An internal audit of Atlanta Public Schools’ Special Education Department showed a need for better recordkeeping, monitoring and staff training.
“The overall theme, for me, from the audit is: We need more training, we need more support and we need more accountability,” Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Chelsea Montgomery said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The review, conducted by auditing firm Plante Moran, also said some teachers didn’t obtain parental consent before recommending students for psychological evaluations, but APS officials said that isn’t accurate.
“What we found is (not getting parental consent) is not a systemic issue and transitioning to our new system, we realized that we had some data entry challenges and so that information was entered incorrectly into the system,” said Emmaundia Ford, executive director of Atlanta’s Special Education Department.
Danielle Battle requested the audit shortly after she was hired last year as the district’s interim superintendent. Bryan Johnson was sworn in as superintendent Monday. The review focused on the administration of special education services and evaluating related policies, procedures and practices during the 2023-24 school year. Nearly 12% of APS students were identified as students with disabilities during the previous year.
Ford said APS switched to a new record-keeping system when the audit was conducted last school year. Montgomery said the transition could have accounted for the audit’s finding that records weren’t always kept in accordance with state and district policies. She said the department is tightening oversight to ensure compliance.
That could be a relief to parents like Tricia Harris, who participated in the audit. Her son, who is in the sixth grade, is on the autism spectrum and has a full-time aide assigned to him during the school day.
Harris said her son’s school has experienced constant turnover in special education, resulting in new staff members who didn’t seem familiar with regulations or procedures, indicating a lack of preparation.
“(Training needs to go) beyond just the special education lead teachers ... down to the actual individual teachers, particularly the new ones, and then the para(professionals) that support those classes,” Harris said in an interview.
Ford said training will be ongoing, so teachers can receive extra support and those who join APS after the school year has started can receive the same information. Information about staff turnover wasn’t addressed in the audit.
“This year we’ll do some cleanup, continue to train and support and stepping up that supervision and monitoring ... and just making sure that everybody is clear about the expectations and the usage of the new system,” she said.
Parent Francesca Myrick said the department has seemed unorganized in the past. Her son is a junior in high school. He qualifies for special education services including Occupational Therapy, but his school couldn’t provide a therapist consistently during the year. Myrick said school officials asked him to come to summer school to receive services instead, which she refused to do.
“I’m not going to take his summer break from (him because of) what you all did not do during the school year,” she said.
Myrick added that the department needs to improve communication with school officials.
“It always has to start within the central office, and then it goes down to the school,” she said. “If the central office is not talking to the school, then there’s a disconnect.”
APS said the district will increase oversight to ensure consistency in schools.
“Every month, we’re going to send the special ed lead teachers and their supervisors an email saying, ‘Hey, here’s what we expect to be done this month, here are the coordinating reports and here’s a support session … where we’re going to go through all these items with you if you’re not sure what they are,’” Montgomery said.
Atlanta’s new superintendent is certified to teach special education. Johnson held a series of town halls across the district this summer to listen to community concerns. Special education came up repeatedly.
“I can tell you that’s going to be top of mind,” he said during the last town hall at Washington High School. “There’s opportunity to strengthen (special education) systems, structures and processes, and so that’s where we’ll start.”
The school board’s audit committee met in June to review the audit. Committee Chair Aretta Baldon addressed Johnson, who attended the meeting.
“Dr. Johnson, we’re about to pass this baton, and we’re going to need you to grab it and run like (U.S. Olympic track star) Sha’Carri (Richardson) and take us to gold,” she said.
A glossary of some special education terms:
IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) — a federal law enacted in 1975 that requires schools to offer a free and appropriate education to students with disabilities.
IEP (Individualized Education Program) — every student who qualifies for special education services has a personalized plan with specific educational goals that are reviewed yearly. Plans can include supports like extra time on tests, speech and language therapy and modified assignments.
Inclusion – a model of special education where students spend most of their time in a general education classroom. A special education teacher or aide may provide support.
Student Support Team (SST) — a group of teachers and administrators who meet to discuss supporting a student who may be struggling with academics or behaviors in school. The SST usually consists of the child’s teacher, the school principal, and other educators such as a school psychologist.
504 Plan — this kind of plan provides accommodations for students with disabilities, but unlike an IEP, this plan doesn’t include educational goals. For example, a 504 plan may include preferential seating or assistive technology to help students complete assignments.
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