Special Education Coordinator

Great Hearts Academies • Live Oak, TX

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Special Education Coordinator is a campus leadership role and team lead for the Special Education Department. The coordinator provides leadership in supporting special education teachers with IEP preparation and meetings, developing teachers and special education teaching assistants, ensuring IEP paperwork compliance, and advising on challenging student or parent situations. The coordinator makes final departmental decisions regarding organizational logistics and strategy, while the headmaster retains supervisory authority.

The role models the academy’s core virtues and supports its classical liberal arts educational mission. The coordinator leads the Special Student Services team in building and maintaining trust in the team’s goodwill, judgment, knowledge, and skill. The position also oversees student caseload assignment, evaluation and IEP processes, relationships with related service providers, staff coaching and evaluation, student information updates, and end-of-year transition responsibilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• At least 3 years of experience as a special education coordinator.
• Valid Texas Special Education Certification and Generalist or Core Academic Subject Area certification relevant to the grades served.
• Extensive knowledge of the special education process, including state and federal timelines and compliance requirements.
• Leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills or experience.
• High emotional intelligence.
• Humility and skill collaborating across multiple teams.
• Conflict-resolution and mediation skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience and speed using multiple platforms and computer programs, including student information systems, IEP-writing programs, Microsoft Office Suite, and Google tools.
• U.S. work authorization.
• Successful completion of a criminal history background check and fingerprint clearance in accordance with state requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree.
• Experience as a special education coordinator at a Great Hearts school.
• Experience with the special education evaluation process.

Responsibilities

• Lead caseload distribution discussions and make final decisions about assigning students to special education teachers’ caseloads.
• Ensure transfer procedures are completed for incoming students.
• Coordinate, facilitate, and conduct initial and triennial Review of Existing Data and Review of Additional Data meetings.
• Conduct classroom observations and gather data for students referred by the student study team.
• Facilitate the transition of parent relationships to assigned ESSCs from initial evaluation to IEP development when a student qualifies for special education services.
• Coordinate, facilitate, and conduct annual IEP meetings for students on the coordinator’s caseload.
• Observe general education teachers’ consistent implementation of student IEPs on the coordinator’s caseload.
• Manage relationships with related service providers for students on the coordinator’s caseload, including orienting providers to the educational philosophy, school model, and campus layout.
• Coordinate with related service providers and the school psychologist on evaluations, meetings, and services.
• Review, code, and sign invoices and submit them for headmaster approval.
• Follow up with service providers to obtain IEP progress reports.
• Lead the ESS team and support team members in completing individual and shared responsibilities.
• Assist the Phoenix Home Office in training ESSCs on the pedagogy of special education work at Great Hearts.
• Partner with the headmaster to communicate SPED Coordinator and SPED Teacher roles to the community before the school year and revisit that communication as needed.
• Attend initial IEP meetings led by SPED Teachers to guide the relational handoff from coordinator to teacher and provide feedback on teachers’ execution.
• Review IEPs and evaluation reports written by SPED Teachers for accuracy, at a rate of one file per semester.
• Model and guide SPED Teachers in partnering with general education teachers.
• Partner with the headmaster to provide written and oral evaluations to SPED Teachers.
• Update special education program information in the student information system as students enter, change eligibility categories, or exit.
• Lead the Special Student Services team in completing end-of-year responsibilities and preparing for the next-year rollover.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior