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New special services director outlines priorities, cites 459 active IEPs
Summary
At Monday’s Clear Creek Amana board meeting the district’s new director of special services summarized early priorities — individualized IEP planning, secondary transition for students 14 and older and coaching for staff — and reported 459 active IEPs and an estimated 139 504 plans.
The Clear Creek Amana Community School District introduced its new director of special services and heard a data-driven plan for special education at the board meeting.
"I believe that all students can learn at high levels with the proper supports and services in place," the director said in her first formal presentation to the board, adding that she has spent the first six weeks building relationships with students, families and staff.
The director gave the district’s current special education counts: "So right now, we have 459 total IEPs," she said, and added that 377 students receive district-provided services while 82 receive AEA support-only services. She estimated about 139 Section 504 plans for grades 3–11 as of spring. She told the board the numbers were pulled on the 13th and may shift slightly.
She described immediate steps focused on secondary transition — programming aimed at students 14 and older — and said the district is holding IEP meetings for eighth- and high-school students to individualize services and prepare students for day one of school. The district will also provide twice-monthly coaching and is participating in a district-engaged pilot to anchor coaching to transition outcomes.
Board members asked how state funding "levels" relate to services and open-enrollment decisions. The director said the state assigns a funding level that affects how much money a district receives for a student, but cautioned that funding level does not map precisely to the services a student needs. "That funding level ... really just tells us how much money we get from the state for the student," she said, and emphasized that individualized IEP reviews and correct case manager assignments determine the services provided.
The director also said the district may not be billing Medicaid to the extent it could and that improving billing will require parent consent and process refinements.
The board thanked the presenter and invited follow-up questions outside the meeting. The district’s next steps include continued work on the corrective action plan and follow-up on the transition-focused coaching pilot.
