Special services director outlines staffing, caseload changes and compliance work

Carol Potter, director of special services for Little Falls Public Schools, gave the board an overview Aug. 11 of staffing, caseload adjustments, curriculum and compliance work in the district’s special services department.

Potter said the district’s Dec. 1 count showed 627 resident students with active individualized education programs (IEPs). She reported other counts of students the department serves: 448 (context provided by Potter during the presentation), 38 Little Falls residents placed in higher‑level programs outside district sites, 138 open‑enrolled students receiving special education in other districts and 54 students on Section 504 plans. Potter also told the board the district has hired a speech‑language pathologist assistant and is “fully staffed going into the school year.”

The numbers matter because the district recently rebalanced staff to match caseloads and licensing. Potter described work to “right size” teacher and paraprofessional assignments across elementary and secondary sites, and to set consistent caseload ratios for related service staff. She said Lincoln will lose one special education teacher while Lindbergh and other sites saw different shifts; transition and the CEC staffing levels remain small.

Potter described several programmatic and procedural changes intended to reduce miscommunication and strengthen practice. The department has created IEP and meeting templates, expanded monthly coordination with Midstate (level‑4 provider) to plan transitions for students in higher‑need placements, launched a “Sped Scoop” procedural guidance page on the district website, instituted CPI (crisis prevention intervention) training, evaluation training for administrators and weekly child‑study and evaluation‑team meetings. She said the district shifted about 15% of special education funds into a CEIS (coordinated early intervention services) code to support interventions in general education and is recruiting a behavior interventionist for the middle school.

Potter addressed Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) complaints, saying Little Falls had about 11 MDE complaints in recent years and that several carried into the past school year. She said the district resolved the most recent cases and that typical MDE responses require gathering documentation and writing responses, which she estimated take “about 40 to 80 hours” per complaint. Potter said most complaints stem from communication lapses and that when the district has missed a step the response is to correct the process.

Board members asked about professional development and teachers’ reactions to caseload adjustments. Potter said the district planned targeted staff workshops, alignment of MTSS work, and back‑to‑school trainings; she told the board staff were generally receptive and that coordinators had been key in communicating changes to teams.

Potter closed by noting a small special education fund balance carryover of about $50,000 and saying the department will continue monthly cross‑disciplinary meetings and parent outreach as part of its continuous improvement work.