Charles County Public Schools lays out special‑education strategic plan as staffing, safety and disproportionality top concerns

Larry Johnson, director of special education for Charles County Public Schools, presented a near‑final strategic plan for special education to the Board of Education at its May 13 meeting, outlining priorities on instruction, access, safety and workforce retention.

The plan — developed with a stakeholder work group and parents — clusters initiatives into four priorities: (1) student learning and specially designed instruction, anchored in a clarified multi‑tiered system of supports (MTSS) and new programmatic handbooks; (2) access and equity, including a full continuum for pre‑K3/4 and new transcript endorsements for non‑diploma tracks; (3) student safety, with a new district team implementing guidance and templates in response to state elopement legislation (House Bill 1204); and (4) talent development and case‑manager workload reductions, including restoring access to the Goalbook IEP tool and a teacher workload committee.

Johnson said the plan grew from a large body of input — special‑education committee meetings, CCAC parent groups and the superintendent’s strategic plan — and aims to finalize language after more stakeholder review.

"That's what today is about — what is our plan, our strategic plan for special education," Johnson said. He told board members the document remains draft while staff collect further public comment and finalize implementation timelines.

What it would change - Instruction: Johnson proposed countywide professional development on specially designed instruction, universal design for learning, and alignment of program expectations across inclusion, self‑contained and SOAR classrooms. The plan calls for programmatic handbooks and ‘‘look‑fors’’ for principals and coaches to use in observations, with handbooks targeted for completion by August and integrated into teacher evaluation coaching. - SOAR program rostering: The plan would regionalize elementary SOAR classrooms by grade band (K–2 and 3–5) to avoid mixed grade‑level classes and lower teacher‑student complexity; staff said transportation modeling shows bus rides would be comparable or shorter, and four additional SOAR classrooms were added through staffing to reduce ratios. - Early childhood and transition: The plan recommends a data‑driven approach to full‑day vs. half‑day pre‑K3 placements and the addition of endorsements on transcripts for non‑diploma career pathways to better align post‑secondary supports. - Safety/elopement: Johnson said a cross‑departmental team is developing incident‑report templates, behavior support plans and school‑level response protocols tied to House Bill 1204. The team is also reviewing hardening options such as door and periphery alarms and fencing where needed. - Disproportionality and suspensions: Johnson described state data (from two years prior) showing a risk ratio of about 3.74 for special‑education students suspended for more than 10 days in the referenced year. The district is not yet under mandatory CCEIS status but has formed a disproportionality committee to analyze root causes and prepare guidance for principals to use in school improvement plans.

Staffing and workload Johnson and other staff framed caseload pressures as a central challenge. EACC representatives and Johnson noted National Association of School Psychologists guidance (NASP, 2020) recommending roughly a 500:1 student‑to‑psychologist ratio, and Johnson cited state‑level estimates that Maryland school psychologists are serving roughly 1,001–1,500 students in the 23–24 school year. The county has 14 elementary sites with enrollments above 500 and several schools where single specialists carry heavy loads, staff said. Johnson said the district will form a case‑manager workload committee and recruit teachers to leadership roles to redesign case‑management tasks so classroom instruction is prioritized.

Tools and retention Johnson said the district is restoring Goalbook access for new special‑education teachers and building a committee to streamline case‑manager tasks and reduce non‑instructional paperwork. He described Goalbook as a widely used IEP support that helps teachers write aligned goals and scaffolds instruction.

Board engagement and next steps Board members pressed on transition planning, family engagement, and training for non‑classroom staff (including bus drivers and specialists) to recognize and respond to behaviors. Several parents and trustees urged more materials for families about transition planning and agency linkages (DDA, DORS) for students approaching age 14. Johnson said the plan will include a parent engagement site and recommended roll‑out sessions for families.

Johnson said the plan is near final and will return for broader public comment before being posted and presented again to the board. He emphasized the plan will be updated as the superintendent’s strategic plan evolves.

Why this matters The plan responds to rising behavior incidents and stretched psychological services at elementary levels, state policy changes on elopement, and federal/state requirements on disproportionality. The district framed the work as a mix of short‑term operational changes (handbooks, rostering, incident‑reporting templates) and longer‑term investments (retaining staff, building a full continuum for pre‑K3/4, and bolstering case‑manager capacity).

Ending Johnson asked the board and public for further input over the coming weeks and said finalized materials would be posted with opportunities for comment before a final district adoption.