Moorhead schools report 1,840 students receiving special-education services in October count

Dwayne, a district staff member, told the Moorhead Area Public Schools Independent School Board on Oct. 27 that the district's October child count showed 1,840 students receiving special-education services birth through age 22.

"You can see as of October, and this is around about October 10, we had 1,840 students receiving special ed services birth through age 22 in the district," Dwayne said, adding the total includes students served by the district regardless of district of residence (for example, students at West Central).

Dwayne said the October number was up about five students from September and similar to last year's end-of-year total of 1,833. He presented multi-year trends showing consistent growth since 2022 (noting the pandemic year 2021 differed markedly) and said much of the increase is driven by early-intervention numbers that work up through the K—2 system.

On building-level distribution, Dwayne said Elm Hopkins (referred to in discussion as Ellen Hopkins) runs higher special-education percentages—"they probably run between 26, 28%"—while Probst Field has lower totals and most of its special-education entries are speech-only students. Dwayne said EIS and MHS are the largest numerically, that alternative programs have more students starting this year, and that West Central has well over half of students served on IEPs.

Board members asked whether staffing was keeping pace. Dwayne said the district added special-education positions entering the school year, repurposed some non-classroom staff into classroom roles, and has added at least one new position in recent years while continually monitoring growth.

Board members and staff discussed regional drivers: Dwayne said the district's status as a regional center and proximity to medical and social-service capacity in Fargo bring higher-need students into the district. He noted the district also receives students from other states and countries. The board and staff raised a forthcoming challenge: a proposed juvenile psychiatric hospital in the county would create a new responsibility for the district to provide education to youth residing in that facility, which would affect special-education planning and funding.

Dwayne said the district will return to the board in February with a disability-area breakout after receiving state-provided detail in January.