GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County’s new superintendent is moving forward with a plan to support the most vulnerable students, special education students and multilingual learners.
Channel 2’s Gwinnett County bureau chief Matt Johnson reports a new position is being created.
It was concern about underperforming students that came up after the previous superintendent was fired, and now the new superintendent is making it a priority.
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Dr. Alexandra Estrella faced the school board Tuesday for her first work session this school year as the leader of Georgia’s largest district.
She says she has a plan for some of Gwinnett’s most vulnerable students.
“Our students receiving special education services and our multilingual learners are not faring well in the organization,” Estrella said.
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Gwinnett will hire an executive director to run multilingual education as its own department.
An outside audit recommended it before, and the district is acting on it now.
“If we could lift their performance, then we will lift the entire organization forward,” Estrella said.
The new hire gets a standalone department and staff trained specifically in language instruction.
The board’s vice chair, Dr. Adrienne Simmons, asked about special education and pointed to Forsyth County.
It serves about the same share of students with disabilities and still outscores Gwinnett.
Estrella says every fix she’s ever run started in the same place.
“I always started development with our leaders because they have to have the capacity, like you said, to assess, support and develop,” she said.
The special education community will get its own listening session with Estrella. Those sessions run at high schools in every board district.
“I keep reiterating that special education is a service, not a permanent placement,” Estrella said.
She says this is all part of a five-year action plan that involves surveys and community input.
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