Special education report: district narrows disproportionality, DPI flags inclusive‑placement and assessment participation for improvement

District student‑services leaders told the Stevens Point Area Public School District board on June 9 that targeted interventions funded through the required CCEIS set‑aside have produced measurable reductions in racial disproportionality for emotional‑behavioral disability identification, but the district still trails state averages on inclusive placement and assessment participation for students with IEPs.

Student Services Director Jenny (presenting) explained the federal and state review process and said, "As a result of the identification, we are required to set aside 15% of our special education formula funds to provide early intervention services." She described a multi‑tiered set of investments using that set‑aside: expanded professional development for building and special‑education leaders, rollout of tier‑2 and tier‑3 interventions (character strong), training for behavior specialists, continued PBIS work, additional social‑work staffing, and an AmeriCorps school social‑work assistant to reduce barriers such as clothing, transportation and food.

Jenny said the district reduced the risk ratio for students identifying as multiracial being evaluated and found eligible for an emotional‑behavioral disability from about 3.298 in 2023 to 2.5297 in the most recent report. "Our reduction was 0.5599," she said, and noted the Department of Public Instruction told the district the reduction exceeded the amount DPI considers adequate progress.

The district also reviewed its state performance indicators for students with IEPs. Jenny said the district scored 76 overall on the combined compliance/results metric and that compliance measures were strong (100%), while the "results" component was lower (about 52.44%). Board materials and the presentation identified three priority improvement areas: (1) increasing the percentage of students with IEPs who are educated in general‑education settings (least‑restrictive environment), (2) improving participation in state assessments for students with IEPs, and (3) increasing four‑year on‑time graduation rates for students with IEPs.

Jenny and staff detailed steps underway to address those priorities: expanding inclusive instructional practices and coteaching models, piloting math Uc and other specialized instructional supports, increasing access to audio and assistive technologies, broadening social‑emotional and behavioral programs (PASS, CharacterStrong tiers, restorative practices), and continuing monthly monitoring with the DPI. The district is also participating in a DPI grant competition that, if awarded, would provide $56,000 annually for three years to expand social‑emotional supports for students with autism and EBD.

Board members asked clarifying questions about how DPI data are reported to WISE and whether parents can opt out of data reporting; staff said WISE reporting is required and that the school‑official exemptions under FERPA permit the district to provide required data without individual parental consent. Members also asked for follow‑up: multiple board members requested a focused update next fall on inclusive educational environments, citing the district's percentile placement near the low end of the state distribution.

District staff said the DPI noted the district's CCEIS plan and budget were high quality and that the district served at least 660 students through its early intervention efforts in the reporting period. Team members described that progress as meaningful but said further work is needed to change schedules, staffing patterns and classroom practice to increase inclusive placement and assessment participation for students with IEPs.