Parents demand special study session on discipline and nonpublic placements for students with disabilities; board agrees to meet

Parents and advocates urged the Windsor Unified School District Board of Trustees on Feb. 20 to schedule a special study session focused on discipline, suspensions and placement of students with disabilities.

Rebecca Rocha, who identified herself as a Windsor resident and parent, asked the board to “develop a special protocol to ensure that the civil rights of students with disabilities are not being violated.” Rocha highlighted lengthy out‑of‑district placements and asked the board to publish regular monitoring data on the district’s use of nonpublic schools and suspensions of students with moderate–severe disabilities. Rocha told the board: “WUSD is spending $140,000 per month to send students to non public schools,” and urged leaders to consider whether additional in‑district supports could keep students in Windsor.

Megan Knight, a parent and advocate who also spoke during public comment, described “systemic failures and profound trauma” experienced by families seeking special education services, and asked for a formal, public plan to address complaints about leadership and outside contracts for specialized services. Knight said parents had previously requested a special study session in November and December and asked the board to follow through with a meeting focused on these issues.

Board response and next steps Board members acknowledged the concerns and said they had heard parents’ earlier requests. A member of the board told commenters the district would schedule a special session focused on students with disabilities and related placement and discipline issues; speakers on the dais described the process as necessarily deliberative and noted constraints imposed by privacy protections and existing law. District staff and trustees said they will work to design a session that balances parents’ requests for transparency with student privacy and the individualized nature of special‑education decisions.

What parents requested - A special study session on suspensions and placements of students with disabilities, with the opportunity for parents and advocates to describe patterns and propose policy changes. - A dashboard or regular reporting item tracking suspensions and nonpublic placements for students with moderate–severe disabilities, so the board can monitor frequency and cost. - A pledge to “exhaust all options of support before sending our children to a non public school,” and to examine the district’s use of outside placements and related costs.

District context and constraints District officials and trustees said the issues parents raised are complex and often individualized. Board members said some concerns require private review because they involve individual special‑education records and legally protected information; at the same time trustees signaled willingness to hold a broader public study session to cover policy review and system‑level ideas.

Ending Trustees agreed to schedule and develop the scope for a special study session in the coming weeks; staff and board members said the session will attempt to balance confidentiality rules with parents’ requests for transparency and monitoring data.