Wake County Schools details regional reorganization of special education; officials cite 90‑day delays and federal/state funding uncertainty

Wake County Schools staff on Wednesday presented a plan to reorganize special education services into a regional model aimed at increasing school‑level support, reduce disproportionality and speed evaluations that now meet the federal 90‑day timeline only about half the time.

Dr. Alward, a Wake County Schools special education services staff member, told the Student Achievement Committee, “We believe that all children have the capacity to grow and achieve.” She said the reorganization will place coordinating teachers in fewer schools so they can provide more intensive training, progress monitoring and classroom coaching for teachers and administrators.

The reorganization is intended to align special education work with the district’s learning model, officials said. Staff described multidisciplinary regional teams — including behavior specialists and content specialists — supervised by senior administrators, and said the model mirrors regional structures used elsewhere in district academics and student support.

Why this matters: Officials said two data priorities drove the redesign. First, indicator 11 — the federal measure of how often the special‑education eligibility and service process is completed within 90 days of referral — is being met in roughly 50% of cases. That delay is particularly consequential for students in kindergarten through second grade, staff said. Second, the district…