Students with IEPs

When Paul chaired the Superintendent Search Subcommittee, he worked with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) to conduct 16 community meetings that included administrators, teachers and staff, members of the community at-large, recent alumni, parents of English Language Learners, members of the special education parent advisory council and parents with interest in children with special needs, and civic leaders from the town meeting and the finance and capital planning committees.  More than 220 people participated in live interviews while more than 1,000 people took the on-line survey.

The surveys documented several issues, which were both significant and urgent:
Special Education. Responders and a broad consensus of those who participated in focus groups were clear that issues of special education need to be addressed as a highest priority for the next superintendent. Parents and community members were consistent and specific about what they believe are systemic and structural problems that have festered for a number of years. They include:

• Inconsistency among schools as to the access to and quality of special education services.
• Special concerns about service coordination in “transition grades” where changes of schools are required.
• Failures to accommodate the concerns of parents on behalf of their children with special needs. Several participants viewed their status as parents and the services to their children “as afterthoughts.”
• Undue burdens placed on parents in order to secure services for their children.
• Loss of special educators who leave for better paying positions in other districts.
• Equity issues where savvy and economically advantaged families are able to pressure the system or identify alternative services that might not be available to more disadvantaged students.
• Unsatisfactory translation services.
• Lack of a local resource inventory for parents of children with special needs.

These concerns ran the gamut from information sharing with parents, assignment of students within their Individual Education Plans (IEPs), quality of services, and general support. They were frequently echoed by parents in the general focus groups whose children do not require special education services. However, parents of special needs children and faculty members are deeply appreciative of the faculty who provide direct services to their children and these families see the faculty as dedicated to the students, despite structural and systemic flaws in the administration of special education. This will be an important area for the superintendent search committee to probe with candidates and for the school committee to prioritize for the next administration. Responders recommended that a strong relationship with parents of special needs children will be important. 

Individual Education Plans, by their very nature, are unique and are not subject to review by the school committee.
This description was part of a report used to evaluate superintendent candidates. The strategic plan addresses many of the issues, and the school committee has provided additional resources. Paul will work to monitor progress in connection with the strategic plan, and will advocate for measures of success related to the concerns expressed in the focus groups.

Multilingual Learners

Paul has spent his career working in urban districts with large percentages of Multilingual Learners. As an elementary principal in Lowell, he held a state administrator's license with a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement. 

Families who speak a  language other than English as their primary language in the home are least likely to be engaged in the civic process of school governance, and least likely to advocate for resources when school budgets are being developed. Paul views his role as an advocate for the 13.4% of our students whose first language is not English, and the 5% of our students who are working toward English language proficiency.