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Stamford officials defend special-education plan, say IEP-change rumors are false
Summary
District leaders told the Teaching & Learning committee they plan staffing realignments to match state caseload guidance, defended a recommendation that would reduce 12 SPED FTEs in the superintendent's budget, and called community reports that IEPs were being changed without parent consent "absolute misinformation."
Chair Julian Foy opened the May 13 meeting of the Stamford School District Teaching and Learning and Community Committee to address community questions about special education staffing and services. Superintendent Dr. Lucero and Chief Academic Officer Amy Beltati presented a review of the district’s special-education program and defended recommended budget changes that district leaders say are aligned to state caseload guidance.
In a detailed presentation, Director of Special Education Megan Ossowicki described the district’s special-education continuum (pre-K through age 22), staffing ratios and program types, and said the district serves roughly 2,800 students with about 77% identified as having mild-to-moderate needs and 23% with moderate-to-severe needs. Ossowicki said about 94% of students with disabilities are educated in-district and about 6% are placed in approved out-of-district programs.
Why it matters: The discussion responds to an influx of emails and social-media posts from teachers and families alleging abrupt changes to IEPs and job losses. The presentation and Q&A clarified what administrators say is a planned realignment of staffing rather than wholesale layoffs, and laid out how the district would measure the impact of proposed changes.
Administrators said the superintendent’s recommended budget includes a net reduction of 12 special-education teacher FTEs resulting from a master-staffing plan that aims to normalize caseloads across schools and align them more closely with state recommendations. Amy Beltati said the district still has more than 20 open special-education positions and contingency positions in the budget to address unexpected enrollment shifts. Dr. Lucero said the district budgets contingency positions annually and, in his memory, has not needed to return to the board to request additional positions.
On the question of IEPs and rumors that the central office had directed administrators to change students’ IEPs without parental consent, Beltati replied directly: "That is absolute misinformation," and reiterated that any changes to an IEP occur through the PPT process with parent participation. Megan Ossowicki added that teachers are not case managers in Stamford; case-management responsibilities currently fall to building administrators, a structure the district says limits administrators’ instructional leadership.
Administrators proposed hiring a cohort of certified special-education administrators to be assigned to buildings to provide on-the-ground coaching, reduce compliance burdens on principals and support instructional practice. They said the district has partnered with outside researchers from Wesleyan and Brown to develop measures — including staff surveys, possible parent feedback and program metrics such as outplacement rates and goal attainment — to evaluate whether the new administrator roles improve outcomes.
Board members pressed for detail about whether the budget cuts would remove staffed positions or only vacant contingency slots. District leaders said the 12-position reduction affects currently budgeted FTEs; they emphasized that no one has been or would be fired as a result of the recommended cuts and that the district intends to use contingency positions and hiring as needed. The administration also described a Bridge K program and a partnership with CES to expand in-district options that could reduce outplacements.
What happens next: The superintendent said a vote on the budget will occur at a forthcoming meeting (he and staff said they would bring a proposal to the board next week). Administrators said they would continue outreach to parents and staff to correct misinformation and to explain the staffing model, and they promised to report back to the board on evaluation plans for the proposed administrator roles.
Quotes (selected): "That is absolute misinformation," said Amy Beltati when asked about claims that the district was directing changes to students’ IEPs without parent involvement. "If a change needs to be made to an IEP, a parent is invited in."
"In the time that I've been superintendent ... we have never had to come back to the board in my memory to ask for additional positions," Dr. Lucero said, describing the district’s use of contingency positions to manage enrollment fluctuations.
Megan Ossowicki said, "teachers are not case managers in Stamford," and described the proposed assignment of certified SPED administrators to buildings to allow teachers and principals to focus on instruction.
Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on the staffing plan during the meeting; board members will consider the budget recommendation at an upcoming meeting and administrators said they will return with implementation details and evaluation measures if the proposal is approved.
