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Vanessa Schmidt: special-education office outlines inclusion gains, staffing and monitoring plans
Summary
Director Vanessa Schmidt reported data showing more students spending 80%+ of the day in general education, described a continuum of services, plans to give teachers direct Embrace and PowerSchool access to IEP/504s, and said case management and departmental assignment changes will improve fidelity and oversight.
Vanessa Schmidt, director of specialized services for Proviso Twp HSD 209, gave a comprehensive update on special education services, data and planned changes. She highlighted Istar/ISBE placement data showing growth in the share of students in general education 80% or more of the day — an improvement from about 12 years ago when the number was closer to 20 percent. Schmidt described the district’s continuum of services (co-teaching, specialized instruction, life skills and out-of-district placements such as PACE and other public day schools) and said the office provides related services including social work, speech/language, occupational and physical therapy aligned to students’ IEPs.
Schmidt outlined operational changes to improve implementation and monitoring. “Every teacher at 209… has access to what’s called Embrace,” she said, describing a plan that will let teachers view a student’s IEP or 504 details online; the district will also provide a PowerSchool accommodations icon under student names. Case managers will assist teachers to ensure accommodations are applied with fidelity and will collaborate on progress monitoring. Beginning in the 2027 school year Schmidt said special-education teachers who teach instructional and co-taught classes will be assigned into content departments to increase alignment with subject-area instruction. She also noted the creation of special-education program-chair positions at East and West, a role created by the Proviso teachers union to support content delivery and progress monitoring.
Schmidt reported the office inherited multiple legal cases when she arrived but said corrective work reduced open cases. “When I walked in in July, last year, I walked into 7 legal cases. And I'm proud to say that we're down to 1,” she said, adding the office acted on the state corrective action plan within 30 days. She also described ongoing outreach to families, a new Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (CPAC) to widen parent engagement and monthly cross-district coordination ("Director's dish") to streamline transitions and calendars for eighth-grade transition work.
