May

As the school year winds down, it feels as though we are in a time of new beginnings for many things in the Special Education Department as we work to gather feedback about the Comprehensive District Re-design and work to fill our open Director position.

Here is a little background as to why we decided to make the proposed pathways public and what next steps will be. Eighteen months ago, the District began their work with Teamworks International to develop a Comprehensive District Design. The administrative team in our department worked with them to analyze data of where our students receiving special education services lived, their disability type, and their Federal Setting. As the Senior Leadership Team worked on pathways and academic strategies, our department did the same. We know that over the past twenty years, special education citywide programs were located primarily based on available space in buildings resulting in an accumulated service delivery option model. This has been a unique opportunity to be able to intentionally design citywide or specialized programming based on where students live, allowing them to be closer to their community.

We also used the opportunity to work toward a solution that has also developed throughout the years through accumulation. We currently have some schools at less than 5% special education population and some schools are at 30%. By spreading citywide specialized programming throughout the District, we can work towards schools having a special education population that are comparable to national averages.

So, what’s next?

MPS will be collecting feedback on the proposed pathways over the next few months. If you haven’t had the opportunity, please review the proposed special education pathways and provide your feedback through email, to one of our department staff, or at a community engagement meeting. Nothing will be finalized until the School Board votes in late August. Once a School Pathways model is chosen, we will revise the proposed special education pathways based on current data and the final model. If there are proposed changes at a school site, we will set up an action plan with input from families, students, staff, and administration. It is our intent to cause the least amount of disruption for students and families.

We are to share that we will be completing a second round of interviews for the vacant Director of Special Education for our Elementary Programming. We look forward to an announcement regarding that position very soon. We have also recently hired a new accountant for our department, Jessica Moryn. She comes to us with a vast amount of school district experience and has also worked at the Minnesota Department of Education.

The end of the school year traditionally allows us time to reflect on the past year. The May Committee of the Whole meeting will give our department the opportunity to share department work and the accomplishments of special education staff and students. The presentation will be posted on the Board Book if you are interested.

Finally, thank you. No matter your role in the District, you have had a positive impact on our students receiving special education services. Your high expectations and your assumption of their ability literally change our student’s lives.

- Rochelle Cox