Oak Creek-Franklin district outlines multi‑year special education action plan after audit

The Oak Creek‑Franklin Joint School District on March 10 presented an update to a special education audit and a three‑year action plan, describing new hires, outside consultants, performance indicators and a schedule to report progress to the school board.

District special education leaders said the presentation was intended to be a “year‑0” status report and that they will return with a draft action plan this summer and biannual KPI reports thereafter. Monica (last name not specified in the transcript), who the presenters identified as the district’s special education director, introduced Andre Bennett (special education staff member) to summarize audit findings and next steps.

The district will focus on a set of baseline key performance indicators (KPIs) that staff said they will report to the board twice a year. Those KPIs include the count of students with individualized education programs (IEPs), primary disability categories by grade band, absenteeism among students with IEPs, participation rates in general education settings, and academic performance on state assessments. Staff emphasized that the most frequent primary disability categories in early grades are speech and language, while “other health impairments” (including ADHD/anxiety) are more common in later grades.

Presenters described performance gaps on the Wisconsin Forward Exam in 2023: district staff said 56.8% of students with IEPs scored “below basic” in English language arts compared with 10.3% of students without IEPs, and that only 9.2% of students with IEPs scored “proficient or advanced” in ELA versus a substantially higher percentage for students without IEPs. In math, staff reported 12.8% of students with IEPs scored proficient or advanced while a higher share of students without IEPs scored proficient or advanced. Representatives said the district will use those baselines to measure multi‑year progress.

Monica and Bennett said the district is emphasizing inclusion and general‑education access: roughly 74% of students with disabilities are served inside the regular education classroom 80% or more of the day, while about 6% spend less than 40% of the day in general education. Staff reported 13 students are currently placed at alternative locations outside district schools and said they are reviewing placement decisions to ensure those moves are necessary.

To support implementation, the district described external consultants and internal supports already hired or contracted: Margaret Black (professional development for principals on inclusive practices), Dr. Dana Belewski (therapist/psychologist providing coaching and regulation strategies), and a board‑certified behavior analyst, Jessica Dwyer of CISA 1. Staff said they have begun bimonthly psychologist meetings, monthly principal special‑education professional development, and whole‑district special education professional development sessions.

The presentation also described operational changes in schools: revised student intervention team processes, plans to balance special education caseloads so teachers can participate fully in professional learning communities, use of heterogeneous grouping in course scheduling, and more rigorous vetting of instructional resources based on data. Staff said they have created a stakeholder group that will include parent representatives, teacher representatives and principals; parent applications were being accepted at the time of the presentation.

Unified Champion Schools activities were highlighted as part of inclusion efforts. Staff described recent and planned events — bowling (recent), a swimming event on April 13, a softball/baseball event on May 11 and upcoming track and field activities — that pair students with and without disabilities.

Monica and Bennett described the district’s timeline: the current work is “year‑0” (foundational), they plan to present a draft three‑year model this summer, and they will report selected KPIs biannually to the board to show progress. Presenters said the pace is intentional to avoid short‑term fixes that could derail long‑term change.

Members of the board and the public commended the staff work during and after the presentation. Public comments earlier in the meeting referenced priorities for special education and asked how the DEI audit work would be coordinated; staff said the district is combining equity and special education efforts and is planning continued parent engagement sessions.

The board did not take a formal vote on the action plan at the March 10 meeting; staff described it as an informational update and said formal policy or program changes that require board approval would be brought forward later.

Ending: Staff asked for ongoing feedback as they finalize the action plan and emphasized the district will return with measurable indicators and periodic reports so the board and community can track progress.