Wachusett special-education director reports DESE finding upgraded to “meets requirements,” outlines staffing and inclusion plans

Director of Special Education DeAngelis told the Wachusett Regional School Committee that the district has made measurable progress in special-education services, including staffing increases, caseload realignment and expanded inclusive programming.

DeAngelis said the district added about 17 professional special-education positions, aligned service providers to specific schools and days to reduce travel-related time loss, and created service-delivery reports (developed with Mr Scar, the district’s director of technology) to better track who receives what services. She said the district also worked to bring some out-of-district students back into Wachusett programs when appropriate and with parental support.

DeAngelis described program changes including expanded co-teaching (26 co-taught high-school classes were cited), new unified courses (civics and psychology), additional vocational supports and an inclusive preschool classroom. She said team-chair roles were introduced districtwide to improve communication and family outreach, and that the district is embedding speech, occupational-therapy and social-emotional supports in general-education classrooms to reduce early pull-outs.

On statewide accountability, DeAngelis reported the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had completed an integrated monitoring review and found 36 of 38 criteria fully implemented and three civil-rights criteria fully implemented. She said two criteria were designated "partially implemented": timely notice of transfer of parent rights before age 18, and the district’s timeline and delivery of IEP documents to parents following meetings. DeAngelis described a recent procedural reinterpretation that shortened an IEP delivery window from 10 days to five days and said the district is adjusting practices to comply.

DeAngelis also said the district’s annual special-education determination improved from "needs intervention" to "meets requirements" after focused work on MCAS results, graduation and attendance interventions. She said attendance was a common root cause for dropout risk and that an attendance task force and re-engagement strategies helped improve outcomes.

Board members asked clarifying questions. Member Poole asked about cost-sharing when parents live in different districts; DeAngelis said custody and district-residency rules determine cost responsibility and described a 50/50 split situation when parents have equal custody. Member Kirschbaum and others praised the progress but pressed for clearer data-sharing and communication to families who still feel underserved. Member Klein asked how "full inclusion" is defined; DeAngelis replied the DESE measure is participation in general-education classrooms at least 80% of the school day.

DeAngelis said further work remains—she set an internal target of increasing full-inclusion placements and noted that staffing and professional development would be necessary to scale co-teaching and inclusive practice.

The committee did not take any formal vote on program changes at the meeting; DeAngelis invited follow-up questions and committed to continued reporting and data-driven updates to parents and the committee.