A study of the Watertown Public Schools’ special education found a number of areas of concerns, including a lack of uniformity, a need for better communication with families, and a distrust among parents of students in the program.
A group called the Special Education Strategy Development Committee, made up of 31 people from different levels in the schools, as well as parents, discussed Watertown’s special education data, reports from state on the district’s special education program, as well as the report from AthenaK12. The district committee put out a Special Education Success Strategy report.
The special education committee pointed to multiple areas to focus on to improve the program for students with special needs, said Kathy Desmarais, Watertown’s Director of Student Services.
One issue rose to the top in the report.
“Trust was an issue that came up repeatedly during our work,” Demarais said.
The report recommends more family trainings to strengthen relationships through transparent communication, responsiveness. and cultural responsive practices, Demarais said, to make sure “that we’re providing ample opportunities for families to learn about special education processes and procedures and their their rights within that.”
Having more collaboration among staff was also a recommendation, Demarais said.
“We’re looking to foster staff collaboration, and that in the document looks like establishing structured team collaboration to promote aligned communication, shared problem solving and creative support for all students,” she said.
Superintendent Dede Galdston said one of the things that stood out to her was that teachers and staff were working more individually, and it was not consistent across the district.
“We’re doing many of these things, more in isolation and less in a coherent fashion, otherwise known as sometimes one group of people don’t know what another group of people are doing,” Galdston said. “And then we find that people are not benefiting from some things that we’re doing in pockets, as opposed to what we could be doing across the board.”
The budget for the 2026-27 school year includes funding for a special education coach, who will provide professional development for staff and also provide ongoing support, Galdston said, so the training isn’t “one and done.”
“That’s a big step, and I’m very, very happy that that’s on the list of priorities for funding — the strategy, response, targeted staff training, job-embedded support, stronger IEP practice and administrator capacity building,” Galdston said.
Another key is to provide co-planning time for classes with co-teachers, where a general education teacher and a special education teacher share a classroom.
Another focus is engagement with families.
“We have very engaged families,” Demarais said. “It’s more about what is the school doing to ensure that all the families are informed and empowered.”
Part of having more engaged families, and improving communication, includes providing more opportunities for families to learn about the special education process, more collaboration with parents about their children’s IEPs (individual education program).
“This includes preparing families in advance, using clear and jargon-free language, and fostering shared decision making,” Demarais said.
Galdston added she believes parents need to feel included from the start of their children’s school experience.
“So we often find ourselves in special education reacting to situations,” Galdston said, adding that she thinks the district needs to move to being more proactive. “So I think that’s the idea, that you don’t end up in a contentious place with parents, but you start way from the beginning, even in preschool, making sure that parents understand the process, understand the people involved, understand what their voice is.”
Hearing directly from parents is something Galdston plans to do.
“I think I heard from people that potentially, maybe even Athena didn’t speak to enough people, so maybe it’s time to do a little bit of a road show and go out,” Galdston said. “And maybe it’s just me that goes out and listens just to hear what’s on the minds of people.”
The Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) has been one of the main ways parents communicated with the district about special education. Galdston said she believes more ways to communicate should be added.
“I think we have to think of other avenues for parents’ feedback back and forth, because SEPAC is fabulous, but I’m not sure every parent thinks, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go to the SEPAC,'” Galdston said. “Where are some other ways and avenues that we can get parent feedback?”
One way for parents to get more information about special education could be through the district’s Caregiver University.
“A lot of people talked about Caregiver University really being a little bit focused on multilingual learners, but we think we could do more and have it more like a conference type of thing, where you pick your sessions that you want to go to, and any parent could come, but have offerings that really would pertain more to families that have students with disabilities,” Galdston said.
Watertown School officials will also be looking at strategies used in other communities. District officials will also be visiting Kennedy Middle School in Waltham, which has very high achievement for students with disabilities.
“We’re going to be taking a team to go and see what they’re doing,” Galdston said.
More highlighting of the achievements of students and staff is something Galdston would like to see.
“I remember when I started, we used to have the SEPAC awards. So at the end of the year, we had an excellent celebration where we highlighted the work of educators, students and community members, along with a motivational keynote speaker,” Galdston said. “I think that we need to do more of that, just to shine a bright light, too, on the great things that do happen.”
School Committee Comments
During their March 25 meeting, School Committee members said they have heard from parents that they do not feel comfortable bringing up concerns, and some even fear retaliation for speaking out.
Rebuilding trust of parents is a priority for City Council President Mark Sideris, who is also a member of the School Committee. He said parents have raised that issue when they speak to him.
“I think, to me, what stood out the most when I read this was rebuilding trust, and I think that’s critical and we have to be able to show that we’re making strides,” Sideris said. “And I love the fact that we’ve gone as far as we’re going, but this is the first step. I know the superintendent, and her staff, has tackled many, many issues here, but I think this is long overdue and I think it’s time that we really focus a lot on this area.”
School Committee member Sheila Krishnan said she saw some concerning patterns when she speaks to people about Watertown’s special education program.
“I wrote down some words that I’ve heard repeated more than once, things like retaliation, gaslighting, cherry picking data and these are not the first times I’ve heard this,” Krishnan said. “So when I see rebuilding trust with families, listening sessions aren’t going to do it like there, I think there’s been real damage to some of the important relationships.”
Making major changes to Watertown’s special education program requires everyone to be on board, Krishnan said.
“When I have seen those kinds of change management, it does take a particular type of leadership skill to make that successful, and I think it’s important for the district to take a moment to decide whether you have the leadership that you need to move that forward,” Krishnan said.
Amy Donohue, a current School Committee member and former employee of the district, said she saw some encouraging things in the plan
“This is such a great thing to see because building a shared foundation on the best practices and trainings and rules and decision making for all our staff, from the administration all the way down to our (instructional aides) and coordinators and team chairs and the whole group …,” Donohue said. “This work, as you stated, will create the effectiveness that our special needs population needs across the district, across all the schools.”
School Committee member Lisa Capoccia said she was concerned that the state’s Special Education Determination, which cited the concerns about Watertown’s program, came out last spring, but a formal report was not made to the School Committee until December.
She said the special education plan does clarify something she had been concerned about.
“I feel like the plan reflects something different, that I’m happy to see, because it says, ‘What do we need to do to make inclusion more effective for students and make it work for students?’ And not, ‘What is the matter with the people who aren’t putting their kids or allowing us to put their kids in an inclusion setting?’ And I think that is a conflicting message I have heard from staff,” Capoccia said. “Since we started having this conversation in January, I want us to stay on the track of ‘What do we need to do to make inclusion work for students?’ and that if we are increasing our inclusion rates it’s because we are making it work for them and for staff.”
School Committee member Rachel Kay said she believes the district should have more measurable outcomes.
“Having seen many IEPs, these are not measurable goals, so I would love to see them written in IEP form with: when will they be done? how do we know they’ll be done? who’s responsible or what position?” Kay said. “So I would love to see that as the next step.”
She also said it is not always clear when a student moved out of the special education program.
“There are families who are being told, ‘Great news, your child can move into inclusion!’ and they’re like, ‘Wait, what?,'” Kay said. “So as much as we can do that for families is great. And maybe we want to add it to the IEPs, to have that discussion individually, because it’s going to vary for some students, and maybe that’s something to think about with any student entering or leaving our sub-separate program.”
School Committee Chair Kendra Foley said she hears a mix of feedback from families, some having a good experience and some not.
“I do think, to your point, Dr. Galdston, there’s inconsistency in the system, and so building out the bright spots and making them more consistent across the district is really important,” Foley said. “And articulating and communicating those things, I think it would be helpful for families, because building trust is about showing the work, not just saying the work. And I think as families see it, they will be reminded of the good things that are happening, because I do think there’s a lot. So, I’m looking forward to the emphasis on this work.”
Foley added that she has seen the district successfully tackle other areas that needed work.
“The thing that I keep thinking about is four years ago when we had the equity audit in front of us, and I think there was a similar level of frustration that we were seeing all of the needs in our district in front of us,” Foley said. “But looking back at many of the accomplishments that have been made over the years in response to that audit, I am optimistic that we have a team that can take a look at all of these recommendations and really put them into practice.”
See the Special Education Success Strategy document by clicking here.
The alignment of the Athena report with the Success Strategy can be seen by clicking here.
See the report on the Athena report recommendations by clicking here.
See the memo on the State’s Special Education Determination by clicking here.