Teachers urge board to address special-education leadership gap at Thomas Middle School

Two special-education teachers told the Clover Park School District Board of Directors on March 9 that leadership changes at Thomas Middle School are jeopardizing supports for students with individualized education programs.

"They are children with exceptionalities. It's not something that you can just throw into the teacher's laps and say, here you go," said Digna Artilles, a seventh-grade ELA teacher at Thomas Middle School, during the public-comment portion of the meeting. Artilles said staff learned the school's administrative team — including the special-education leader Shell Gallo — will not be at the school next year, and that the loss of that leadership leaves teachers without direction for co-teaching and differentiated instruction.

Board President Thomas heard a second public comment from Fern Fagan, a fifth-year special-education resource teacher and department chair at Thomas. Fagan said Thomas serves four special-education programs and that "about 23% of our student population has an IEP," with roughly 16% of that group spending most of the day in general education. She said those figures and program complexity make stable, informed leadership especially important.

Both speakers called for more meaningful staff input when leadership changes are planned. Fagan told the board she does not feel the district solicits staff feedback "in a constructive and timely manner" and urged that people who work closely with students be included in discussions about administrative transitions.

Superintendent Banner did not provide a substantive response to the public commenters at the meeting; the board proceeded to its agenda items, including consent items and several votes.

The public-comment speakers requested the board consider continuity of special-education supports at Thomas Middle School and to ensure staffing and leadership decisions prioritize the educational needs of students with IEPs.