The topic of special education students and their programs headlined the meeting, with community members and staff filling the seats. Teachers and staff were wearing shirts showing support for the SPED programs around the district, many of those who work for the program itself.
Before the presentation, multiple members of the public spoke to the board in regard to the special education program. Some came to thank the board as well as the teachers present for the work that they have done, and others came to talk about their concerns with the program.
Recently, a TEA investigation report came out about the special education program and was reported by newspapers such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the CBS Texas affiliate. Courtney Morey, a parent mentioned in the CBS story, was there at the meeting and spoke to the board.
Morey, who has been regularly speaking at board meetings about her concerns, has a 3-year-old daughter named Annie who she has spoken of multiple times. Her main concerns lie in how she said she was told her child required an IQ test and when she refused, Annie was excluded from the program.
She spoke to the board about how she was frustrated with the communications she had with previous staff members and is looking into transfer options for her daughter.
“You want to do the least and make it appear like you’re doing the most,” Morey said. “I’m so tired of all the appearances. You want the general community to think things at Aledo are perfect and shiny. It’s okay for things to be wrong. We need to work together and make them better.”
John Turnage, an Aledo resident with a son in the SPED program, spoke at the meeting, thanking the board and the program staff for working with parents and staff to make a focus group about the concerns that parents have. He got emotional when saying how, because of the teachers and staff who have worked with his son, his son now not only knows how to read but enjoys to, and the district has enhanced his son’s sense of ownership and pride.
“He has made strides in other academic areas, and he has embraced the love of serving others,” he said. “The way you continue to show up every day with smiles on your faces and serve our children and handle the unique challenges that come from time to time with special needs in the midst of an undeserved degree of public criticism is a testament to your heart for our kids and your professionalism.”
John Roach, another parent with a child in the SPED program, said he came forward in April with concerns about the program and said that, after meeting with board members, 90% of his concerns were addressed and said that the work done has caused dramatic improvements for his son Ben.
“We have considered moving,” Roach said. “We have considered changing schools, and this is the place for us in part because [the staff] care and y’all listen, and that’s what I can ask. Nothing more for y’all to do. There’s always room for improvement, and I hope that we look for the next big thing that can be worked out.”
Interim Executive Director of Special Programs Lynn McKinney gave a presentation about the changes that have been made to the program since she came out of retirement for this position.
McKinney began the presentation by thanking the new team of program coordinators and the teachers and staff who make the program possible, then gave a brief overview of each SPED program offered around the district.
She also touched on how this year they have added increased staff support through specialized professional learning for the teachers, as well as a full day sub every nine weeks, and two additional flex days. McKinney said these measures are mainly in place for the staff member to work on the heavy paperwork load that comes with the job. She said in the past year the program has added 53 staff members.
McKinney also addressed two TEA complaints. First speaking of a TEA investigation of a complaint on May 9 about a parent asserting their child is not eligible for the alternative STAAR test that has closed after the district submitted information for the case.
The second complaint from June 4 had eight allegations in it relating to Child Find and implementation of IEPs. According to McKinney three of the eight allegations were unsubstantiated, but the for the remaining five the district must take corrective action.
In her presentation she showed the allegations and the steps that have been put in place now to prevent such cases in the future as follows:
Issue: Implementation of feeding and instructional services AHS FA classroom
Solution: establishing a district-wide feeding log, training AHS FA staff and administration, as well as institute a system for double checking.
Issue: Co-teach services were not provided when a teacher was absent at MMS.
Solution: Established a new system of checks for documentation of co-teach services.
Issue: Compensatory services to 13 students who were due services due to absence of a teacher
Solution: Established new system for ensuring the services are delivered, currently providing services to all students after parents were contacted
Issue: Review of district’s determination not to evaluate three students in a 2-year period (2023-24, 2024-25)
Solution: Contacted parent and offered full evaluation to one student
Issue: Extent of evaluation of nine students who were evaluated in same 2-year period
Solution: Contacted parent and are providing OT evaluation to one student, also establishing new procedure for evaluation review
After going through the items McKinney said the new procedures in place will continue to stay in place pending future updates.
“We have provided information to TEA regarding all of the corrective actions that have been taken, and we’ll continue to do so based on those TEA deadlines,” she said. “All district action other than the completion of compensatory services will be done by Oct. 31.”
She also gave a brief overview of the program itself and said in June 2025 there were 1,465 special education students. Some of the upcoming events for the SPED program include the first 18+ Transition Alumni Tailgate on Sept. 24 and the upcoming SPED cheerleaders Jumpin Jamboree event.
She also said they are working on consistent parent communication across all the classrooms and how there is still work to be done.
“We continue to strengthen our partnerships with general education teachers for inclusive learning,” she said. “Our teachers, paraprofessionals, and therapists are working together, and it is amazing to watch these groups of folks come up with solutions.”
She ended her presentation by thanking the board for their continued support and by speaking to the teachers and staff of the SPED program for Aledo, encouraging them to keep doing the work that they’re doing.
“Continue to focus on kids each and every day,” she said. “I know that’s why you come to school. Continue to build those strong relationships with students and their families and grow those partnerships because the thing that we have in common is we all care about that kid that we’re serving. Be proud. When you say you work for Aledo ISD special programs, be proud because the work that you do is astonishing. And it’s important for us to tell our story.”
With this month’s meeting, the Bearcats of Character commendations made their return. This month’s highlighted quality was “curiosity.”
The students who received this commendation were:
Luke Franklin, Aledo High School/Daniel Ninth Grade Campus; Talan Griswold, Aledo Learning Center; Grady Moore, Aledo High School/Daniel Ninth Grade Campus; Reagan Welsh, Aledo Middle School; Xavier Jules-Guerrero, McAnally Middle School; Maren Manthei, Annetta Elementary School; Samuel (Sammy) De Leon, Coder Elementary School; Shepherd Coleman, McCall Elementary School; Ellie Sebastian, McKinney Elementary School; Levi Dobbs, Stuard Elementary School; Maverick Wright, Vandagriff Elementary School; Eleanor Hanover, Walsh Elementary School; Hamilton Ferriss, Early Childhood Academy
Also commended was the featured collaborative team for the month, Annetta Elementary School’s Kindergarten team: Kaley Baum, Madelyn Lucas, Kelly Price, Kimberly Riser, and Shelbie Hebert.
Annetta Elementary gave a presentation on the LEAD program inviting students up to talk about the acronym and its expectations: Learning, Empathy, Accountability, and Dedication. They also showed a video of teachers leading by example of how the children should behave in certain areas of the school.
During board member, superintendent and subcommittee reports, Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn brought out the Lone Star Cup won by the Aledo High School. The cup is won when a school wins multiple awards across various academic, athletic, and music competitions throughout the school year, accumulating points based on district and state-level placements. Aledo won the 5A district trophy.
The last time the school had the trophy was when it was co-won by the school in 1997. Bohn said it was good to have it back home.
There was also a brief update on the legislative subcommittee from board member David Lear about the bill that was passed doing away with the STAAR test for students, and instead there will be three smaller tests throughout the year and grades must be posted within 48 hours after the tests are done.
“I think there’s a lot of questions to work out around how this implements into the schools,” he said.
Board member Zach Tarrant gave an update about the Aledo Growth Committee and how they have a meeting open to the public on Oct. 27 to get more public opinion about the future high school facilities that they are working to design.
After coming out of executive session the board voted to approve the superintendent’s contract.
“Dr. Bohn, we’re fortunate to have you and we’re going to keep you around for more than a little while,” Board President Forrest Collins said closing out the meeting.
The board approved the action item of the meeting for a form of agreement with Huckabee Architects for the conceptual design of additional high school facilities for the future.
Caleb Bell, chief facilities and construction officer, came to the board to ask for approval so that Huckabee can work with the Aledo Growth Committee and the AISD community to determine what the potential new facilities, a college and career ready academy or a second high school, would need to best serve the community.
“We’re going to get to take an entire semester to ensure that we’re getting feedback from the community, making sure we know exactly where our stakeholders are, what they want to see, what kind of spaces we want to design,” Bell said.
The board also voted to approve the consent agenda in full.
Another program highlighted during the meeting was AISD’s gifted & talented program with a presentation by the program’s coordinator Shelly Morrill.
Chief of Police for Aledo ISD David Stevens came to talk about an interlocal agreement in the works between Town of Annetta and the district to put in license plate reading Flock security cameras in the districts in the city, Annetta Elementary School, and Stuard Elementary School.
The cameras will be placed near the entrances of the schools so that when a vehicle comes onto the campuses the license plate will be recorded. Stevens said this 24/7 service will be both a proactive and reactive measure to keep the campuses safer.
The funding for this project will be provided by the Town of Annetta. When asked by board member Hoyt Harris if these cameras could be used on all campuses, Stevens said that through the implementation of these cameras he can see if more are a good option for the district in the future.
“I’m looking at this as our test bed to see how productive and beneficial it is,” he said. “I have not personally overseen such a project yet.”
Chief Technology Officer Brooks Moore talked to the board about an item for the next board meeting regarding fiberoptic cabling upgrades for the Aledo High School and ninth grade building.
He said that the current cables are too shallow and an upgrade is due since the cables were placed around 2008. He estimated the project would take $65,000.
Also, Deputy Superintendent Kim Raymond talked about two items that are set to be on next month’s action items with a list of local policy changes called update 125, as well as the Campus Improvement Plans and the District Improvement Plans.
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