For the first time, the Watertown Public Schools’ Special Education program has failed to earn a grade of “Meets Requirements” from state officials. The School Committee heard a report about the shortfalls and possible solutions at its Dec. 8 meeting.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) calculates a score for each school district based multiple factors including the outcomes for students with disabilities (graduations rates, MCAS, inclusion in regular classrooms), compliance with Special Education regulations, and other factors such as staffing and funds spent on special education.
Watertown received a score of 31 out of a total of 45 points, or 69 percent, which falls into the “Needs Assistance” category. The minimum for Meets Requirements is 75 percent.
Watertown had 11 findings of non-compliance from the 2023-24 school year. Kathleen Desmarais, Director of Student Services, said that the way the state counts the complaints, if a single family has several issue, every single issue that is found to be a problem counts as a finding.
“So that did add up to 11, so that I’m hoping we’re going to be able to improve that,” Demarais said.
The district was also docked points for its response rate, and submitting the count for Equitable Child Services on time.
Demarais noted that the period for submitting the IEPs (individualized educational plans) for students with special need was changed in June from 10 days to five. School Committee member Jessica Middlebrook, said she has seen first-hand the impact of that change.
“I just want to recognize that as a special educator in another district, that five day turnaround for the IEPs was a real blow to everybody, and I just want to recognize and thank our teachers here in Watertown that they are actually managing to get that done,” Middlebrook said.
The state looked at the percentage of students with disabilities who received a high school diploma. Watertown’s rate was 66.7 percent, and the state target is 79.33 percent. Lindsay Mosca, the district’s Education Data Analyst, noted that the figures include students from Watertown who are attending the Watertown Public Schools along with those who attend out-of-district schools. She added that six of nine who did not graduate were not enrolled in Watertown Schools.
Also, the district had a drop out rate of 22.22 percent, while the state target is 12.47 percent. Mosca said the district’s numbers did not line up with the state’s, and said the district’s records show four students who dropped out while the state’s number was six.
MCAS performance also was an area of concern, with the proportion of students meeting grade level below the state target in five of categories, including one where the district got no points for being significantly below target.
The state also looked at the amount spent by Watertown compared to similar districts, as well as the staff to student ratios. The comparisons are known as DART, or District Analysis Review Tools, and the state compares Watertown with 10 districts that match closely for specific student populations: low income, English Learners, and students with disabilities.
The district has among the highest percentage of students in out-of-district programs compared with other districts, and among the lowest percentage of students in full inclusion programs, where special education students attend classes with regular education peers.
Watertown has low student to teacher ratios in special education compared to other districts, Mosca said, and Watertown is spending the second most out of the comparable districts.
School Committee member Rachel Kay said that she is concerned Watertown is not getting the results for the amount of money invested in special education.
“Looking mostly at the DART data, it seems like we are spending a lot of money on out-of-district placements and a lot of money on staff, and we’re still not meeting a lot of our goals,” Kay said. “I mean, some of those MCAS data was really sad. So clearly, it’s money is not necessarily the issue. It’s how we’re spending it, or what we’re doing with it.”
School Committee member Lisa Capoccia said the School Committee should be careful how it phrases the money issues with regards to Special Education.
“Just because we spend a higher amount per capita doesn’t mean we’re spending a lot,” Capoccia said. “It doesn’t mean we pay our lowest paid staff, like TAs and IAs, a living wage, and it doesn’t mean that like our comparable (districts) are doing well, either.”
School Committee member Lily Rayman-Read commended the Watertown Schools for Special Education spending.
“I want to flip the narrative and say how proud I am that we’re the district that spends the most money because, to me, that shows our dedication and our commitment to our students with disabilities,” Rayman-Read said. “And I do agree that, right now, maybe we’re not seeing the outcomes, but I do want to remember that a lot of what we’ve been doing in this district is relatively young.”
The Watertown Schools will continue to work to improve the areas identified in the state report, including creating a multi-year Special Education Strategic Plan, Demarais said. The plan will include reviewing the current goals, creating new ones, and embedding measurable outcomes in the Strategic Plan and preparing an annual analysis of the District’s progress on the outcomes.
The state’s findings will also be included in a report commissioned by the district that will be conducted by AthenaK12, Galdston said, and the results will be reported in January.
City Council President Mark Siders, who also sits on the School Committee, said he believes Watertown can do better, and get better results for the investment.
“What is the Athena report going to provide us? And if that’s not enough — we’re talking about sharing goals with the larger community, sharing strategy with principals reviewing,” Sideris said. “Do we need to bring in someone to tell us what we’re doing wrong? I think we should be, unless the Athena thing is going to do that. I don’t think we can do this on our own.”
Superintendent Dede Galdston said she believes Athena’s report will provide some new informati0n.
“I look forward to the Athena report, because sometimes it’s important to get an outside perspective, because when you’re in the system, sometimes you don’t even see what you could be doing better,” Galdston said. “So, I do think that that’s going to help us out a lot.”
See the slides from the Special Education presentation by clicking here.