Parents urge stronger special-education training; district outlines new staff professional development

Two public commenters told the North Harrison Com School Corp. board on July 9 that the district needs more structured special-education training to meet its legal obligations under IDEA.

"Child Find is a federally mandated requirement under IDEA," said Yolanda Sanchez, who urged the district to adopt structured, research-based training such as IRIS, a free resource funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs and developed by Vanderbilt University. "If we expect compliance, then staff must be given the opportunity and training to actually comply," she said.

The comments came alongside data-driven concerns. "Only about 16 percent of students with disabilities are proficient in math. Only about 20 percent are proficient in ELA," said Mary Scott, citing figures she attributed to the Indiana Department of Education and arguing that those outcomes indicate systemic gaps in instruction and supports.

A district official identified in the transcript as "Mister Lagrange" responded that the district has been and will continue to provide targeted professional development. He said the district hosted a one-day administrator training with the law firm Lewis and Kappas in late May, will bring the firm back on July 28 for a special-education "boot camp" for teachers, and plans additional training during early-release days.

"We have training planned, and we will continue to get training," Lagrange said, adding that the district intends training to be instructional and not merely a compliance exercise.

Board members did not take formal action on the public comments; the district official described concrete next steps and scheduled training dates. The board will post policy updates and related materials on the district website and continue to report on professional-development implementation.