District reports progress on special-education consent decree; five benchmarks eligible for disengagement
Summary
RCSD officials told the board they have met 15 of 21 consent-decree goals and that eight goals are eligible for partial disengagement; administration outlined targeted plans for literacy, graduation, behavior supports and alternate-assessment progress, and acknowledged remaining state concerns and potential civil exposure.
Chief Swan and Director Stephanie Knapp summarized the Rochester City School District’s progress under a long-running special-education consent decree at the Dec. 18 board meeting.
Knapp and Swan said the district has met 15 of the consent-decree goals, with another eight eligible for partial disengagement; five benchmarks have been approved for complete disengagement after meeting multi-year requirements. The presentation detailed targeted plans with systems, teacher and student goals for four priority areas: tier-3 literacy interventions (using Really Great Reading and fidelity checks), early-warning teams and credit-attainment work to raise graduation rates among students with disabilities, functional-behavior assessments to reduce suspensions and improve behavioral supports, and improved monitoring for students assessed via alternate assessments.
Board members pressed for details about the district’s exposure if the district fails to meet consent-decree requirements; presenters said unresolved remedial matters could result in litigated remedies and cited a multi‑million dollar range (one board member asked about a ballpark of about $14M). The state monitor and Empire Justice Center were described as collaborative partners; district leaders said they are aligning state-directed corrective actions with consent-decree priorities.
The board thanked staff for collaborative progress while acknowledging systemic goals remain to be completed.
