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POSITION: Director of Specialized Programs, Office of Special Education

REPORTS TO: Executive Director of Special Education

POSITION SUMMARY: The Director of Specialized Programs is a key leadership position within the Special Education Department responsible for overseeing specialized education programs, including Early Childhood, IGOAL, STEP, and RISE, as well as educational services for students placed at the Hartford Juvenile Detention Center and case management for Hartford Public Schools students with IEPs placed in Regional Detention Centers. This role requires exceptional leadership, sound judgment, and creative problem-solving to ensure continuity of educational services, appropriate programming, compliance with state and federal requirements, and high-quality supports for students with disabilities in traditional and non-traditional educational settings.

The Director serves as the district's programmatic leader for specialized and non-traditional educational settings, ensuring that each program has a clearly defined instructional and student-support model, appropriate staffing and service structures, effective transition practices, and continuous improvement systems responsive to the needs of students with disabilities.

RESPONSIBILITIES: This position requires extensive knowledge of special education law, strong leadership abilities, excellent communication skills, and a collaborative, solutions-oriented approach to supporting students with disabilities while maintaining compliance with all regulatory requirements. The Director must demonstrate the ability to think creatively and solve complex problems for students whose educational needs must be addressed across specialized, alternative, detention, and other non-traditional settings.

Leadership and Compliance

• Provide supervision and leadership for specialized education programs, including Early Childhood, IGOAL, STEP, RISE, and educational programming for students placed at the Hartford Juvenile Detention Center, ensuring effective program implementation, case management, continuity of services, and appropriate educational programming.
• Provide case management oversight for Hartford Public Schools students with IEPs placed in Regional Detention Centers, including coordination with detention education providers, families, school teams, related service providers, and other agencies to support IEP implementation, educational continuity, transitions, and re-entry planning.
• Establish clear program expectations, operating practices, and service-delivery standards across assigned specialized programs while monitoring implementation, student access, program quality, and alignment with district priorities.
• Develop creative, individualized solutions for students in non-traditional educational settings when conventional programming, scheduling, service delivery, or placement options do not adequately address a student's academic, behavioral, social-emotional, or disability-related needs.
• Provide leadership to program administrators and staff in addressing complex student cases, strengthening interdisciplinary problem-solving, and coordinating academic, behavioral, related-service, and transition supports.
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships with district departments, community agencies, detention education providers, and other stakeholders to expand supports and opportunities for students served in specialized and non-traditional settings.
• Partner with the Director of Accountability and Compliance to ensure accurate state and federal reporting, Child Count data, documentation, and audit readiness for assigned specialized programs and students.
• Resolve complex, sensitive inquiries and complaints related to assigned programs through effective stakeholder communication, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution strategies.
• Prepare program analyses, reports, presentations, recommendations, and communications for the Executive Director regarding program performance, student needs, resource requirements, emerging trends, and opportunities for improvement

Program Development and Improvement

• Lead the design, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of specialized programs, ensuring each program model is responsive to student needs and aligned with district standards, state requirements, evidence-based practices, and the department's improvement priorities.
• Monitor instructional programming, staffing models, schedules, related services, behavioral supports, and student-access structures across assigned programs and recommend adjustments that strengthen program quality and student outcomes.
• Coordinate transition, re-entry, and continuity-of-services planning for students moving between district schools, specialized programs, the Hartford Juvenile Detention Center, Regional Detention Centers, and other educational settings, with particular attention to students with IEPs.
• Use student, program, and implementation data to identify trends, evaluate effectiveness, address service gaps, and recommend program redesign, expansion, consolidation, or other improvements as appropriate.
• Collaborate with district Special Education staff to implement, monitor, and assess curriculum and instructional initiatives within specialized and non-traditional settings, ensuring appropriate differentiation and access for students with disabilities.
• Design and facilitate professional learning, coaching, and technical assistance that strengthen staff capacity to serve students with complex learning, behavioral, social-emotional, and transition needs.
• Identify and develop innovative approaches, partnerships, and program options that expand the district's capacity to meet student needs within specialized and non-traditional educational settings.
• Support the Executive Director in comprehensive specialized-program reviews that examine student outcomes, program fidelity, staffing and resource needs, compliance, and opportunities for continuous improvement.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

• Advanced degree in special education required
• Minimum of five (5) successful years of experience special education settings
• Experience implementing and monitoring compliance with federal and state special education requirements
• Experience with special education data management systems, particularly CT-SEDS or similar systems
• Experience leading professional development initiatives related to special education
• In-depth understanding of IEP development, implementation, and monitoring processes
• Thorough knowledge of FAPE and LRE principles and their practical application
• Experience with special education program development and evaluation, including data analysis to drive program improvement
• Experience with special education legal proceedings and due process
• Outstanding leadership and organizational skills
• Personnel supervision and evaluation expertise
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
• Strong orientation toward urban school systems preferred

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Connecticut Intermediate Administrative Certification (092) and Connecticut Certification in Special Education are required.

UNION AFFILIATION: Hartford Principals' Supervisors' Association (HPSA)

SALARY AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT: This is a twelve-month position and the salary is in accordance with the Hartford Principals' and Supervisors' Association 2026-2027 Schedule: Group 12: $149,609 - $162,873.

APPLICATION PROCESS:  To be considered, all internal and external applicants must fully complete a Hartford Public Schools’ online application. To apply, please visit https://app.hirenimble.com/jobs/hartford and follow the appropriate link. Internal candidates are advised to use their personal email when applying. Upon submission, candidates’ applications and supporting documents will be reviewed. Successful candidates will be invited to next steps in the selection process.