Decatur County Schools Hosts Fall Resource Fair for Special Education Families
Decatur County Schools held a Fall Resource Fair on Saturday November 8 2025 to connect families with special education supports and community services. The event aimed to help parents navigate Individualized Education Programs and benefit programs while spotlighting local resource coordination that affects access to care across the county.
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Decatur County Middle School hosted a Fall Resource Fair on Saturday November 8 2025, an event organized by the district Special Education Department in collaboration with the Tennessee Technical Assistance Network. The district announced the fair on its live feed on November 2 2025 and ran the event from 10 00 AM to 2 00 PM, offering a mix of informational programming and time for families to visit vendor tables.
Planned features at the fair included an IEP overview for parents, vendor tables staffed by organizations that support individuals with disabilities, information on Supplemental Security Income, Employment and Community First Choices, caregiver programs and other local and regional resources. The district posted a short timetable for the day with a welcome from 10 00 AM to 10 30 AM, an IEP overview session from 10 30 AM to 11 00 AM, door prize drawings from 11 30 AM to 12 00 PM, and vendor visits scheduled from 12 00 PM to 2 00 PM. Contact information listed for follow up was Michelle McElrath Special Education Director at michelle.mcelrath@decaturschools.org and phone number 731 852 2391. The announcement was published on the district site November 2 2025.
The event’s immediate impact is practical and local. For families navigating special education services and state benefit programs, the fair offered consolidated access to information and to representatives from programs often administered across multiple agencies. For parents of students with complex needs understanding the IEP process can be decisive for educational outcomes. By providing a dedicated overview session and in person access to resource tables the district sought to reduce barriers that can hinder timely enrollment in services or delay supports.
At an institutional level the fair illustrates the school district’s role as an access point for social services in a rural county. Collaboration with the Tennessee Technical Assistance Network signals an effort to tie local schools into statewide technical support structures. That linkage carries policy implications for how the district prioritizes staff time and budget resources for family outreach and for the training of educators and administrators on procedural and legal aspects of IEPs.
There are also broader implications for civic engagement and local governance. Events that boost parental knowledge about special education can shape public expectations of school board priorities and inform voter decisions on school funding and county services. The concentration of informational resources in a single event can improve transparency and accountability by making it easier for families to identify gaps in service and bring those concerns to school and county officials.
Decatur County Schools’ announcement and the fair itself represent a concrete step toward connecting families to supports. Officials encouraged further inquiries to the Special Education office using the contact information provided on the district site.
