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MCPS presents 'Future Ready' special education plan; officials cite state findings, staffing and private-placement cost pressures
Summary
Special education leaders for Montgomery County Public Schools presented a strategic plan and the district’s state indicator report to the Board of Education Special Populations Committee on Sept. 29, identifying systemic IEP problems, rising state complaints and staffing shortages — including speech therapists — and warning of increasing local
Montgomery County Public Schools special education leaders on Sept. 29 presented a “Future Ready” plan and an indicator report to the Board of Education Special Populations Committee, outlining priorities to boost student performance, reduce disproportionality and expand inclusive placements while flagging systemic compliance gaps, rising complaints and staffing shortages.
Lisa Gary Jones, associate superintendent for special education, told the committee the office received 125 state complaints in the most recent full year and had 35 state complaints so far in the current year. Jones described the complaints as a key driver for the office’s improvement plan.
Department officials said many complaint findings stem from IEP and procedural issues rather than classroom instruction alone. “A lot of the findings are coming from the IEP itself and the way the IEP is constructed,” a department presenter told the committee, citing missed timelines, incomplete present levels of academic functioning, lack of timely progress reporting and errors…
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