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Interim special education director reports rise to 658 students, new BCBA hire and $541,000 safety-net reimbursement work
Summary
The district's interim special education director told the school board that special education enrollment has climbed to 658 students, the district has hired a full-time BCBA (board-certified behavior analyst) and submitted safety-net reimbursement paperwork seeking approximately $541,000.
Port Angeles School District interim special education director Rhonda briefed the board on April 24 about rising special education enrollment, new behavioral supports and administrative changes intended to improve compliance and services.
"In March of 'twenty five we have 658 students in the district identified as receiving special education services," Rhonda told the board, noting that the percentage of students receiving special education services has been increasing roughly 1 percentage point per year and now exceeds 20% of district enrollment.
Rhonda said the district discontinued an expensive ESD (Educational Service District) contract and has hired a locally based, full-time BCBA. "We have now an employed BCBA that will be here, all day long, every day throughout the school year," the director said, describing the change as an increase in available BCBA time compared with the prior ESD contractor.
The presentation recounted operational steps taken this year: ongoing Right Response certification (offered four times a year), monthly coordination meetings for occupational therapists, speech-language staff and school psychologists, a monthly reminder system for IEPs to improve timeliness, and open-lab and in-district support for IEP Online troubleshooting.
Rhonda described adjustments to Child Find: the district moved to combined, round-robin screening and assessment days so families complete multiple developmental assessments in a single appointment; Child Find outreach was extended to the Lower Elwha Children’s House of Learning to reduce transportation barriers.
Rhonda also reported that the district filed safety-net reimbursement paperwork for extraordinary special education costs. "This year we submitted for $541,000," she said, adding that district staff screened 127 files and the final submission included 33 candidates for potential reimbursement.
Early childhood services are at capacity, the director said: the district’s developmental preschool program has a capacity of 40; current placements will exceed that number in the fall and administrators are preparing to open an additional classroom.
Support staff Troy and Carol were credited for processing more than 250 record requests and managing roughly 1,200 documents related to special education this year. Rhonda also acknowledged Rachel Summers for prior systems work and noted ongoing coordination among specialists, paraeducators and administration.
Board members asked for clarification of Child Find procedures and praised the district’s efforts to improve timeliness and compliance. Rhonda said the district had instituted monthly reminders and improved collaboration to reduce late IEPs.
The presentation closed with Rhonda thanking staff, paraeducators and specialists for serving the district’s students with special needs and urging continued collaboration.
