Can Wake schools reduce suspensions, special-ed identification of Black students?
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- Wake County implements mitigation plan to cut Black special-ed suspensions.
- District will use 15% of IDEA funds for behavior analysts and tracking.
- Reorganization to regional teams aims to proactively identify students needing services.
Wake County is under a federal mandate to reduce the number of Black special-education students who are receiving long-term suspensions and who are being identified as emotionally disabled.
The U.S. Department of Education identified the Wake County school system as over identifying Black students as emotionally disabled and for suspending Black special education students more than 10 days at a disproportionate rate. Wake says it wants to address the issues to make sure that the right students are getting the help they need.
“It’s not just for disproportionality’s sake,” said Lisa Allred, Wake’s assistant superintendent for special education services. “We don’t want to label a child that doesn’t need a label. But if we need that label in order to get into services through special ed, we want to do that.”
Allred updated the school board’s student achievement committee on the plan on Tuesday. The mitigation plan comes at the same time Wake is in the midst of reorganizing its special education services.
Why is disproportionality a concern?
The Trump administration has said it wants to eliminate the use of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) practices in education. But Allred said Wake was notified that it was disproportionate in May.
It’s a nationwide issue how minority students, particularly Black students, are suspended and identified for special education services at a higher rate than their peers
School board member Cheryl Caulfield said she’s concerned the focus on reducing over-representation could result in some students falling through the cracks and not getting the help they need.
“I worry about our goal being disproportionality or to reduce that in lieu of having the tools to help the children that are there,” Caulfield said. “So my concern is that we’re focusing on lowering the numbers for the reports versus increasing the tools to help the variety of needs that we have.”
But Allred said it’s about making sure they’re “catching the right students” who actually need special-education services.
Allred cited examples of elementary school students who were identified as having an emotional disability only to discover later that the root cause of their problems was a reading disability that wasn’t addressed. Labelling children as having an emotional disability can leave them with a stigma for a long time, according to Allred.
“So to me, it’s not about the disproportionate thing as it is as much as it about catching the right kids in special education,” Allred said.
Wake’s plan to reduce over-representation
Allred said the state has preliminarily approved Wake’s plan to address the over-representation concerns. Wake is required to use 15% of its federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant to work on the plan.
The grant money will be used for services such as:
- Contract with behavior analysts and behavior technicians to review the data to help develop intervention plans.
- Track the students who are suspended a lot to develop better plans for them.
“Our hope is that we can intervene ahead of time, make sure we have those really good interventions in place so that we catch the right kids in emotional disabilities and not over represent any one ethnicity,” Allred said.
The data used to determine disproportionality dates back to the 2023-24 school year. Allred said it will take time to bring about the desired changes.
“Now it’s going to be a miracle if we’re not disproportionate again next year,” Allred said. “I just want to make sure you all understand that. We’re looking at a minimum of two years to start moving in a different direction.”
Reorganizing special-education services
Wake’s action plan is supposed to work hand-in-hand with the ongoing reorganization of the district’s special education department.
Wake is moving toward a regional team model for special education. Schools will be divided into two regions with their own administrators and coordinating teachers helping to oversee special education services.
“When I first sat in the seat, what I realized is, all we were doing was putting out fires and reacting,” Allred said. “Our intent is to become much more proactive. Those coordinating teachers are going to be our proactive wing in those buildings.”
Superintendent Robert Taylor said they’ve been spreading the message that special education is something the whole school is involved with, not just the special-education teachers.
Dealing with federal special-ed layoffs
The changes are also occurring at the same time the Trump administration has laid off most of the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs during the federal government shutdown.
The special education office has been the principal government arm overseeing billions of dollars that support about 10% of the nation’s school-aged children, but it will have fewer than a half-dozen employees, a reduction of about 95% since the start of the year, The New York Times reported.
“There’s going to be less support for districts,” Taylor said. “There’s going to be less oversight if a parent has a complaint that may get pushed up to the Department of Ed.”
The gutting of the federal special education staff will leave parents with fewer guardrails and checks and balances if they think their child’s district isn’t providing enough support, according to school board vice chair Tyler Swanson
“Although we’re seeing that department (of Education) shrinking, that does not mean as a district we’re not going to support special education and their families,” said Swanson, a former special-education teacher. “So, I think it’s important that we say that so those families understand that despite the changes that are happening, we’re still going to follow suit with what is in that IEP (Individualized Education Program) and support all students.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Can Wake schools reduce suspensions, special-ed identification of Black students?."
