Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Programs Safety Literacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission adds EL and special‑education capacity, reports improved IEP compliance, and summarizes school safety and early‑literacy data
Summary
Staff reported a new English‑learner coordinator and split special‑populations roles, increased trainings and improved IEP compliance; they also summarized school safety threat assessments and said third‑grade retention decreased from 8% to 4% while cohort growth between grades 2 and 3 improved.
Nate Parker, director of school programs and supports, briefed commissioners on programmatic supports, staffing and compliance updates at the Jan. 23 meeting.
Staffing and trainings: Parker said the commission split a single special‑populations coordinator role into two dedicated positions — an exceptional education coordinator and a new English‑learner (EL) coordinator — to provide more targeted support as the number of schools and special‑population students increased. “So far we've offered 18 different trainings to schools across these 3 program areas,” Parker said, listing special education, EL and federal program trainings, and noting expanded office hours and one‑on‑one technical assistance.
IEP and federal program monitoring: staff reported improvements in special‑education compliance. Parker said the commission’s desktop monitoring findings were “cut in half from last year to this year” after targeted trainings on IEP quality and record transfers. The commission also rolled out a federal programs risk‑assessment process to tier schools for differentiated monitoring and to reduce unnecessary administrative burden for consistently low‑risk schools.
School safety: staff summarized the first round of threat assessments and internal safety walkthroughs. The commission recorded 22 threat assessments across 10 school sites for the reporting period; staff emphasized that a recorded threat assessment reflects a reported threat that was investigated and does not mean a threat was deemed viable. The most common outcomes were student suspension or the assessment concluding a threat was not viable. Staff also reported that their facility walkthroughs found no major safety deficiencies and many schools had standard visitor check‑in systems and secure entries. In a Department of Education survey summary staff said two of 17 schools had a school resource officer (SRO), 13 had a school security officer (SSO) and two had neither; staff said all schools that employ SROs or SSOs reported completion of required training.
Early literacy: staff reviewed third‑grade pathways and early literacy measures required under state law. Staff reported the percentage of third‑grade students retained statewide in commission schools fell from 8% to 4% and that cohort analysis between second and third grade showed a 14‑percentage‑point increase in the share of students meeting or exceeding proficiency.
Ending: staff said they will continue to differentiate supports based on tiered risk assessments, continue training and technical assistance, and monitor safety and literacy outcomes through ongoing monitoring and site visits.
