At the April 14 board meeting, special education officials highlighted this milestone and what technology they will implement to continue addressing FBISD’s growing special education needs after receiving feedback from a districtwide survey.
In a nutshell
While the use of iPads “dramatically” reduced the amount of time spent on evaluations during the 2024-25 school year, new software implemented in August fails to populate case information, which then has to be done manually by the evaluator, Chief Academic Officer Adam Stephens said.
Trustee Sonya Jones echoed staff concerns during the board meeting, emphasizing the toll the system, called Empower, is taking on instructional time.
“Time is of the essence, and the more time that teachers are taking to do paperwork and redundancy, the less time they have for kids,” Jones said.
What staff is saying
District staff administered a survey to receive feedback regarding student and staff needs, receiving 1,093 responses from special education staff between March 24 and April 9, Stephens said.
He said 81% of respondents agreed individualized education program goals align effectively with district curriculum, and 84% said the accommodations and modifications are appropriate and support student success. IEPs are personalized learning plans for students developed by special education district staff, according to Texas Education Agency documents.
However, over 60% of survey respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the Empower software, citing usability issues like repetitive data entry and excessive clicking when evaluating students, Stephens said.
Evaluators began using iPads for assessments this school year to reduce the paperwork burden and transcription time, Stephens said, calling it a “game-changer” as many paper-based evaluations are being phased out nationally.
However, Stephens said technology is a key component in completing overdue evaluations from the 2024-25 school year, a problem the district has since resolved through focused staffing and after-hours work.
“It's less of a training issue and more of a software issue,” Stephens said.
On the other hand
Despite software issues, Stephens also highlighted strides in other areas of special education:
- Staff cleared a backlog of 2,000 overdue evaluations.
- Secondary campuses will now host casual meet-and-greets for parents of incoming sixth and ninth graders, and the Special Education Parent Advisory Council plans to recruit volunteers via the district's application platform.
- All teachers will receive 3.5 hours of training this summer focused on supporting special education students.
- The special education and transportation departments are coordinating ahead of summer school to ensure students receive services closer to home to reduce bus time.
District staff will continue evaluating Empower’s effectiveness and usability, and may pursue alternative options if improvements are not achieved, Stephens said.
While the current three-year contract ending in August 2027 allows for termination based on performance, Stephens said any replacement would require new training and a phased rollout.
“We've still only been with this solution for six months," Stephens said. “We really want to make sure we've done our due diligence.”
