LEESVILLE — The Vernon Parish school system’s special-education department has scored above the state target for the second year in a row, according to a performance update delivered Tuesday the School Board meeting.

Charlotte Cooper, director of special education, said the department received a performance score of 37 for the 2015-2016 school year — just shy of the maximum score of 39.

Cooper said special education students are now graduating with diplomas at a higher rate than in previous years, and she attributed that to the move to include the students in standard classroom settings among their peer groups. 

Through the passage of Act 833 in 2014, which allows students with disabilities a path to graduation without passing standardized tests, the department has seen incredible growth, she said.

“Through this inclusivity, being able to keep them in a peer-to-peer classroom setting, we are seeing great success for these students,” Cooper said. “And I’m very excited to see how much further we can go.”