TAUNTON — Superintendent John Cabral is pleased to report that the Taunton Public Schools has received a positive report from the state on the district’s ability to meet the needs of its special education students.
On Monday, Feb. 7, the district was notified by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that the Taunton Public Schools had met the 2022 Special Education Determination under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
On an annual basis, DESE is required to identify the specific needs of “Local Education Agencies,” also known as LEAs, for technical assistance or intervention within special education. Each LEA is assigned a category, which can fall as Meets Requirements, Needs Assistance, Needs Intervention, or Needs Substantial Intervention.
DESE has revised the Special Education Accountability System as of 2021 to ensure the process is transparent with attention toward the outcomes for students with disabilities. When calculating each LEA’s determination level, a rubric containing the following elements is considered:
- Five-year cohort graduation rates for students with disabilities
- Annual dropout rate for students with disabilities
- Special Education Compliance Data from public school monitoring
- Performance plans on special education
- Any findings of Significant Disproportionality
The Taunton Public Schools earned 24 out of 32 possible points on the rubric. With this determination, DESE has classified the district as Meets Requirements, and is not requiring the district to engage in any targeted assistance activities. This is an improvement from last year, when the district was classified as Needs Assistance.
“With the support and leadership of Taunton High School and Taunton Alternative High School guidance counselors, special education teachers, and general education teachers, Taunton Public Schools’ students with disabilities are able to meet state and local graduation requirements,” Superintendent Cabral said. “There has been a significant effort across the district to identify specific areas of need and to implement solutions in the area of special education over the past year and it means a lot for DESE to recognize this in the evaluation.”
In terms of the district’s five-year cohort graduation rates for students with disabilities, both THS and TAHS administration and staff have worked collaboratively with families to increase MCAS appeals that were applied to the state. The district also utilizes the MCAS waiver process that DESE allowed due to COVID-19, ensuring students with disabilities had access to the appropriate courses to meet the requirements for the waiver.
In the area of annual dropout rates for students with disabilities, the appeals and waiver process has allowed a greater number of Taunton students to graduate on time.
For Special Education Compliance Data from public school monitoring, the district has continued monitoring for high quality services provided by highly qualified providers to students with disabilities. District administration and the Taunton School Committee have supported the hiring of TEAM Chairs and other service providers to ensure the district is in compliance with student IEPs and state and federal regulations.
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