By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT–District school officials want FourPoint Education Partners, based in Bethesda, Maryland, to conduct an independent review of the district’s special education programs.

FourPoint was one of 10 firms to express interest in the project and six to submit formal bids. It was one of two firms called in as finalists for the assignment, the other being the Capitol Region Education Council (or CREC), based in Wethersfield.

CREC scored higher on several measures used by two teams of district reviewers during the paper process, according to documents provided to the board by Assistant Superintendent Michael Rizzo.

FourPoint, however, did better when the finalists were interviewed by members of the superintendent’s cabinet, and others. In all, 35 staff members participated in the review.

Rizzo told the board that the interviews changed his thinking.

“It was really helpful … to see the vendors bring their proposals to life,” Rizzo said. “From that process we were able to come to an enthusiastic recommendation for FourPoint Education Partners,” Rizzo said.

“While FourPoints does not have the same level of Connecticut experience as some vendors, their responses and experience indicate a willingness and ability to understand the local content,” Rizzo said. The firm’s national perspective will be an asset, Rizzo added.

FourPoint rated higher in team experience, stakeholder engagement and their ability to address the continuum of services and experiences addressed in the scope of the planned review, according to the documents.

The board, which took the unusual step of putting itself in charge of the decision, was asked to authorize a contract not to exceed $81,700 with FourPoint, but not at Thursday’s meeting.

Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice asked that the board take the vote at a subsequent meeting.

Parents have been pushing for a thorough review of the district’s special education practices for a year. Many have made it clear they did not trust district administrators to select the firm and did not want a firm with ties to the district to do the review. CREC is one of six regional service centers in the state. Westport is in the region covered by Cooperative Education Services. CES conducted Westport’s last special education review.

Board questions

Did that play a role in not selecting CREC, asked Board Chair Lee Goldstein.

“We heard a lot from parents (to) not pick a group from Connecticut. Do not pick CES and do not pick CREC. Did that factor into it?” Goldstein asked.

FourPoint was the better option for us at this time, Rizzo said.

Board Member Andy Frankel said when he reviewed the six bids, CREC and FourPoint stood out to him too.

The senior leadership at FourPoint, however, seemed to be more of a general education consultant than special ed, Frankel observed.

“CREC on the other hand, every member of their team was involved in some way or another in special education,” Frankel said.

Rizzo said he left the interview with FourPoint’s very comfortable with their special education experience.

Frankel also questioned phrases in the proposal that referenced “inclusion.”

“It had a lot of (Diversity Equality and Inclusion)-sounding” verbiage,” Frankel said.

He asked for assurances that the review wouldn’t drift off into an equity study.

He was told inclusion is a special ed term used to mean when students receiving special education are included in classes with non-disabled peers.

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon said she wants information on how participants would be picked for the focus groups.

Board Member Jill Dillion said it’s important to know the number of families that have left because their needs were not met.

When Goldstein raised the idea of sending out a broad message to parents asking them if they are satisfied or not with the services they are getting, several parents in the audience clapped.

Board Member Stephen Shackelford called it important that people who have come to every single meeting the board has had for the past year get a chance to give their viewpoints to the consultants.

Parents

Michelle Vitulich, one of a group of parents who have pressed for a more thorough and independent review, said in an email before Thursday’s meeting that while Four Points was one of her top three consultant choices, she sees a far larger issue.

“The (Request For Proposal) is directing the consultants away from the issues that were the impetus for the review itself,” Vitulich wrote.

For more than a year, Vitulich said parents have been expressing concern to the BOE regarding safety, genuine collaboration with parents, delays and denials of evaluations, as well as issues related to meaningful academic progress, inclusion, retaliation and fiscal transparency.

“If the review does not look into the areas of concern, then the problems will remain,” Vitulich said.

“We know what the problems are,” she said at the microphone on Thursday. “What we need are solutions.”

She called the idea of talking to parents who have taken their children out of the district a great idea.

Rosa Balestrino, another parent, said the district needs to get to the root cause of why so many are upset with the district’s special education, forcing some, like her son, to turn to a private school education.

She said she also wants a review that looks at children over time, not one particular snapshot.

Real children are needlessly suffering, she said, referencing an online petition calling for changes to the district’s special education process that has received over 10,000 signatures.

A systematic approach

Even once the school board became involved last April, and community input was gathered at a forum in May, Rizzo said the essential questions to be addressed by the review remain the same: To what extent does the district special education services align with student needs, support placement in the least restrictive environment and result in positive student experiences and outcomes.

The independent review is to be conducted alongside a state Department of Education compliance review.

“This is about assessing the effectiveness of the program,” Scarice added.

A representative of FourPoint, was originally expected to appear virtually at Thursday’s meeting to answer board questions. Scarice said board members thought that would not be appropriate since they had not yet made a decision.

Paperwork provided by the firm shows 22 years of experience in conducting special education reviews for both large and small public-school districts across 34 states including Connecticut.

In a 31-page proposal, Scott Joftus, president of FourPoint said he would serve as the primary contact for the proposal, leading a six-member team without the use of subcontractors.

The four-to-six month review is to include surveys, onsite visits, interviews at all schools in the district, and at least 15 focus groups. There will be a random review of 75–90 Individualized Education Programs (or IEPs) that all students receiving special education services received.

Most of the on-site work will occur in January 2027, with the firm spending six days  in the district.

The final report should be complete by March 2027. It would include an executive summary, methodology, data limitations, a list of strengths and areas for improvement, and prioritized actionable recommendations.

“We clearly understand the district’s key priorities, which have been heavily informed by community feedback,” Joftus said in his proposal. That said, he promised to remain focused on the system and not individual disputes.

Linda Conner Lambeck

^{_{Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.}}