Taunton special-education officials outline DESI review findings, corrective steps and program gains

Amy Moynihan, director of special education for Taunton Public Schools, told the School Committee on Feb. 5 that a recent coordinated integrated monitoring review with DESI found the district compliant on most measures but identified two civil-rights areas needing corrective action.

Moynihan said the district was reviewed on 12 special-education indicators and found in full compliance on 10. Under DESI's civil-rights review the district was evaluated on 18 indicators and met 16; the two noncompliant findings related to Bullying Intervention and Prevention and to the Use of Physical Restraint in publicly funded educational programs. "Those are policy updates we have already begun to correct," Moynihan said, adding that staff submitted pre-corrective actions and expect the final DESI report in a few weeks.

The presentation detailed each finding and how the district addressed it. Staff said the Time on Learning finding concerned physical-education minutes at the high school and that district leaders were working with Dr. Harrison's team to resolve scheduling and credit-year requirements. A finding about the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) was linked to limited responsiveness from the current SEPAC chair; Moynihan said the district documented multiple outreach attempts and noted that DESI recommended steps the district had already taken. "DESI recognizes the district has made appropriate efforts," Moynihan said.

Administrators also described facility-scheduling fixes after DESI flagged overlapping use of full classrooms at Bennett and placement of speech-and-language services near a cafeteria at Galligan; staff adjusted schedules and provided documentation showing services did not conflict with lunch periods. The district also reported it has conducted required institutional-evaluation surveys of families, students and staff; Moynihan told the committee the DESI-administered parent survey yielded only 67 responses out of about 7,000 contacts, a low return consistent with prior state surveys, though the department's own outreach surveys reported stronger response rates.

The committee heard data on graduation and learning outcomes tied to service models. Kim Moreton, Special Education Coordinator for grades 7–12, and Dan Fagan, Out-of-District Coordinator, presented four- and five-year graduation rates showing improvement since the district adopted co-teaching strategies around 2010–11. Moynihan said co-taught classrooms generally produced higher ELA and math outcomes in the district's slide comparisons.

The update covered implementation of a revised state IEP form that staff began using fully last September, virtual "IEP office hours" for special educators and the use of DocuSign for parent signatures (department data show a roughly 73% return rate for electronically sent IEPs). Jen Jenkins, Special Education Coordinator for pre-K–6, said the new form emphasizes capturing a student's "vision" and that staff use surveys and adapted tools to include students with communication needs in planning discussions.

Moynihan also described a $30,000 grant secured by Taunton High assistant principal Carolyn Blennau to buy hydroponic equipment and launch a hands-on growing program in partnership with Green City Growers for students in substantially separate and alternative programs. Superintendent Cabral and others said the program is part of a broader effort to create vocational pathways and give students opportunities for real-world skill development.

Committee members praised the department's work on inclusion and the manual migration of more than 1,500 legacy IEPs into the new system. Mr. Cabral said he would support outreach to re-engage SEPAC and that he would sign letters of support as needed. Moynihan said the areas cited by DESI do not have a direct negative impact on students while corrective steps are completed.

The committee did not take formal action on the DESI findings at the Feb. 5 meeting; Moynihan and the superintendent said they will provide the final DESI report and any additional responses when the state issues its findings.