001Strother, Vice Chair of the Academic Achievement Committee and District 3 Board of Education member. Zakiya Goins McCants. Board of Education member representing District 8. Depo, Board of Education member representing District 4. Good evening, everyone. My name is Ariel Lua Ajukai, and I am the student board member, and yeah, I represent all the students in our county. Good evening, everyone. I'm Judy White, Chief Academic Officer. Good evening, everyone. Carletta Merrow, Chief of School Support and Leadership. Good evening, I'm Liz Faison, Associate Superintendent for Student Services. Good evening, I'm Doreen Hogan, Supervisor of School Counseling, Section 504 in the International Student Admissions and Enrollment Office. Good evening, I'm Jason Ray, I'm the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Belonging. Alright, thank you so much, everyone, for the introductions. If, uh, we're gonna move on to item 1.3, adoption
002of the meeting agenda. So, if there are no objections, the committee shall adopt the September 15, 2025 meeting agenda. There being no objections, the meeting agenda is adopted. Um. So, if there are no corrections, the committee shall approve the May 12, 2025 meeting minutes as distributed. Um… And this is approval of the committee meeting minutes for May 12, 2025. Okay? There being no corrections, the meeting minutes are approved. So we're now going to move on to item 2.0, public comment. Um, there are no registered public comment speakers this evening, um, but just for future reference, public comment guidelines for register, uh, speakers include. You, of course, register to speak for public comment forums where the Academic Achievement Committee will listen to your comments. The committee will not address your comments at the committee meeting. All
003registered speakers will have 3 minutes to make their presentation. Registered speakers may not relinquish any part of their speaking time to another registered or unregistered individual. Speakers may not address individuals or issues with profanity or derogatory terms. Speakers are encouraged to use titles rather than names. For example, superintendent, principal, etc. Your adherence to these guidelines are, uh, will enable the public participation process to move smoothly. Um, there being no registered speakers this evening, uh, we won't have any public comment, but we always want to welcome our public to come and speak with us. Uh, so we're gonna move on to item 3.0, discussion items and presentations, and this will be really the, uh, crux of what we'll be discussing this evening. So, item 3.1 is going to be special education focus for the 2025-2026 school
004year. I will now yield to Dr. Judith White, Chief Academic Officer, to introduce Agenda Item 3.1. Um, so Dr. White? Good evening, everyone. It is a pleasure to be back in front of you, starting a wonderful new school year. So, just to provide a little context for those who may be watching for the first time. Uh, this, uh, committee with, uh, Chairman Briggs has decided that there'll be three topics that we will attack this year, really forward, three, because we're gonna couch special education and student services all this evening. And then we'll come back next month, we'll talk about CSI schools, and then the month after, we'll have an opportunity to look at community schools. What will then happen in December is all the data that we have as a system around academic achievement, we
005will come and bring forward to this group. So, September, October, and November, it's really talking about the theory behind the plan of what we're gonna do this year. Then we get to January, February, and March. Those three teams will come back each month. Talking about implementation. So, they'll bring practitioners from the field, parents, administrators, teachers, to talk about what we proposed against what really happened. Then that will allow this group to come back together in April, now doing another data dive in the data that's available. And then, in May, we'll have an opportunity to talk about what went well, what were barriers to the work, and how we'll make adjustments going into school year 26-27. We're excited because Dr. Joseph has put in play. Five big rocks this year. And those big rocks are literacy
006and mathematics, special education and multilingual learners. He's also put together dual enrollment and internships, chronic absenteeism. And organizational culture. Why is that important? Because everything we're going to talk about through this committee is impacted by one of those areas. We are excited. This evening, I had before you special education and student services. Each will take a turn talking about their theory. And then we will open it up after each one. Um, Board Member Briggs, it's up to you if you want them to go back-to-back and say all the questions to the end, or if you want to take one at a time, and then we'll ask questions. But we will start. With Ms. Bowman. Okay, and Dr. White, before Ms. Bowman goes, let's just have the presentation and then question and answer, and then presentation,
007and question and answer. Perfect. Yep, so, Chernel, you'll go, we'll ask questions, and then Liz, you will follow. Thank you so much for the opportunity to present to you this evening. I know that. Ms. Lopez is pulling up the slide deck. That I will review with you this evening related to our special education focus for the 25-26 school year. Hope you all had an amazing summer. Um, and we'll go ahead and get started. Again, thank you, Board of Education members, for your unwavering support for special education. We appreciate all that you do, uh, to support our students with our… with disabilities in our district, so we do thank you for that. So our outcomes, again, uh, this evening is to really focus on our theory of action. What problems we hope to solve. What relevant
008laws and policies support special education? We're gonna identify our data sources used to measure our success. Challenges and gaps this school year, and then identify our budgetary and financial implication for the work that we'll be doing. Our special education data as of October 1st. 2024, we had over 17,000 students. With disabilities in Prince George's County Public Schools, the majority of our students, 73.8%. Are in general education settings, at least 80% of the day or more. And our 3 highest prevalent disabilities in our district. Our students with specific learning disabilities that are impacted in reading. Mathematics and writing. You may also hear the terms dyslexia, dyscalia, and dysgraphia. Our second prevalent, uh, disability category is autism at 23%. And then development delay is at 15% of our district data. Our theory of action for this school
009year? Um, is presented on this slide. If our schools cultivate strong family partnerships. In the Individualized Education Program process. And provide and monitor specially designed instruction and promote inclusive practices. Then our schools will create equitable opportunities that enable students with disabilities. To achieve success in academics, relationships. And life beyond school. And it's very important that, you know, we always begin with the end in mind. And so, even for our youngest learners, it's important, um, to be thinking about what those post-secondary outcomes will be. Uh, for our students and their K-12 education, uh, prepares them to go out and leave us and do wonderful and great and rewarding things. Either as a career, a community, a trade, or even as a community member. Um, when we look at our problems of practice, we know that as
010a district. That we must strengthen support for our students with disabilities. That starts first with having positive family partnerships. In the IEP process, you're going to hear a little bit more about that. Um, in a moment, we have to also ensure that students are receiving specially designed instruction. That is why they're in special education. Um, because they must have specially designed instruction that goes beyond just accommodations. But as interventions, as modifications, as supplementary aids and services, and we have to make sure that we are consistently implementing those. Areas and monitoring it. And then the third area of our problem of practice is really being able to expand inclusive practices. So that our students with disabilities have greater access. It's a high learning alongside their non-disabled peers. And that is even for our students who may
011be exiting us with a certificate of completion. Versus a diploma, so it's just important that we look across our schools and offices around how we can open up. Inclusive practices, uh, for our students. Um, the laws and policies that govern what we do in special education is first anchored in our federal legislation. Which is under the Individuals with Disability Education Act, known as IDEA, and then we also have the Code of Maryland Regulations that we follow. In the state of Maryland that governs the provision of special education services. And now I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, uh, Director Ray, where he's gonna give you our focus areas for special education, and what that will look like this year in Prince George's County Public Schools. Thank you, Ms. Bowman. So, the Office of
012Equity, Diversity, and Belonging chooses a student group to focus on every year. And this school year, we have decided to continue on with our focus on students with disability. Um, and that's a focus area that we started with last year. So, our goals align with the Department of Special Education's strategic plan. And, as you see on the screen here, um. The big goal is to identify, honor, and nurture the unique brilliance of students with disabilities. And to do so. We're gonna focus on the three buckets that you, uh, just heard Ms. Bowman reference. The first one, um, is cultivating those positive relationships with families. And then the second one, developing SDI. Specially designed instruction. And the last one is promoting inclusive practices for students with disabilities. The first two buckets are really the concern of
013our schools, and then that last bucket, we are expanding. To our central offices as well. So now we'll take a kind of a deeper look as to. How these buckets look in our schools and in our districts. So, with family partnerships, um. I want to begin by mentioning that. Prior to the school year, we had a summer learning series where we actually. Address each of those three buckets you just heard me refer to. And in the first module, we actually had families participate with staff. For this volunteer learning opportunity, and… During that session, families actually. Listen to staff express some of their… challenges that they're having, um, serving students with disabilities. We heard, um, staffer from families, and so it was kind of a dialogue. And one of the takeaways we got was that. Everyone
014wants more concrete ideas for what to do. So, a lot of what you see here kind of spun off. From that. So, the first thing we're doing is we're… We, um, we have our Summer Leader Institute… I'm sorry, our Summer Leadership Institute. Um, where we actually had family engagement training. Um, all PGCPS schools were asked to hold meet and greets for special education families by September 30th. Those are underway. We have our results from the IEP parent surveys that targeted training and technical assistance to schools. We've had family representatives, um, on the strategic planning work group. And also participating in the climate survey interviews. Uh, the OEDB and the Department of Special Education, we are actually launching a, um, a PD on September 23rd. That will address this topic in particular. All staff will look
015at. Family engagement and come away with concrete strategies to promote it within their schools. And then finally, the number of parent training offerings was increased through the Special Education Family Support Center. With regard to SDI, again, that's specially designed instruction. Right now, we're providing ongoing training and coaching on implementing and monitoring SCI. What it looks like in schools, and also what it is not, clearing up misconceptions about what that means. Um, we've released a special education instructional planning considerations Checklist. For teachers and school leaders. We've included a special education instructional planning considerations document in the Core Content Curriculum Framework documents. We have the use of SDI look-fors. It's a fidelity tool with interventions, and it helps. Um, just to monitor training and implementation and coaching of SCI in our schools. And then lastly, continued partnership
016with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. To provide joint training for reading, English language arts, and mathematics. And then with our inclusive practices focus. Well, we provided training during the summer learning series that I referred to previously. Um, and in that training, staff got to brainstorm different ways to, first of all, understand students' strengths. And use those as a platform to understand what it takes to actually have more inclusive environments. Um, principals were also trained, as well as assistant principals during the, uh, summer leadership institute. Uh, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction provides ongoing training to general education teachers. Around inclusive practices. And we have an inclusive practices guide for schools and for specialty programs. Teachers. Sometimes we get asked, how do we keep equity at the forefront? How do we make sure that people
017are thinking about it and talking about it? Well, for 3 consecutive years now, we have, uh… decided to kind of roll out what we call Equity Minutes, and these are weekly blurbs that go out to. Our school-based equity leads, as well as. Principals, instructional directors. And, um, various central office partners who have. Express an interest in equity work. So, every week, um, our office thinks about some kind of information or provocative statement that could get people thinking about. Our focus area, different growth areas, different practices they could consider. And then we leave them with a question to kind of spark dialogue. Um, on their teams. And principals use these in their weekly newsletters, people talk about them in their staff meetings, and they get very wide coverage, so we're very happy about that. As we
018look to the data sources to measure successes, challenges, and gaps. Um, these are some of the data pieces that we'll be bringing back to you, as Dr. White mentioned earlier, when she kicked us off. So we will be digging deeper into our IEP parent surveys. For the year to date, we are doing that from the 24-25 results, and that will be part of the systemic. Meeting from, uh, look, or systemic training. We will also bring data around our, uh, specially designed instruction fidelity checks. As well as the data from our intervention checks. We will also provide you with professional learning training reports that focus on SDI and inclusive practices. And then we also will have survey data that comes out of the professional learning that our staff take across the district. And then we will
019also share with you our IEP monitoring results. That also focus on SDI and compliance. So those are some of the data sources that we will be bringing back to you. Um, that we will also have schools and case studies highlight, uh, when they come back to, um, present with you. And then as we think about our budget for our focus areas. We know that we have general fund allocations, and we've highlighted, uh, those different pieces for you as it relates to staffing. Classroom supplies, materials, student workshops, etc. Um, we also know that we have restricted grants, so we are fortunate to get, uh, grant funding from the state, as well as through our Medicaid funding. And our IDEA pass-through that comes from the federal government through the state. We know with these two, uh, buckets
020of funding that we're able to make investments. That would continue to reflect our district's commitment. To cultivating positive family relationships. Making sure that we are developing, implementing, and monitoring. Specially designed instruction, which is, um, anchored and part of students' IEPs. And that these investments also allowed us to continue to promote, um, inclusive practices. And so we know that. Where our budget is, and looking at our return on investment, um, in these three areas is something that's important, not only to our interim superintendent. As well as you as our Board of Education members. And now we'll pause for question and answers. And before we move to questions and answers, I just wanted to point out a couple of things. So, Board Member Briggs and, um, Board Member Booza Struthers, we talked about making sure that every
021presentation had certain things, so we talked about making sure we brought any laws that pertain to it, any budget implications. Um, and so you'll find that over the next 3 months, everyone that presents will also present with that lens. But think about, um, so Superintendent Joseph, organizational culture. So when you think about special education, this presentation was about that. It's about how do you attack that narrative, and how do we fight against making sure that. We are loving this population, that we're identifying its brilliance, that we're working with staff to continue to keep this equity moment and opportunity at the forefront. Like, to hear them talk about a meet and greet for the first time every single school before September 30th. It's really getting at that organizational culture. To break apart so families know that
022we care, and we want to do the best work we can. And so with that, I turn this presentation over to you for Q&A. Great, thank you so much, Dr. White. Um, thank you so much, Ms. Bowman and Mr. Ray, for your presentations, uh, and colleagues, I will now open the floor for discussion. Um, so we'll each have, uh, two rounds, uh, two and a half minutes each. Um, please raise your hand. If you can't raise your hand for whatever reason, then just come off mute, let me know that you're in the queue. And then I'll recognize you in the order of the raised hand, or you acknowledge that you'd like to verbally. Be acknowledged. Um, so are there any questions for Ms. Bowman and Ms. Ray, or Dr. White? Okay, I did have… I'm
023seeing no hands, but perhaps I will spark some questions, um, just to get us kicked off. So, one, I want to say thank you, um, again, Ms. Bowman and Mr. Ray, for your presentation. I thought it was, um, really detailed, and Dr. White, thank you for taking all the feedback that you heard earlier in the summer from us, applying it to the presentation style and the layout. I think that. Um, at least for me, it made a lot of sense and was clear. Um, I did have some questions about, um, one, law. So, were there any new laws that have changed that impact. The implementation of special education. I'm just asking specifically as it concerns at the state level. Um, is there anything that, General Assembly-wise, has passed, or, um, anything that we should have
024on the radar that maybe wasn't mentioned in the presentation? Um, not to my knowledge, that directly impacted special ed. There were some educational laws that were passed. Um, that will impact students. For example, there's an elopement. Um, new regulation that went out, but that's for all students, including students with disabilities. Where we have to notify, so we notify parents, which we have been doing in our practice anyway. Um, that we would have to notify parents if a student eloped and left campus, um, that we would have to notify them that same day. So that will be updated, um, as part of our administrative procedure 5062, which is the student. Behavior interventions that special ed does monitor. So that is one update that we will have to make, based on legislation that came out. But that's
025awesome. Okay. And then, thank you, thank you so much for that. Um, so this, this next question is really high level, and it's more kind of opinion-based, but I'm just curious, and I think maybe I'm asking this more for… the public, but as we're kind of looking at all the changes that are happening with the Department of Education, um, we know that there's been, obviously, mass layoffs. Other things that are happening, I'm just curious if, uh, one, if you all are keeping a pulse on that, two, if there are any concerns around. Ways that that may impact the school district, either in the immediate future or in a little bit further out? And if so, could you speak to any of those things? Um, the only way that I can see that it has impact
026is we definitely are receiving opportunities to engage members who may seek employment with Prince George's County. The governor has put forth. Um, a lot of work to try to secure, um, opportunities for those individuals. In terms of, um, any of our students, regardless if they're special ed or not, if they're families. Happened to have situations that would impact them, whether it's field trips and other things, they are able to go to the school principal, and we see how we can support families. But outside of that, we would have no direct impact. Okay, none for right now. And then, I think the last in the 10 seconds is, um, really, what's the big goal for this year as it relates to special education? So, as you're kind of backwards planning, I think you mentioned that on
027the front end. Where is it headed, um, and how does… how does this connect to that? I'm sorry, Board Member Briggs, could you repeat that? Because the timer went off, and I couldn't hear the tail end of… Yeah, the outro. Um, so the question was, what is the big goal for special education for this year? Um, and then how do these resources relate to that big goal, if you could just kind of piece that picture together? For us. Yeah, so we've identified those three strategic. Focus areas that we do have around, um, parent engagement. Specially designed instruction, as well as inclusive practices. When we really think about specially designed instruction as making sure that we're implementing. Those IEPs, and as we think about student outcomes, is looking at our achievement data. And hoping to see
028a connection of an increase. Um, with our achievement data for students who are taking our state assessments, as well as our benchmark assessments. And so that would be something that we will be looking for as we… as it relates to implementing SDI, that our student outcomes would increase. We'll see better results on students' intervention data. And ultimately, when students are in special ed, the goal is to exit them from special ed, right? That we're putting the necessary supports. We know that for some students. They will graduate as a student with a disability that served under an IEP, but the ultimate goal is for us to put those supports for some students to be able to exit special ed. Ultimately, and then the other piece is to improve our academic achievement as it relates to. Our
029state assessments and our local assessments. The other thing I would just add to that, for me, that's one of the biggest, like, I absolutely want students to achieve. But more important than that, I need our families to trust. That we care about them, that the culture that we present to them, that we take time to listen, we don't have to always agree. All right, thank you so much. Um, I saw some other hands, so, um, please re-raise your hand if you have a question, otherwise we're gonna move on to the next presentation. I saw her put her hand down, I'm not sure if she still had a question. I believe it was Board Member Olivo. Board Member Olivio? Okay, I think not, but if so, we have a next bite… a second bite at the
030apple, so we can move to the next, uh, part of the presentation. Here. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Liz Faison, Associate Superintendent for Student Services, and I am not presenting our information today. Ms. Doreen Hogans. Who is the supervisor, um, of this work will provide the presentation. As it relates to 504 students and those who have, um, significant life impacts. Good evening, everyone, and happy Monday. Welcome to this new week, and thank you so much for the opportunity to present, um, on Section 504 services. So, again, our outcomes for this evening is to focus on driving theory for this year's work, and to address, uh, some, uh, challenges that we may have within Section 504, discuss some budgetary and financial implications. Identify the relevant laws and data sources that are used to measure success, our challenges,
031and as well as our gaps. So, the theory behind our work, as we are, um, identifying, um, what, uh, Section 504 and the impactful meaning that it has, we want to, uh, tie in, my team is tying in the implementation of Maryland Blueprint as it relates to Section 504. And if you turn to the next slide, you'll be able to see a breakdown of the theory of action, which includes translation of our theory and practice, which requires schools to create inclusive environments, barriers. Barriers are identified, migrated, and removed. To ensure that equitable services are provided for all students. Um, we then flow to collaborative processes where educators, families, and students, service personnel. Work together to develop individualized 504 plans. Then we moved to the implementation of the 504 plans, which operationalizes equity through accommodations, and
032some sample accommodations would include preferential seating, extended time, assisted technology, and behavioral. Supports, and the outcome being that all students gain access to the general education curriculum. So, before we go further, we just want to identify some data points within our district, and this is as of September, uh, 1st, 2025. We currently have 2,000. 457 students with a 504 plan, and the top 5 incidences for impairment and disabilities include ADHD, uh, generalized anxiety disorder, sickle cell anemia. Diabetes and depression. So our problem of practice within Section 504 and the implementation, uh, data reveals recurring overdue meetings, uh, which are school-based, uh, stakeholders, um, are, uh, sometimes out of compliance with, uh, meeting the annual. Review, uh, timeline and complete documentation, and a lack of standardized monitoring protocols. Also, limited integration of 504 support within tiered
033interventions. As well as the general education instruction. We also are excited, uh, to roll out a new platform in our existing database of Synergy, which is relatively new as well, in which all of our stakeholders will be able to work within the 504 platform and, uh, providing, um, the annual review data, creating 504s. And disseminating information to instructional staff. Um, as well as stakeholder frustration, where families sometimes, often, um. Express concerns about being unclear with communication, delays in receiving accommodations. And limited transparency and decision-making while at the table. So again, we are connecting 504 services to Blueprints, and, um, I won't go into detail in reference to what that looks like specifically, but the presentation shows how 504 services are woven. Um, into, uh, blueprints, such as Pillar 1, um, early childhood education, where we
034are prioritizing that our earliest learners, um, receive the necessary accommodations to access the general education curriculum. Pillar 2, high quality and diverse, uh, teachers and leaders. Consistent 504 implementation requires equipping educators and school leaders with professional learning on disability, law, equity, and evidence-based practices. Embedding 504 training into Blueprint's professional development structures elevates staff capacity, reduces inequitable practices, and also strengthens a culture of inclusivity. Pillar 3, College and Career Readiness. 504 services are critical in meeting CCR benchmark by grade 10. Through any necessary accommodations, our students are able to receive tailored reports. Students with disabilities will gain equitable pathways to advanced coursework, dual enrollment, and CTE opportunities. Robust practices ensure. That CCR standards are inclusive and not exclusionary. Um, and again, uh, the blueprint in Pillar 4 prioritizes equitable funding and wraparound supports for students with
035additional needs. And this is where Section 504 is directly aligned, as it mandates individualized accommodations. That, again, reduces barriers to instruction. So, strengthening 504 services contributes to the Blueprint commitment to addressing the whole child and. Closing achievement gaps. And Pillar 5, Governance and Accountability. The Blueprint calls for transparent accountability systems to monitor student progress, so integrating Section 504 compliance into these accountable structures. Through consistent documentation, reviews, data analysis, ensures fidelity, and highlights the impact of accommodations on student outcome. The alignment achieved both legal compliance and as well as systemic improvement. So our framework for Section 504, again, the referrals, Step 1, which is initiated by the parent, teacher, and student, followed by the evaluation, which will determine eligibility for services. Um, followed by the development of the 504 plan, followed by the review, which, um,
036ensures ongoing monitoring and updates. Uh, as well as appeals, which provides due process and resolution if concerns surrounding the 504 plan arise, or implementation of the plan arises. Pgcps has developed a robust framework for referring, evaluation, plan development, and review in appeals, and according to the federal law. We leverage certain systems, such as Synergy, such as Certify. To monitor the accommodations, and to ensure the fidelity of Section 504 implementation across all schools. Pgcps and the Office of Student Services has provided targeted training to professional school counselors and Section 504 building facilitators to ensure. Effective implementation of Section 504 across all middle… I mean, sorry, excuse me, across the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Our staffing, um, in central office currently consists of two instructional specialists, one compliance analyst. And additional budgetary implications, excuse me,
037um, we do not have our own cost center, nor funding beyond the allocation for. Possible compensatory services, um, and compensatory services is defined by the cost to settle. Um, certain, um, complaints brought up by, uh, by our families when 504 is, uh, was not, uh, implemented with fidelity, and we are out of compliance. The laws and policies that govern Section 504 would be Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the American Disabilities Act, or ADA, MSDE guidance under the blueprints, and PGCPS Administrative Procedures. Such as AP5146. We also rely heavily on certain data sources, uh, such as the reports that generate through Synergy, parent feedback surveys. Monitoring and compliance audits, disciplinary data, and certified reports. And if you need, uh, any questions beyond the questions that you may have now, you may contact myself
038or any one of the members of the 504 team. So before we start Q&A for this section, I wanted you to understand the reason we connected the presentations. So oftentimes, people think 504 Special Aid, and people think IEPs falls with 504, and they're two totally different things, and so we wanted to raise both of them up, build, um, the capacity of our families to understand the difference of what happens, what falls under what. And then who services both of them. Both of them, again, when you talk about organizational culture, you talk about chronic absenteeism, really digging deep. To find out what's going on and how we can allow students to get better as we aim towards, um, higher achievement. For, um, literacy and mathematics. You could have a 504 plan and not be a student,
039a special education student, two totally different things. So we wanted to just. Draw that connection and bring them in together so that you all would know that. Great, thank you so much again, uh, Dr. White, um, Dr. Faison, and then Ms. Hogans. Thank you so much for the presentation. It was really helpful. Um, so team, again, uh, the floor is now open for discussion. We'll again have two rounds, uh, that are gonna be two and a half minutes each. Um, and I'll definitely call for the timer to be up once folks start talking. Please raise your hand if you have any questions, and I'll recognize you in the order of your raised hand. If you can't, for accessibility reasons, raise your hand and come off mute, and then I'll… queue you up in line. So
040are there any questions? Okay, I… well, one, I just want to say, Dr. White, um, and team. I mean, really, one… Thank you for demystifying the difference between special education and 504, because I do think that people lump them all together and just assume that they're all the same thing, and they're not. Um, and I wanted to kind of hone in on a few points that you were making, um, during the last presentation. Hopefully, that might spark something, so I do want to start asking my question. Um, and Ms. Lopez, um, if you could pull that two and a half, so I'm… Staying true to time. Um… I did have some questions around funding, because I know in the first presentation there were things about budgeting, and so I was wondering if there were any
041concerns around, uh, SPED funding? And are we adequately funded for special education in 40504? For our 504 program. And if not, can you speak to some concerns you may have there? So, I'll jump in, and I'll let… I'll speak from a special education lens first, and I'll let Tranelle jump in, and then Liz and Doreen definitely jump in on 504. So, from a special ed lens, we… plan, you know, we have maintenance of effort. We plan to maintain that, but every year it's based on something. So, the more vacancies, potentially, the more comp services, potentially, um, we never know when we have students who may need specialized programming. We've done everything that we can in the system and realized, like, we really don't have what they need, and we might have to source out. So
042we started a base, and from there, we come to financial review throughout the year periodically. Because we may need more funds. Um, we use all the grants, all the things that we have. Uh, to make sure that we put forth… we… when parents, and I'm glad you asked this question, because oftentimes you hear, like, this is being cut, and this is being cut, and people say, you're cutting special aid. We will never cut special ed. We can't, because by law, we have to meet certain thresholds, and we have to provide. Certain criteria and certain support by law. So, that means sometimes that every year, like, you'll see. Our special education funding actually has gone up way more this year than it was last year because of certain things, because of the number of vacancies, because
043of the amount of comp services, because of the number of students that may qualify for ESY. So, if ever we get to a place where we don't have enough, we come to financial review because we have to have it to fulfill the services. Yeah. Okay, and I guess I want to not just shake my head and say yes, because I don't think I fully understand what you're saying by that. So, because I guess the way I… is, right? Like, it's per people funding, and we have the compensatory funding that goes with if you have additional needs and you get funding for that. So I'm just trying to understand. I would assume that dollars are there. There's obviously restricted and unrestricted dollars, so when you were saying what you're saying, can you just further explain what
044that means? Sure, I'll give a little intro now. Tonell, I think, was trying to come on mic, and then he was trying to hurry up in your third 12 seconds we have left, so I know you're gonna have a second round so we can really answer it. But we start out with a, like you said, per pupil. We're gonna get that. We're gonna make sure we start out with locked staffing. We're gonna have that, because that's based on what's needed to fulfill an IEP. We have a certain staffing formula that comes before this board every year. It's an actual document that talks about how we staff. So, based on that IEP, because that IEP is a moving target, it's going to press our funds differently every single year. So then we then say, okay, we
045have vacancies. So, every time we have vacancies, it is our obligation to bring forth a team to look at every single student's data. This had a teacher with a vacancy following a rubric, a plan of action, going through to see, did that student have a loss by how they're performing based on the vacancy? If the answer to that is yes, then we have to put in other services to make up for what the student would not have had. And it's not an hour to hour. So a lot of parents think, like, my student missed a t-shirt, so that's 50 hours. It might not be 50 hours, because we don't do hour-to-hour, but there is a comps services. Provided to that family and to those students. Um, and then Chanel, jump in, because you have… you'll
046speak about other ways that we have to break apart of funding that we can't. Yeah, so I would just say, historically, one of the big pieces, as Dr. White indicated, was just our enrollment. So, as our population shifts. That may require additional staffing. So, for example, you saw that our autism population is at 23%. Um, and that is a 3% increase over last year. If we look at elementary and how we staff, there's a certain amount of FTEs that we have to staff. Those programs, we know that as looking at our enrollment, as we just did rebalancing. That there are additional FTEs we may need in the future as we prepare and look at our budget, or we may have to. Give up some things around service delivery. When I say give up, it's… we
047have a staffing committee. That has worked really hard to look at how we sat. And there are some conversations that we'll be having this school year around, are there some shifts in our service delivery. That will allow us to still meet the needs of students. But maybe not meet it at the same level of the same FTE, because maybe we're gonna shift. And the way that we provide services. So, one example I can give you is. When we look at our core content areas at. The secondary level, we have provided co-teachers in pretty much every configuration of a lot of our different courses. Some of those courses are not, uh, courses. Their graduation requirements, but some of those courses may not have. High-stakes testing with it. And so, is there a way that we can
048look at how we do co-teaching and. Differentiate aquatics class, or a certain. Class that we make and pull out a teacher, put in a pair. Um, so those are the things that we grapple with, but as our enrollment increases, as Dr. White says. We have to then meet that guideline, so either we're shifting the staffing guideline, or we were requesting more positions based on the enrollment. Across the district. And then, as you know, with our vacancies. Um, there's definitely an impact from a fiscal standpoint around compensatory services that we must provide when students are impacted. Contracted services has gone up. I think we came before you last spring around interpreters. That dollar amount has gone from $55 a year… $55 an hour to about $110. It's doubled. Um, in the last few years. So even
049as we look at our contracted services. The bottom line rate that we were paying 2 years ago, or 3 years ago, has gone up each year. Um, and so that's another factor that plays in to how we provide, um, funding for special ed. Okay, thank you so much, Ms. Bowman. Um, I see a colleague's hand up, so I'm gonna go to Vice Chair Boozer Struther. Thank you so much. Um, so I've been pretty interested in the last few years on… the… on neurodiversity and mental health in the system, and the… Um, overall. Kind of commitment to… The concept of neurodiversity being part of all aspects of our. Education and culture and knowledge of our educators. And I'm looking at the numbers of the actual. 504 plans of 1,264 for. Adhd, um… And I… I… I
050think there's probably a lot of… Public health statistics that would say that there are a lot of students who are never assessed or identified in receiving services. Um, who are neurodiverse. I was wondering… as you look towards… And we're seeing models, and I bring this up because the Maryland Association of Boards of Ed actually happened to highlight an article. Last week on students who are doing peer work in a high school around supports of neurodiversity, so getting back to the culture, climate and culture piece. As you look to the next strategic plan. Would you say that this… neurodiversity as a whole is emerging as… As a big bucket area of where PGCPS can head. Um, would it be helpful for the board to do one of our focus work groups on this topic and bring
051in. Stakeholders to kind of. Get some data and get some movement, um, that would… Hopefully that's enough to… for some response. Thank you. I'm gonna yield to my student service colleagues. What I will say. Just thinking about neurodiversion. New Virgin and mental health. Is one of the big pushes that we've had in special ed and in student services, and I'll let them talk a little bit about that, is just. The whole social-emotional well-being. And making sure that we have calming corners and calming rooms and. Calming stations across our district. Um, because we know, um, that that is something that. We've really, um, been pushing around that social-emotional and really thinking about the mental well-being. But I just want to yield to my colleagues to kind of talk about just. District-wide, because they have really, the
052last two years, I think, have done a tremendous job with just thinking about the social, emotional, mental health, which really plays into students who are neurodivergent. So, I'll… I'll yield to either Ms. Hogans or Dr. Faison around that. Yeah, I'll start, um… I love the neurodivergent, um, conversation, and I do agree that there are. Lots of students who may fall in that category, who may be undiagnosed, or may be really unfamiliar. With what new neurodivergent really is. And we… we did come into partnership with Neuroblooms. That talked about the brain and what it looks like for a student who's depressed, or a student who has ADHD, or for a student who has anxiety. And our mental health clinicians. Um, as Trannell, um, has stated, really are working. With families to kind of normalize those types
053of things. And to be more help-seeking for students. Um, who may think a little differently, who may require something, um, differently, and as you noted. The biggest bucket out of the top 5 is, you know, students who. Um, have, um, some of those neurodivergent symptoms. They learn differently, think differently. And so, I do believe it is emerging. We see it at our American School Counseling Association conferences. We see it in our, um, multi-tiered systems of support, learning, um, um, you know, trainings around how do we support students. Um, who think differently, and who may be impacted by trauma. And how that has led to an increase in students who have neurodivergent needs. So, I… I would love our system to highlight that, and I think we are the people to be able. Um, to do
054that, even through our counselors and our 504, um, staff. Right now, our school counselors are those individuals in buildings. Who help write and manage. A 504 plan for a student. So that if it isn't working for a student. Um, then they're coming back to the table to modify those things, but really being structured in a way that we're monitoring how is it really working. When we put a plan in place for a student who may be, um, different, and it shows up differently for different students, so there is no cookie cutter, um, type of, um. Plan, um, ADHD shows up differently for students. Some may be more impulsive, some may… be more, um, inattentive or more hyper. So, not having this one-size-fits-all students. But really getting to know, um, students and how it, uh, shows
055up for them. So, I love the conversation and welcome, you know, more focus on that for the district as a whole. Yeah, thank you so much. I think absolutely the arc of the work you've been. Okay. Doing, um, around trauma-informed educators, you know, through the equity plan and. And through the NeuroBlooms project has certainly, um. Been really important work, and if there's anything that the board can do to. Elevate this or bring more resources, um, because I think this is one of those… areas that we have a lot of work to do. Um, you know, culturally and acceptance and, um… you know, under… understanding and… And like you noted, the differences of how it shows up could also… You know, be labeled behavior, and I know that our educators are… you know, have really let
056us know that student. Behavior is a, you know, has had quite a negative impact, um, on their. Professional life and anything we can do to… help education… educators also identify. Know what these behaviors are and know the root could help. Could help the educators under… understand their next steps as well. So, I see a lot of, um… value in elevating. Yeah, Vice Chair, um, Boozer-Struther, thank you. And I want to say that I think if you have. This, as we look to the next 5-year strategic plan. More that you may want to share about this issue, um, then we can have it in a round two, um, because there may be more follow-up questions that you may have for that. I thought that was a really helpful conversation. Um, are there other questions for this
057first round? Of a discussion? Okay, we can go to round two, so I want to see if there's anyone that would like to ask, um. A second set of questions, um… And so, of course, obviously, Vice Chair of the committee, um, Booster Struth, if you. Want to follow up there? I'm happy to yield the floor to you. Uh, I don't… I don't have anything else to offer, except that… you know, as I'm… you know, my final year on the board, this is somewhere where I'm offering to help. Make an impact, you know, so I think that's basically where I'm coming from, is I know I've had the privilege of being here for Dr. Faison's leadership through. Through some of these steps that I, um… would certainly like to lend something before I depart the board,
058so thanks. Great, thank you so much for that. Um, I did have a second round question, if I don't see any other hands, I don't want to, you know. Dominate the floor here, so obviously, you know, if you… even if you don't feel… I want to say this, because maybe this is just something to, uh, be said, but even if you don't feel like you have a fully formulated question, um, you know, it is good to ask these, because I think ultimately they help to kind of guide the direction of the work that we're doing. Um, so I'll, again, have a question here, which is, um, and this is maybe for Dr. White or for others, but there was, um, there was a statement about how we want to… or really the goal is to
059have families trust that, um, the school district cares about them and understands their needs. Um, so if a family is explicitly looking to see the ways that PGCBS is rebuilding trust with the community. What should they expect to see, or what does that look like? Yeah. So I think in the most simplest terms, is when a family reaches out, we respond. If we're just saying explicitly, that's the new goal here. When it's a family's expectation that we send meeting notices before and follow our own processes, that we do that. Um, that when we say to a family, oh, I'm in receipt of your email, and I'll respond to you on September 30th, that by September 30th, I've done that. And so… and… more importantly than anything, when we're wrong, we admit that. Right? Because oftentimes,
060we're wrong, and we just double down on being wrong, versus simply saying, we apologize, like, we missed the mark in laying out what we need to do to be better. And I think it's… it's, you know, we by no means are perfect, and we have some scenarios where the system is wrong, but I really want to say to families, but we have a lot of places where it's going right. But we want everyone, if we have one kid and it's not going right, that's… that means that as a system, there's work to be done. And so, first and foremost, can we just be a system of our word? Can a family trust that when we say, we'll reach back out, that we're gonna do that? When we say, we'll take your student from point A
061to point Z, that we'll do that. When we say, we're going to continue to find staff that we're going to be committed to do that. Thank you so much for that. I really love that that's a goal. I'm not sure if others wanted to share, too, so… And then Dr. Mera, I think, wanted to jump in. And then Dr. Barron. And I just also want to say that remembering that our special needs population and 504 students are special students to these families, and so not that all of our students are not. But keeping in mind the sensitivity and the nature of that as we service our parents, and so often the calls that we're receiving is about how they're treated. And so working with our staff to create cultures and climates where parents are welcome,
062and that they're treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. And so that is one of the things that we've heard from families, and that we're ensuring that we're working with all of our staff. To ensure that they create that positive environment with their families. Thank you for that. Um. Um, Board Member Olivo. Thank you, Chair Briggs. Um… Actually, your question about… about building trust really made me think about, and I wanted to ask a little bit more about, um, not only language access. But also how, if and how we're reaching out to families. Potentially in their native language for some of the education and outreach that has been talked about, you know, through this whole evening. I, um… remember, um, our first… my own family's first rounds of going through the 504 and
063then the IEP process. Um, with my older son, you know, when he was in second grade, and at times just thinking to myself, you know, here I am. You know, college graduate, English is my first language, master's degree, and really, um… pretty overwhelmed by the process myself, and thinking about how does somebody who… Um, you know, perhaps isn't a high school graduate, or who perhaps English isn't their first language, even begin to engage in this process. And so. I really appreciated the answer about, you know, we get back to people who reach out to us, but with this building trust and the education, I'd love to hear a little bit more about how we are maybe being proactive. Um, especially with some families for whom English is not their first language. So I'll… I'll start,
064and then Trone, they'll jump in, because I know you work very closely with, um, our interpretation office, and. In that piece, but what I will say is, you know, so one of the things Dr. Joseph has. Challenged us to is, what are all the opportunities? So we started the year with a town hall for families to know how to start. We are on a mad campaign around our Family Support Center, because even if you go to your school, we want a triage of sorts. Like, where we… here's a place that you can always come, and we're going to get it to the right place to answer the questions. We never want a family to be stuck out there not knowing. And then, Tronelle, can you speak to, um, you or Liz, speak to, um, how
065we use our interpreter services, what languages, um, and how we communicate with families that need support. The other last thing I just want to say before you start. We also listen to our families, so when Tranelle has created documents. And I remember we sent, like, we had did a whole document for the Board of Ed to understand special ed, and we did a whole parent resource. And the one thing the parent came back with, and she said, what are all these words? What do they mean? And it was like, aha, like, we say it so much, we know, but how do you make that so simple? And even in an IEP meeting. How do you… we started doing a survey because we want parents' voice. Like, did they listen to you? Did what you say
066make a difference at the table? So, Tronelle, I'll turn it over to you. This is a perfect segue, um… Uh, into our systemic Professional Development Day on September 23rd. So, one of the things that we get back as part of our summer series with our parents and our staff. Was, give us clear examples of how do we engage parents, what does it look like? So our tip number one is on prioritizing clear and respectful communication. And in that, we talk about the strategies around using plain language, avoiding acronyms. Using interpretative services, so we actually worked with Dr. Love's office, so thank you, Jennifer Love. I know she's not with us, but she has provided a TIPS document. On how school teams can request. Um, interpreters, how they can use… utilize language links if there's a
067quick conversation they need to have with a parent. Um, and so that is a resource that we are unpacking. On our systemic professional development day that is mandatory across our district, so thank you for that question. Um, and that is a tip that we got from the field from our families, and we have incorporated it. Into our training. Yeah, thank you, uh, to, uh, to the team. I mean, this was really, um, I think it was really helpful to know, and so… I'm just excited because I feel like if everything you all are saying, which I know you obviously are all passionate practitioners that are doing this work in good faith, um, so… and I know that there are always barriers, right, to implementing. The intended outcome. So, but I think it is great to
068hear what the goal is, um, and how it's people-centered. It's not just about, kind of, the process, right? Because these are humans that are behind all of these numbers, these grades, and the things that we do, so… Um, it's really… I personally think it's truly powerful. Um, with that, I want to see if there's any other, uh, any other questions for Dr. White and team? Um, and if they're not, um, Rosa, who's, like, on it with the text, just wanted to let me let you all know that you can always submit questions. If you don't have any questions right now, you haven't formulated any, then you can, of course, always send emails. If you want to send them to, um, Rosa and I, then we can send that along to Dr. White and team to
069get back to you. Um, and so with that in mind, we're gonna move to adjournment. Um, and I want to say thank you for the excellent presentations and engaging discussions. Um, our next meeting is scheduled for October 13th of this year. Um, there being no further business, the time is now 6.32 p.m. In the September 15, 2025 Academic Achievement Committee meeting is adjourned. Have a great evening, everyone.