Special-education director reports improved IEP compliance and outlines services for 1,689 students

Taylor McElroy, the district’s director of special education, gave a teaching-and-learning update that quantified the district’s special-education caseload and described program and compliance work.

McElroy said the district’s December 1 data show the system serves 1,689 students with disabilities, including 70 children ages 3–5 and 619 students ages 5–21; speech or language impairment is the largest disability category, followed by autism and other health impairments. She also reported roughly 157 Section 504 plans and about 90 students who spend the majority of their day in a special-education setting (about 14.5%).

McElroy described partnerships with the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and said the district used a state rubric to review IEPs, conducting 10 IEP reviews every nine weeks and expanding that review to include school-level instructional teams and teachers. On compliance, McElroy said the district’s IEP-review score rose from about 89% in 2022–23 to 98% in the most recent review.

She summarized program supports — coaching cycles for teachers, a Google Drive resource hub for special-education staff, pacing plans for new teachers and a Positive Approach for Student Success (PASS) program — and said the district will continue school-level IEP reviews and focus on IEP goal writing and progress monitoring.

What this means: The presentation framed the changes as both compliance wins and instructional improvements, and McElroy asked the board to sustain support for training and coaching work that staff say is driving steady gains.