Fayetteville-Manlius outlines expansions in special education and launches multi-year restorative-practices plan

FAYETTEVILLE — The Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District presented plans Wednesday to expand special-education offerings next year and to implement restorative practices as a multi‑year district priority.

Assistant Superintendent Amy Evans told the Board the district will “be almost closing our gap with the direct consultant teacher program,” adding that the district will offer consultant-teacher coverage in K–3, grades 5–8 and 9–12 next year and will add one special-education teacher for the upcoming school year. Evans said the district added several smaller specialized classes this year and expects demand to require an additional classroom at Eagle Hill and another in the Fayol program. She also said FM will host an 8:1:1 program at Enders to support students with social‑emotional learning needs.

The expansion matters because it addresses classroom placement and compliance trends the district has tracked since the COVID‑era surge in services. Evans said the district’s count of Section 504 plans has grown to 302 active plans, a “25% increase” year over year; ELL enrollment also rose midyear from about 50 to about 110 students, prompting the addition of another full‑time teacher for fall. She described new data tools (Panorama) and MTSS refinements aimed at targeting supports for attendance, behavior and mental health.

Principal Trish Bogarty led the district’s presentation on restorative practices and read the committee’s vision and mission statements. “At Fayetteville Manlius, we use restorative practices to intentionally build, maintain, and repair relationships within our community,” she said. Bogarty described a district committee of roughly 20 staff representing all buildings that met monthly and has developed an initial three‑to‑five‑year action plan. The work will emphasize professional development, classroom circles, and alignment with MTSS and forthcoming code‑of‑conduct adjustments.

Board members asked about communication and timelines. Bogarty and Evans said the immediate next steps are onboarding building administrators to a common understanding, piloting circle practices, and finalizing the action plan; communication to families will follow once administrators and principals are aligned. Evans said Panorama survey rollout and expanded counseling‑team planning over the summer will produce baseline data in the fall. The presenters said restorative practices will be phased in — with some tier‑3 approaches used earlier in targeted interventions and broader tier‑1 implementation expected over multiple years.

District staff flagged implementation constraints: restorative practice training takes time, and some code‑of‑conduct changes cannot be finalized until the committee completes its action plan. Bogarty emphasized the committee’s intent to “plant seeds” with staff and grow capacity slowly rather than mandate immediate schoolwide changes.

Staff also detailed programmatic upgrades this year: additional teacher professional development for teaching assistants and behavior specialists, three parent training sessions with Syracuse University’s FACE program, and targeted teacher meetings to improve IEP drafting and continuity across grade bands.

The Board did not take a formal vote on policy changes at the meeting; presenters said action items and a finalized action plan will be shared with the Board and the public in the fall so parents and students can provide feedback before districtwide implementation.

The district will return to the Board with a more detailed timeline, implementation budget implications, and materials for family engagement once the administrative onboarding and pilot work are complete.