Denton ISD now serves 6,288 students in special education, 40% more than four school years ago, and the district is under corrective action from the Texas Education Agency for missing state deadlines to evaluate children and move toddlers into school services, according to reports going to the school board Tuesday.
The figures come from the special education department's annual report, which state law requires trustees to discuss in a public meeting at least once a year. Executive Director Stacie Bonner and Director Pam Trocki-Ables are listed as presenters for the workshop item at the board's 6 p.m. meeting on Oct. 27.
Enrollment keeps climbing
The district counts 6,288 special education students this school year, or 19.3% of enrollment, up from 4,488 in 2022-23. The handout says the number has risen every year and that the growth calls for "scalable systems" and strategic staffing.
Another 2,768 students, about 8.5%, have Section 504 plans, which provide accommodations without specially designed instruction. That group has shrunk from 3,362 four years ago.
Learning disabilities account for 39.4% of special education students and autism for 18%. Nearly half are served at least part of the day in a resource room.
Missed deadlines
The department's improvement plan for 2026-27 says the district did not meet two State Performance Plan indicators last school year: 66 evaluations under the Child Find process missed their timelines, and eight children moving from early-childhood intervention into school services missed their transition deadline.
The plan says Denton ISD is in corrective action with TEA on both and sets a goal of at least 99% compliance by May 2027.
Planned fixes include weekly and monthly deadline tracking, a review of each missed case, standard evaluation procedures, closer monitoring of contracted evaluators and redistributing work when caseloads run high.
The handout lists current compliance rates of 97.7% and 98.45% on the two parts of the evaluation indicator and 87.67% on the transition indicator.
