Finance committee refers IDEA-funded specialist position to full board to address chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities

The finance committee on Monday voted to refer to the full board a proposal to create a ‘‘community specialist for learner engagement and attendance’’ paid from Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds to address chronic absenteeism among students with individualized education programs (IEPs). Ms. McKinley, a district staff member who presented the proposal, told the committee: "As we all know, chronic absenteeism among students with disabilities is disproportionately high and directly impacts academic progress, IEP goal attainment, and long term outcomes." The committee referred the item by a 2-1 vote, with Jennifer Perez, finance committee chair, and Maritza Estermeier Jimenez voting in favor and Willie Medina voting no. The position would be funded by IDEA and is intended to support implementation of the district's corrective action plan, which the presenter said includes longstanding items such as timely correction of noncompliance, suspension and expulsion rates for students with disabilities, and chronic absenteeism. The presenter said the role is modeled in part on existing LEAP positions but would focus exclusively on students with IEPs and would initially concentrate on BLC and the Transition Academy, programs the presenter described as having high absenteeism. Committee members asked for details on duties, compensation, and program scope. The presenter said a job description exists and that the salary range under consideration is "between 62 to 70,000," to be paid from IDEA funds. The job was described in the packet as a 10-month position; the presenter said that a 10-month appointment means the person would not necessarily work the summer months but could develop plans to keep students engaged year-round. Questions from committee members covered minimum qualifications (the job description lists a high school diploma as minimum with associate or bachelor degrees preferred), whether the role would be a union position (the presenter said it is "a nonunion affiliated position" at present but could be added to a bargaining unit later), and how many students the position would serve. The presenter said the Transition Academy roster was last counted at about 40 students with roughly 20 attending and that the BLC roster was "50 to 60" students, with a cited chronic-absence rate of about 60 percent at BLC. One committee member expressed concern about moving forward without more data and said the salary range seemed high relative to minimum qualifications. Willie Medina said he would vote no: "I will be voting no to to move it forward because I think we need more information and more data on what we're doing and why we need this position in our district." The presenter said she would revisit the proposed salary range with human resources. Because the corrective action plan must be reported to the state, the presenter said any full-board approval would need to be completed before the district's report is due on Sept. 17; if referred, the item would return to the full board for consideration and may require a special meeting before that date. The referral does not itself create the position or change the budget; it sends the proposal for consideration by the full board. If the full board approves the reallocation, the district said it would amend its budget to reflect IDEA funds used for the position and would follow any applicable union procedures if the role later becomes a bargaining-unit position.