-school students. Dr. Amanda Weidner reported staffing progress: substitute fill rates improved and several teacher and classified vacancies have candidates recommended for next year.
Doctor Tony Walker, director of special education, briefed the school board on the division’s special-education annual plan and grant allocations. Walker said the annual plan supports current special-education teacher positions and two on-campus training programs at Radford University and Virginia Tech. He said the 2025–26 grant-allocation amounts were not yet finalized but that the division is operating from the 2024–25 allocation while awaiting June allocations tied to the December 1 child count.
Walker described the two funding streams in the grant program: the K–12 stream (referred to in the briefing as funding stream 6-11) and the preschool-only stream (6-19). Walker cited a 6-11 allocation in the division’s draft materials of roughly $2,400,000 and a 6-19 preschool allocation of $59,812. He also noted a state-determined set-aside for parentally placed private-school students of $76,969.27 and a small set-aside for one parentally placed preschool child of $1,798. Walker said unspent set-aside funds roll over into other special-education allocations.
"This grant supports current special-education teacher positions, supporting students with disabilities across the division," Walker said, adding that final allocation figures will be released by the state in June.
Administration also presented a staffing update. Doctor Amanda Weidner reported the division had added several new substitutes and is currently showing nearly 500 active substitutes in the system. March substitute-teacher fill rates were 93%, the strongest monthly fill rate reported by administration; paraprofessional (PARA) fill rates rose to 51%.
Weidner listed several hiring actions and openings: multiple special-education teacher openings (administration reported filling five positions for next year and recommending an additional candidate at the meeting), school psychologist positions (one filled; two more open), speech-language pathologist openings and a mix of subject-teacher hires in English, math, science and world language. On the classified side, the division reported recommended candidates to fill several custodial vacancies and grounds positions and continued active recruitment for HVAC and facility positions.
Board members asked clarifying questions. Doctor Orger (sic in transcript: Doctor Orger/Doctor Getry — recorded in board materials as Doctor Getre/Guittrain earlier) asked whether the grant pass-through procedure from federal to state to district had changed; Walker and administration said allocations continue to flow from federal to state and then to school divisions based on statutory formulas and the December 1 child count. Board members also asked about the relationship between grant-funded positions and locally funded positions; administration clarified the grant funds only cover the positions explicitly listed in the grant application and that additional positions requested in the operating budget are separate and would require local funding.
Why it matters: Special-education staffing and grant allocations directly affect service levels for students with disabilities. The division reported progress in filling some positions but said it will continue recruiting to close gaps before the 2025–26 school year.
