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Board presses staff to clarify new Student Support Team, dyslexia and special-education policy language; debate over policy vs. regulation
Summary
District staff presented new drafts on Student Support Teams, dyslexia screening and an environmental scan of special education. Trustees pressed staff to separate policy-level goals from operational regulations and to clarify parental notice and meeting-frequency language.
District staff presented three related drafts intended to standardize identification and support for students with academic and learning needs: a Student Support Team policy (IGB), a Dyslexia Identification and Support policy (IGD) and an environmental scan for Special Education (IDPF).
What was proposed: IGB would require each school to maintain at least one Student Support Team to implement MTSS and assign a Tier 3 intervention plan to any student needing it. The draft says parents/guardians will be invited to all FST/SST meetings but parental attendance is not required. IGD (dyslexia) would commit the district to universal screening in kindergarten through third grade and early identification/intervention aligned with the state rule.
Board concerns and discussion: Members repeatedly raised two related issues: (1) specificity — whether particular timelines and screening frequencies belong in board policy or in district regulations/operational procedures, and (2) parental notice and consent. Board members asked staff to consider adding minimum review frequencies for SST meetings (several trustees suggested 4–6 weeks as best practice) while staff and legal counsel cautioned that inserting strict timing into policy could create a ministerial duty and reduce school-level flexibility. The dyslexia draft closely tracks state board rule language (0.39) and several trustees noted the district has limited latitude to deviate.
Other context: Trustees pressed for clarity on whether the policy requires one permanent team per school or an SST process that yields different team members for different students; staff clarified the latter (a school must have an SST process and roster but teams may vary by student). Trustees also asked that special-education policy work address disproportionate identification and requested that administration and legal draft language that achieves the board27s goal without introducing new legal liability.
Next steps: Staff agreed to return with revised language that distinguishes policy-level expectations (the "what") from regulatory/operational-level detail (the "how"), to explore minimum meeting frequency language with legal counsel and to bring back proposed regulatory language for the board27s consideration. The item will be revisited in March.
