Kansas City Schools Drops Top Special Ed Leader

0:00It's April 17th, I'm Cory with the story. This is Kansas News today, driven by AI. Kansas City Kansas Public Schools just made a big move by voting not to renew the contract of their top special education leader, J. Keeta-Lori. She's been running the Y&DOT comprehensive special education cooperative for years, serving the district and other local schools. The board approved it Tuesday night on the consent agenda following human resources advice and she's out effective June 30th. This comes after longstanding gripes from families and staff about how special ed has been handled. No official reason yet from the district as of Wednesday evening and they're keeping quiet on next steps for the role. Staff, both current and former, raised alarms that adamant directives, including from Lori, could push them out of federal compliance and heard student services. They also feared payback if they push back. A former principal, Tyler Myers, urged the board to probe leadership. Like why they've dumped millions into virtual

1:01special ed contracts to fill, staffing gaps. Myers questioned rising student to teacher ratios and said shortages go beyond the national teacher crunch. He wanted clear metrics on whether the department's got the right bosses in place. District reps called it a personnel issue with no further comment, but stressed their focus on steady support for students, staff and families moving forward.