District outlines special-education PCSA timeline and file review process

District staff presented the Results-Driven Accountability Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment (PCSA) — described in Wisconsin as "Reading Drives Achievement" in this five-year cycle — and walked the board through the timeline and sample sizes for the special-education compliance review.

Presenter Mr. Gayan explained the PCSA focuses on five areas: evaluations, annual IEPs, implementation (classroom verification), discipline (students with more than 10 suspension days) and shortened school day documentation. The district will select a team of approximately 14–15 trained staff who will complete up to a three-hour pre-review training prior to record audits. The training opens July 1; files will be reviewed on August 4; implementation observations will occur in a two‑week window (late September–early October); district results must be uploaded to the DPI portal by November 1; the district must make corrections by January 15; and DPI will monitor corrections between January 15 and April 15 with possible closure of the process by October 1, 2027 if all requirements are met.

Mr. Gayan told the board the district has over 1,134 IEPs as of the prior week and outlined DPI’s sampling chart that will determine which records are pulled (he said 64 annual IEPs will be drawn, plus a smaller number of implementation observations). Directors stressed that the PCSA is a continuous improvement process that expects districts to find and remedy errors.

Board members asked about staff roles on the review team (building special-education reps, school psychologists, PST members and an administrator were cited) and sampling methods. District staff said they will return with further updates and that professional-development days will be used to norm practices following the self-assessment.