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Board presses district to simplify MTSS/AIS notices after parents say letters are confusing
Summary
After a detailed MTSS/AIS presentation, parents and board members said entry and exit letters and online materials are unclear; district agreed to standardize templates, create a parent-friendly summary, and explore faster referral timelines.
The Hendrick Hudson Central School District Board of Education spent a substantial portion of its Nov. 20 meeting on the district's Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Academic Intervention Services (AIS), with presenters explaining how the district uses multiple measures to identify students for intervention and parents and board members pressing for clearer communications.
Dr. Ruller (presentation identified in meeting transcript) walked the board through MTSS tiers and the district's use of assessment tools such as iReady, AIMSweb and running records, and how the district interprets New York State scale-score cutoffs alongside local benchmarks. The presenter emphasized the district's reliance on multiple measures for entry and exit decisions and said parental notification is required when a student is referred to services.
Multiple board members and parents said the language used in exit letters is confusing: a letter stating a child is "removed from reading services" can mislead families if that child continues to receive a different level of reading support. One board member said parents receive a notification but not sufficient detail on why the referral occurred; another asked whether state test scores are being meaningfully discussed with parents. Staff acknowledged those concerns and said the substantive MTSS decisions occur within the MTSS team meeting, not the parent meeting, and that staff will take steps to improve clarity.
District staff committed to standardizing entry and exit templates, producing a more parent-friendly summary of AIS/MTSS procedures for the website, and considering ways to expedite MTSS referral and meeting timelines at the start of the school year. The board and staff also discussed progress-monitoring practices and how intervention history is recorded in the student database and referenced during later MTSS meetings.
Outcome: Staff will produce revised, parent-friendly MTSS/AIS materials (including clearer exit letters and website updates) and return to the board with proposed templates and timeline adjustments. No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting.
