GRANVILLE — The school’s special education program was cited for 30 instances of noncompliance in a state audit conducted last year, which has led to some administrative changes.
About 21 percent of the district’s 1,068 students in the 2016-17 school year had some type of disability and received special education services, according to the report, which was obtained by The Post-Star through a Freedom of Information Law request.
State investigators randomly selected 30 students and reviewed each one’s individualized education plan to see if the services were being provided. Among the issues that state investigators found were lack of access to the full range of programs and services, failure to modify instructional techniques to help students meet diploma requirements, lack of development of plans to address student behavior and lack of monitoring of progress in improving behavior.
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The report cited the district for not stating in students’ individualized education plans where they currently are academically or how the disability affects their progress through the curriculum and for not developing academic goals for the student.
Special education students’ goals after high school also need to be developed, and where appropriate, strategies to help them transition to independent living, along with ways to involve outside agencies in meeting those goals. The district was cited for not identifying providers who can provide services to students during the summer months.
There were 35 instances of compliance with the standards, including providing copies of IEPS to parents, ensuring that students are not removed from regular classrooms solely because of their disabilities, having students participate in state tests and providing consultant teacher services in regular education classes.
The state Education Department has set a deadline of Oct. 31 for Granville to demonstrate compliance. School officials have already taken steps to address the problems.
Earlier this month, the district announced that Camille Harrelson has moved from being high school principal to director of special education — a position she held from 2012 to 2013. Colleen Jennings, the previous director, is taking on the newly created role of elementary assistant principal/504 plans coordinator for both Mary J. Tanner School and Granville Elementary School.
Superintendent Thomas McGurl said Friday the changes are meant “to make sure we have the right person in the right jobs.”
In July, the school board voted to hire David Mitchell as a consultant to review its special education programs and come up with recommendations to improve them. Mitchell is executive director for Oak Hill School, a school for students with special needs in Scotia. He previously served as director of special education for Ballston Spa schools.
He will be paid $450 per day when he is in the district and $75 per hour when working from home, which will be for shorter periods of time. There is a cap of $10,000 for his services.
McGurl said Mitchell is confident that, with Harrelson in her new position, his services are not needed right away. McGurl said Mitchell will be in a standby role until the district looks in January at some long-term improvements.
The district has numerous short-term priorities, according to McGurl.
“We need to look at immediate concerns of IEP construction and the services that we’re providing,” he said.
The district’s special education population of 21 percent is well above the state average, so McGurl said school officials need to look at how students are placed into special education.
The district must ensure it is providing a wide array of services based upon student need, he said.
People get concerned when they hear about an audit, but the district needs to build upon this report, he said.
“I look at it as an opportunity for somebody from the outside to come and look at the program to say this is what’s working and what needs improvement and it gives you a structure to fix those things,” he said.
You can read Michael Goot’s blog “A Time to Learn” at www.poststar.com or his updates on Twitter @ps_education.