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Perkiomen Valley supervisor outlines equity work: restorative practices, 504 manual and program reviews
Summary
Lauren Moulton, filling in as supervisor of equity and student services, summarized district equity work including restorative-practices training, a planned 504 procedural manual, MTSS/PBIS expansion, a new transcript validation subscription and systematic program reviews with deliverables due this academic year.
Lauren Moulton, filling in for Dr. Champagne Lee as supervisor of equity and student services, told the Perkiomen Valley School District education committee the district is pursuing a systematic approach to educational equity across departments.
Moulton described restorative-practices training at the high school as an example of staff professional learning designed to reframe discipline and repair harm, saying the training modeled community circles and scripted approaches to help staff reduce anxiety and restore relationships. "It modeled communication...and showed teachers how to set up community circles," Moulton said.
She said the district is developing targeted 504 training for counselors and staff and intends to create a 504 procedural manual to standardize K–12 processes and reduce variability between buildings. "My goal is to develop a procedural manual to help unify that process," she said.
Moulton also outlined work to reduce observation subjectivity through a structured observation code and training for counselors and school psychologists. She described initiatives for multilingual learners, including a shift toward the term "multilanguage learners," alignment to Pennsylvania ELD standards, and development of differentiation and accommodation strategies for staff.
In student-support frameworks, Moulton noted the district’s MTSS and PBIS implementation is data-driven with tiered supports; Tier 1 is broadly established, Tier 2 is being installed at elementary and middle levels, and high school implementation is ongoing.
The district subscribed to ValidateMe, a foreign-transcript validation service Moulton said will be used on an as-needed, pay-per-use basis to translate international course records and align them to U.S. high-school equivalencies. "This helps ensure immigrant students are not penalized by having to retake courses they already completed," she said.
Moulton described the youth aid panel, a restorative diversion for incidents that might otherwise lead to suspension; panels use scripted questions and assign restorative sanctions such as volunteer work or impact statements to keep students connected to school.
She said the district is conducting systematic program reviews (ELD/LIEP alignment, gifted program review, 504 procedures, and the school counseling plan) to surface barriers and guide equitable adjustments. Committee members were told the gifted program review deliverable is due Dec. 19 and that results are expected in January.
Board members pressed on belonging and representation in schools where staff diversity is limited. Moulton and others discussed a belongingness survey (previously used through a UPenn consortium) and said staff would explore cost and participation to bring a recommendation back to the board. "There is a cost associated with it," Moulton said, and Dr. Russell said administrators would review membership details and could bring a recommendation to the board in December for consideration.
The committee asked for clearer parent-facing information about 504s on the district website; Moulton said staff are working with district web content leads to improve accessibility and to explain differences between 504 plans and IEPs.
