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Agawam special education director outlines changing needs, new Massachusetts IEP rollout and EMPowered program review
Summary
Director of Special Services Aaron Wallace told the School Committee student needs are increasing despite stable special-education enrollment (~18%). He described listening sessions, rollout of the state’s new strengths-based IEP, a grant-funded training, and an EMPowered program review including 64 classroom visits and upcoming focus groups.
Aaron Wallace, Agawam’s director of special services, delivered an extended special education update at the School Committee meeting that outlined changing student needs, district responses and an external program review.
Wallace said the district’s special education enrollment has hovered around 18% of students — slightly below the statewide average of about 20% — but that student needs have intensified, with an increase in social-emotional needs and in students requiring intensive autism supports. He said the district opened an additional ABA classroom at Phelps and has two teachers in the intensive learning classroom this year to meet higher needs.
Wallace summarized three main initiatives: a series of staff listening sessions, mandatory statewide adoption of a new Massachusetts IEP form this past fall, and a program review conducted by EMPowered, an external agency led in part by Dr. Jenna Mancini Ruffo. The listening sessions, Wallace said, surfaced recurring themes: staffing challenges, the need for ongoing professional development, and review of instructional delivery methods. As a result, Wallace said the district will form advisory councils, increase in-class supports and offer embedded professional development and virtual office hours for teachers.
On the IEP, Wallace described the state form as more student-centered and strengths-based, emphasizing student voice and specific, data-driven goals. He said districts received training in 2023–24, some early adopters began using the form in fall 2023 and statewide mandatory adoption occurred this past fall; Agawam secured a grant that funded local training for educational team facilitators and administrators.
Wallace described EMPowered’s review as a triangulated, data-driven process that includes achievement data, IEP-goal outcomes, staffing and equity checks. He said EMPowered conducted 64 classroom observations the day of the presentation and will follow with virtual focus groups and stakeholder interviews; the agency will provide recommendations, timelines and suggested professional development after completing its analysis.
During questions, committee members pressed on parent engagement and CPAC (the district’s special-education parent advisory council). Wallace said the district does not yet have a fully functioning CPAC; he described two small meetings he ran last year that drew five and 10 parents and said a November meeting had no attendees. He invited interested parents to contact the special services office to rebuild participation.
Committee members also asked where staffing needs are concentrated. Wallace said elementary schools have more intensive, individualized needs and identified James Clark School as having the highest demand because it houses multiple specialized programs (the intensive learning classroom, an Aspire program and an ABA classroom). Wallace said the district’s goal is to support as many students as possible in their home schools and to use staffing more effectively rather than simply adding more personnel.
Why it matters: Wallace said the district faces higher-acuity needs that require adjustments in staffing, training and program design; the EMPowered review is intended to produce concrete recommendations and a timeline for change.
Wallace closed by saying he will produce a quarterly newsletter for staff outlining available supports and that the district will continue outreach to families and staff as the program review proceeds.
