WUNC News

For families whose kids need special education services, the system they have to pass through can sometimes be an obstacle instead of a help. Starting in 2020, all North Carolina schools were required to use a framework called Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, or MTSS, to help identify struggling students. But some families and advocates say the system is creating delays for children who need special education services. In 2015, teachers in Greene County Schools told Antonio and Lynne Blow that their son, Walker, was struggling with reading comprehension. The Blows thought Walker would receive the academic interventions he needed to get back on track. “We were hearing from the schools that there were some concerns,” Antonio Blow said. “So we were hoping that they would have the answers to how to move him forward.” Walker was in first grade then. In second grade, his parents sought special education services but were denied. Instead, they say the school spent years providing interventions that fell just short of special education through a tiered system that eventually became known as MTSS, with little improvement.