Audit committee reviews Prince George’s County special-education monitoring, compliance and family supports

Prince George’s County Board of Education Audit Committee Chair Dr. Tiffany Anderfoil convened the committee on Feb. 4, 2025, to review how Prince George’s County Public Schools monitors special-education services, responds to state oversight and supports families navigating IEPs and dispute resolution.

The committee heard a joint presentation by Prince George’s special-education leaders and staff from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) describing the state’s comprehensive monitoring process and the district’s internal monitoring, business-intelligence reporting and family supports.

The presentation outlined how MSDE conducts policy and procedures reviews, IEP sampling (about 80–85 IEPs for large districts), case studies, classroom observations and related-services audits. Brian Morrison, branch chief for policy and accountability at MSDE, said, “we do a policies and procedures review.” He described MSDE’s two-pronged correction process required by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP): correcting individual student records and then showing 100% compliance on a subsequent sample.

Tranel Bowman, associate superintendent for special education at Prince George’s County Public Schools, described the district’s aligned monitoring approach and some district-specific steps. Bowman said the district uses the same indicators…