District presents special‑education plan required under Chapter 14; posts plan for public review

Boyertown Area School District special-education staff presented the district’s required special-education plan during the March 25 legislative meeting, outlining regulatory requirements, program profiles and proposed professional development priorities.

Caitlin Bartman, who led the presentation, said the plan is required every three years under school code and Chapter 14 regulations and must include district profile information, a steering committee list, measurable indicators and an improvement plan derived from the state’s compliance monitoring process. "The special education plan is required every 3 years to be written by the district and to get participation from various stakeholders," Bartman said.

Bartman introduced members of the department who helped prepare the plan, including transition coordinator Stacy Wharton, elementary supervisor John Otto, secondary liaisons Colleen Ritter and Jessica Cunningham, elementary liaison Jackie Carney and board-certified behavior analyst Sarah Jones. Bartman told the board the steering committee met March 14 and included parents, regular‑education and special‑education teachers, and administrators; Board member Roger Zawada attended that meeting.

Key elements described in the presentation: - Program profile and steering committee membership, including public‑meeting input gathered March 14. - State indicators and data points tracked for improvement: graduation and dropout rates, participation/performance of students with IEPs on statewide assessments, and educational environment metrics. - Compliance monitoring occurs every six years and produces improvement plans the district must address. - Identification method for specific learning disability: the district uses the discrepancy model. - Least restrictive environment described as a spectrum of placement options and the IEP team decision process. - Positive behavior supports in place, including functional behavior assessments and schoolwide reinforcement systems; staff requested expanded de‑escalation training. - Personnel and caseload profiles (learning support, emotional support, autistic support, life skills, speech providers) and special-education facilities across district buildings. - Proposed professional development priorities: autism training, positive behavior supports, paraprofessional training, transition, science of literacy, parent training and IEP development.

Bartman said the plan must be posted for public review; administration posted the plan at the start of the meeting. "It has to sit on the screen. It says 30 days, but it actually only has to sit for 28 days for public review," she told the board, and the district must submit the plan to the state by May 1. Asked whether the state can reject the plan, Bartman said the state typically provides feedback and suggested edits rather than flat rejection.

Board members were told the plan will be attached to the weekly report and returned to the Committee of the Whole for further review; Bartman will appear at the April meeting to respond to questions prior to the board’s recommendation for approval at a future legislative meeting.