Del Valle ISD presents special-education review, highlights rising enrollment, grants and cleared corrective actions

Del Valle ISD officials on Jan. 6 presented the district’s annual special-education evaluation, telling trustees that enrollment in special education has grown and that the district has been cleared of corrective actions while pursuing grants and program improvements.

Dr. Bailey opened the public performance review required by Senate Bill 568 and said the district’s special-education population has increased by about 600 students. "We’re still following the same trend that we’ve seen in the past several years," Dr. Bailey said, noting the district expects to exceed last year’s initial-evaluation total.

Nicole Roberts, the district’s executive director of special education, walked trustees through disability categories and instructional arrangements. Roberts said about 47 percent of students receiving special education services are identified with a specific learning disability, 17 percent with autism, and 14 percent receive speech-related services. She said roughly 26 percent of special-education students spend the majority of their time in general-education (mainstream) classrooms, with larger shares in more restrictive settings according to the state’s instructional-arrangement calculations.

On accountability, Roberts said the district’s Results Driven…