Fayette schools failed to meet federal special education requirements the past two years

Fayette County Public Schools failed to meet requirements under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for the past two years, according to Kentucky Department of Education documents obtained by the Herald-Leader.

Public schools in Lexington received an “annual determination” or designation, of Needs Assistance in both 2018 and 2019, the documents showed.

In a June 2019 letter to Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk, Sylvia Starkey, a division director in the state department’s Office of Special Education and Early Learning, said that Fayette County’s overall 2019 determination or label, mostly based on data from the 2017-18 school year, was “Needs Assistance 2” as opposed to the top determination of “Meets Requirements.”

That means that Fayette County Schools had two consecutive years of failing to meet requirements, said Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Toni Konz Tatman. Districts in that status must seek help or professional development, but there is no direct punitive action from the federal government. New determinations will be sent out this spring.

Kentucky, as a state, met federal requirements for both educational outcomes for students with disabilities and legal compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the letters to Caulk said.

The 2019 letter said Fayette County schools did not meet state targets with the graduation rate of students with disabilities, the dropout rate of students with disabilities, and eighth grade math performance.

A May 2018 letter to Caulk from Kentucky Department of Education official Gretta Hylton said that based on data from 2016-17, Fayette County schools had a determination of “Needs Assistance 1” and had not met state targets that included the graduation rate of students with disabilities and the math performance of eighth graders.

District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said the findings are based upon data as far back as 2015, 2016 and 2017, and do not reflect many of the improvements the district has made in recent years.

“Although we have not received any additional state or federal funding, Fayette County Public Schools has made significant investments in the area of special education, including the addition of 20 special education teachers,” Deffendall said.

The district has been focused on increasing access to high quality core instruction through a co-teaching initiative, which has expanded training, coaching, and support for co-teaching teams, she said.

“We expect that this initiative will continue to positively impact outcomes for students who receive special education services, which should impact our targets for indicators related to graduation rate, drop-out rate, and math proficiency,” said Deffendall.

The letters to Caulk from both years shows that the district was compliant on several other measures involving the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and special education.

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 10:57 AM.