Robla reports rise in special-education identification, expands inclusion supports

Janet Horowitz, the district’s director of special services, told the Robla School District Board of Trustees that 331 students — 16.4% of the district’s preschool-through-sixth-grade enrollment of 2,018 — were eligible for special-education services in 2024–25, up from 12.6% the prior year.

The increase, Horowitz said, follows statewide trends and may reflect pandemic-related learning and socialization impacts: “A lot of that, in my personal opinion has to do with COVID,” she said. Horowitz also flagged a particularly large rise in students identified with autism, especially at the preschool level, and added that some preschool students later no longer meet the eligibility criteria after additional early intervention.

The update is significant because the district is shifting from a model that relied more on pull-out special-education placements to one that emphasizes inclusion and push-in supports in general-education classrooms. Horowitz said Robla has moved to hire inclusion staff and coaches, contracted for districtwide professional development in Universal…