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Palm Beach Schools outline expansion of pre‑K special‑education services and report improved graduation outcomes
Summary
District officials told the school board they expect to open seven additional pre‑K Exceptional Student Education (ESE) programs for FY26, bringing offerings to 190 sites and serving roughly 2,500 students; officials also highlighted gains in graduation rates and declines in dropout rates among students with disabilities.
District leaders presented an update on early childhood programming for students with disabilities, saying the Office of Exceptional Student Education will open seven additional pre‑K ESE programs for fiscal year 2026, increasing available classrooms from 183 to 190 to serve roughly 2,500 students.
"It all starts with pre‑K," said Kevin McCormick, Executive Director of Exceptional Student Education, who told the board the district identifies about 1,700 three‑ and four‑year‑olds as potentially eligible for IDEA services each year and that parents may choose services in district pre‑K classrooms, community programs or via the Florida Empowerment Scholarship voucher.
McCormick presented a county heat map showing higher concentrations of eligible students in densely populated areas and the Glades region. He said countywide there are nearly 32,000 students supported under IDEA with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and more than 15,000 students with 504 plans protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The presentation included student‑outcome trends. McCormick said the district has increased graduation rates for students with disabilities since 2012 — citing an aggregate 36.3 percentage‑point increase across the period reported — and reduced a federally monitored dropout rate in the 14–21 age cohort from about 39 percent to 9.9 percent.
Board members asked operational questions about transportation to community pre‑K sites, screening and waitlist timelines, and partnerships to improve child identification. McCormick said the department currently has roughly 1,000 children in a screening queue; about 90 percent are screened and evaluated within five months. He described itinerant services delivered at community providers and collaborations with organizations such as the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida Atlantic University.
Officials also summarized required policy changes under state law: certain eligibility windows (for example, extending the "developmentally delayed" category to age 9), updated screening criteria for vision and hearing impairments, renewed requirements to monitor restraint data and to implement best‑practice inclusive education reviews at prescribed intervals.
The board praised post‑secondary transition programs that provide travel, work‑skills training and job coaching to students who defer a diploma to continue post‑secondary transition services through age 20. The superintendent and several board members urged continued outreach to partners such as the Children’s Services Council to improve early identification and enrollment.
