Teachers warn learning-center cuts at Central could remove on-campus calm space; union asks for recurring agenda time

Molly Johnson, a 25-year classroom teacher in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, told the Board of Trustees that she and colleagues are worried about the district’s temporary practice of having one learning-center teacher cover two sites.

"It seems to me the district is counting on that temporary fix again at the cost of the students and at the cost of the teachers," Johnson said, describing last year’s temporary reassignment of Central’s learning center teacher to Cipriani as now becoming recurring. "Learning center teachers is not just about the numbers on a piece of paper. ... These kids will have no place to go."

The concern focused on access to a calm, supervised space where students with 504 plans or regulation needs go to deescalate. Janet Mascollier, a teacher who said she has worked in the district 16 years, told trustees Central has had six different learning-center teachers in seven years and that Central’s learning-center space can serve students who are not on a formal special-education caseload but still rely on that space for regulation.

Barbara (identified as representing BRSSFA) and Lisa Fahey spoke on behalf of the teachers’ association and asked the board to create a recurring agenda slot for the union to share "glows and grows" and to improve collaboration between union leadership and the district. "When teachers wear our union shirts to board meetings ... it's not about an us versus you mentality," Fahey said, asking that BRSFA be given an opportunity to speak as an agenda item so the board can comment and ask questions.

Trustees asked district staff to clarify how services written into IEPs and 504 plans would be maintained if a learning-center teacher is reassigned. In response to board questions later in the meeting, Director of Special Programs Jennifer Jimenez Payne said district schedules and IEP minutes were reviewed to identify solutions and that paraeducators remain on campus during the afternoons in question, but that specialized academic instruction (SAI) must be provided by credentialed teachers per students’ IEPs.

The public commenters sought a more stable staffing model. "Last year the Cipriani learning center teacher had too many students on her caseload ... Central's learning center teacher helped as part of her job. But it was our understanding that it was a temporary fix," Johnson said. Mascollier said the arrangement has repeated in the second trimester for the last two years.

The board did not take action on staffing during the meeting. Trustees and staff said they would continue to review schedules, caseloads and IEP requirements and report back. The district’s special-education director was scheduled to present a separate update later in the meeting.

Ending: Trustees asked staff to return with clarifying details; no policy or personnel action was adopted at this meeting.