HOUSTON – Houston Independent School District parents have been vocal about the changes seen throughout the district since the state appointed Superintendent Mike Miles last year.
One of their main concerns centered around the district’s special education policy, which many said was strained by staffing shortages and out of compliance with federal and state mandates.
During a one-on-one interview with Miles, KPRC 2 reporter Candace Burns and Digital Investigative Specialist Ninfa Saavedra asked the superintendent about the district’s special education plan and backlash regarding some of his decisions.
In October 2023, Miles and his board of managers revealed a Special Education Action Plan, which included plans to require all staff to complete online training related to Child Find, respond more quickly to parent content, cut in half the number of students forced to switch campuses to receive access to specialized plans and improve the quality of instruction for special education students.
Parents with students in HISD schools, specifically those at NES and NES-aligned campuses, say their special needs child has been in regular classrooms where the instruction is too regimented and fast-paced to properly support children with disabilities or other learning differences.
“Special education is a wide range of kids. You have some life-skilled kids who need independent one-on-one care and instruction, and sometimes they cannot be with the rest of the students. But the majority of special education students are moderate-needs students, and for those students, their Individualized Education Program will dictate where they are. But most moderate needs special education students can be included in a classroom,” Miles explained.
The NES model, which was introduced by Miles at the start of the school year, involves frequent teacher observations, timed activities, daily assessments, and standardized, grade-level curriculum in at least 85 schools across the district.
Miles said gone are the days when special needs students were separated from their peers, but instead, they are embedded in the same classrooms and getting the same instruction with either the help of a special education teacher or support staff.
“It depends on their IEP, but I’m glad to see special education students be included in a classroom. I think that’s where they should be. Gone are the days, I hope, where we just exclude kids just because they are special needs,” Miles said.
Certain accommodations and modifications are outlined for each child in their IEP, which is a legal contract created by a team that includes school personnel and a parent. For example, students may require certain materials, breaks, oral testing, testing in small groups, or certain technology to be successful.
“We have some kids who need one-on-one or separate pull out. We have a range of abilities, so depending on their IEP, if they cannot be with other kids, they will have the support that is written into their IEP,” Miles said.
He added that not all special education students who attend NES and NES-aligned schools are included in regular classrooms, and for those who are, testing is being conducted to see how they are performing.
This school year, KPRC 2 is embedded at Fleming Middle School to document the impact of the NES model on the classroom. Click the links below to see some of our exclusive reporting.