Greece Central reports sharp drop in removals as district implements compliance assurance plan for students with disabilities

GREECE, N.Y. — Greece Central School District leaders told the Board of Education on Jan. 21 that a new compliance assurance plan and changed procedures for disciplining students with disabilities have coincided with a marked drop in incidents that result in students being removed from instruction.

Superintendent Bernadette Smalene called up Stacey Brindisi, executive director of Pupil Personnel Services, and Melanie Stevenson, director of Pupil Personnel Services, to present the plan and associated data. Brindisi said the district has been on a multi-year corrective track after state review flagged disproportionate removal rates, and she told the board, “We were notified by the state education department. It's not another citation, it's just a different level of citation.”

The board packet included charts officials said show a drop in the number of incidents resulting in removals districtwide from 598 during the comparable period last year to 180 this year — “about a 70% decrease,” Brindisi said. That overall improvement included declines across secondary campuses, district leaders said, while noting a separate ongoing state citation (Indicator 4B) for an overrepresentation of Black students with individualized education programs (IEPs) who were removed for 10 or more days.

Why it matters: the district is working under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reporting framework and New York State’s performance metrics. School officials said the district must follow procedural safeguards before imposing extended…