Portland Public Schools outlines first-year rollout of five-year special-education plan, cites gains in training and data work

Portland Public Schools officials told the district’s Curriculum and Student Success Committee on Jan. 12, 2026, they are in the first year of a five-year initiative to strengthen special education across the district, reporting improvements in staff training, program implementation and IEP data practices.

Jesse Applegate, senior director for special education and student support, said the initiative (strategic initiative 2.5) focuses on four priorities this year: professional development, consistent structures for specialized programs, accurate IEPs and service delivery, and family engagement. He outlined three implementation measures for the year: 75% of professional development participants should find sessions useful or very useful; 70% of specialized-program classrooms should demonstrate essential features; and 75% of audited IEPs should accurately reflect service name, location, provider and frequency.

"This year, we have begun the implementation of a five-year strategic plan initiative for special education," Applegate told the committee, adding that the district has prioritized foundational practices and data work to support those goals.

Sarah Rent, director of special education for elementary, said monthly in-person instructional professional development and a train-the-trainer model for coordinators have helped increase staff engagement. Rent cited a district survey showing 79% of staff find trainings relevant and useful.

Keisha McCarthy, director of specialized programs, summarized first-round site walkthroughs of specialized-program classrooms and said initial results exceeded the district’s 70% target: "in our ASD programs we saw 90.5; Breathe 87.2; FA 88.1; and FLS was 100%." McCarthy and other staff noted a remaining gap in ensuring all staff have consistent access to key student information.

Applegate said the district has made a sustained effort to clean and standardize IEP data, naming Natalie Scovern as the new data manager. He described a new monthly compliance report that will track IEP timelines, match records between the Acuity IEP system and Infinite Campus demographic data, and be shared at the school level with special-education coordinators and building administrators for follow-up.

On family engagement, Blake Castle, director of secondary special education, said the district is hosting three Parent University sessions this school year. He reported 32 attendees at a December session and said an upcoming Jan. 22 session at King Middle School will focus on what families should expect at IEP meetings. Staff are also planning an ongoing parent advisory committee.

A parent commenter, Jeff Black, told the committee he is forming a parent group for families of children with special needs and described the district management group report as dense and graphic-heavy; he said he wants to collaborate with educators to support students.

Committee chair Julianne Opperman and staff discussed trends in IEP counts. Applegate and Sarah Warren, chief of strategy and operations, said the number of students with IEPs has increased even as overall district enrollment declined, with staff estimating a rise of a little more than one percentage point ("from 18 something to 19 something," as one staff member put it).

Staff repeated that the district will return in April with district-level compliance data showing progress on IEP accuracy and legal timelines; committee members expressed appreciation for the team and asked the board to continue support and accountability. The meeting adjourned without a formal vote on policy items.

Next procedural step: district staff plan to present district-level compliance data and updates at the committee’s April meeting.