Exceptional children staff present preliminary review; board asks for financials, caseload detail and program outcomes
Summary
District special-education leaders presented preliminary results from a state comprehensive review, staffing and child-count data and asked the board for direction on next steps; trustees requested more detailed budget, staffing and discipline/attendance analyses and discussed community engagement.
District special-education staff provided the board with a preliminary update on the Exceptional Children (EC) program, including results from a recent state comprehensive review, child-count trends and staffing status; the board asked for more detailed fiscal data, program outcomes and plans for recruitment and retention.
What staff presented: EC leaders said the district had voluntarily participated in a DPI comprehensive review and that the review produced corrective actions and commendations. Staff noted the district’s EC child count has increased while overall enrollment has declined and said the highest increases were in pre-K placements. They also reviewed staffing vacancies and caseload targets and said the hiring pool remains shallow for some specialized positions.
Why it matters: EC enrollment and staffing affect services under federal and state special-education law; trustees pressed staff for more granular information about caseloads, discipline and chronic absenteeism among students with disabilities, and for data on students who left the district and whether their needs drove exits.
Board questions and requests: trustees asked for a clearer breakdown of EC funding (state, local, federal and grants), an itemization of duties that moved or changed during the department reorganization, and data about office referrals and attendance among students with disabilities. Several board members asked for qualitative information: trends staff have observed, any innovative partnerships or program pilots, and whether the district is engaging local higher-education or community partners to expand services and staffing pipelines.
Staff response and next steps: EC staff said they will return with more detailed financials, updated recruitment metrics and a fuller presentation that addresses board questions. Staff described recent professional development (training on autism core features, FBAs/BIPs and standards-aligned IEPs) and said they plan to emphasize attendance and discipline data in future reporting.
Ending: The board set expectations for a fuller follow-up presentation at a future meeting (staff suggested June 5) and asked EC leaders to include staffing, resource needs, teacher-climate information and program outcomes in the next report.
