Worcester Public Schools IEP enrollment data

Mary Connaughton Pioneer Institute filed this request with the Worcester Public Schools of Worcester, MA.
Submitted Dec. 19, 2012
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Tom Nash

Subject: None

None

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, ยง10, I hereby request the following records:

For each school in the district, for the years 2009-2012:

- The number of students evaluated by the district to determine if they qualified for an IEP
- The number of students who qualified for an IEP based on that evaluation
- The number of students initially rejected who received independent assessments and were subsequently placed on an IEP.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Tom Nash

From: Perda, David

Subject: None

None

Dear Mr. Nash:

Per your e-mail from December 19, attached please find a PDF file that responds to your request for information.

For each school year, the following information is provided:

1) the number of students by school evaluated by the district to determine if they qualified for special education services
2) the number of students by school who qualified for special education services based on that evaluation
3) the number of students by school found ineligible for special education services but later were later classified as special education students

You will find that the district was required to redact some information in order to protect the confidentiality of student records. Student aggregations were redacted if the number of students in a group was 5 or less.

Also, for item 3, note that this information differs slightly from your request. The students did not necessarily receive independent assessments. The district does not maintain independent assessment information in electronic files and the student records would need to be hand-searched. Hand-searching would take some additional time and labor costs may apply. However, this is likely irrelevant as the independent assessment information is a subset of what was provided for item 3 and all information except for district totals required redaction.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if we can further assist you.

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