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Special education report: Frenship ISD cites TEA cyclical review success, curriculum adoption and staffing challenges
Summary
Jennifer Pierce told the board that Frenship ISD's special education services had favorable preliminary TEA review findings, adopted a new life-skills curriculum, is serving more than 2,400 students, and is facing recruitment challenges for special education–certified teachers.
Frenship ISD’s special education department reported preliminary positive findings from a six-year, cyclical Texas Education Agency (TEA) review and outlined program expansions alongside staffing pressures.
Jennifer Pierce, presenting the effectiveness report, said the district had submitted required materials to TEA and that the review’s initial results were "quite pleasing." Pierce said the district currently serves more than 2,400 special education students and has more than doubled its caseload in four years.
Pierce described impacts from recent policy changes she referenced as "Senate Bill 2" and the related education savings account window, which opened Feb. 2 and closed March 31; she said the changes create additional testing and referral workload for diagnosticians, school psychologists and therapists because families seeking educational savings accounts still require district testing services.
The department adopted a new life-skills curriculum (its first since 2014) following review by the district’s IMA committee, and Pierce described expanded community-based work opportunities, Special Olympics participation, and added instructional space in the district’s new Memorial High campus to serve a continuum of services. She also said recruiting special-education-certified classroom teachers remains an ongoing challenge.
Pierce thanked the board for support and highlighted upcoming regional competitions and recognition for students.
