Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Mtss topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ferguson-Florissant reports declines in suspensions and referrals under MTSS framework
Summary
District staff presented a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) annual update showing multi-year decreases in disruptive incidents, suspensions and special-education incidence, and described next steps on restorative practices, family engagement and advanced-tier interventions.
Colette Higgins delivered the Ferguson-Florissant School District's annual MTSS update, telling the board the district has recorded multi-year decreases in disciplinary removals and behavior incidents since strengthening its MTSS and PBIS systems.
Higgins said the district has reduced disruptive behavior incidents districtwide by 37 percent and fighting by 25 percent over three years, and that total removals from school (in-school and out-of-school suspensions) fell about 35 percent overall. “When students feel seen, valued, and supported, they rise to meet high expectations,” Higgins said.
The presentation tied MTSS outcomes to the district's strategic plan and to Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6) reporting. Higgins said the district met the goal of screening 90 percent of students with a universal social-emotional screener and that the share of students needing targeted or intensive supports (tiers 2 and 3) fell from a combined 20 percent to 14 percent over three years. She reported that about 2,700 students are currently supported by reading intervention plans and that students on individualized reading plans are receiving the UFLI curriculum when required by state reading-success planning.
Higgins also highlighted special-education trends: incidence of identification dropped from nearly 18 percent in 2017 to below 15 percent, and access to the least-restrictive environment increased by 10 percentage points. She said the four-year graduation rate for students with individualized education programs has risen to roughly parity with general-education students (noted in the presentation as about 91.5 percent).
Board members pressed for detail. Doctor Powell Walker asked whether the incident-count increases seen in a middle year reflected new reporting or actual behavior shifts; Higgins said part of the rise in “disruptive behaviors” reflected reclassification of some incidents and a temporary secondary-school implementation effect, and that the later decline shows the interventions taking hold. Doctor Powell Walker also asked whether the total-removals figures count incidents or individual students; Higgins confirmed the charts show incident counts and offered to provide both per-student counts and suspension-day totals at a future meeting.
Higgins said restorative practices and expanded family engagement are priorities going forward and thanked federal-grant teams and school staff for implementation. She noted several schools submitted applications for Missouri Center for Positive Behavior Supports recognition and said the district is under consideration as a PBIS model demonstration district.
The MTSS presentation was provided for information only; no board action was required. The board requested additional breakdowns of suspension days and climate-survey detail for a future meeting.
