Hermosa Beach City School District outlines special-education expansion, proposes coordinator role

Hermosa Beach City School District officials gave a detailed update on special-education programming and asked the board to approve a new special-education coordinator position to oversee compliance, inclusion and districtwide interventions.

District leaders said the proportion of students receiving special-education services is just under 11 percent of enrollment, lower than neighboring districts that range roughly 12–18 percent. The district reported its largest special-education categories are "other health impaired" and speech and language delays, followed by specific learning disabilities and autism. Staff said a student can be eligible under more than one category.

The presentation emphasized efforts to move the district from targeted state oversight to a "compliance only" status in the California Department of Education's annual determination. "We are on compliance only," a district staff member said, adding that the district is the only one in the Southwest SELPA at that level and that the change means the district currently does not have to submit a corrective plan to the SELPA though it will continue monitoring and improvement efforts.

Staff described local professional development this year that they called a "special ed boot camp," regular collaboration with the SELPA and an inclusion advisory committee that includes paraeducators, general-education teachers and administrators. The committee has been examining service delivery models, pushing for more "push-in" supports in general-education classrooms and promoting universal design for learning strategies (for example, posting daily agendas, using visual representations of learning goals, allocating brief executive-functioning time and predictable classroom systems).

District presenters tied the work to the recently adopted ELA curriculum, saying they selected materials designed with universal-design principles: engagement through open-ended essential questions, multiple representations of content (art, music, realistic texts) and alternative ways for students to demonstrate learning before pen-and-paper assessments.

Staff also described current staffing and identified gaps. The district currently employs school psychologists, RSP teachers, BCBAs, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, adaptive PE teachers and paraprofessionals. District staff said one clear need is a certificated special-education program coordinator who also holds an administrative credential and a special-education credential; the coordinator would lead behavioral intervention training districtwide, support Tier 1 implementation of the new ELA curriculum for diverse learners, oversee early-intervention screening (including implementation needs tied to the dyslexia screening law, Senate Bill 114), and help improve legal defensibility of IEP documents.

Superintendent Susan Wilds told the board the position's funding was aligned through regional SELPA work and local budgeting; she noted corrections to the salary-step numbering that were included in the revised job description on the board agenda.

Board members thanked staff for the presentation and asked clarifying questions about caseloads and implementation. After the discussion, the board approved the administrative employment transaction and the revised certificated administrative salary schedule for the special-education coordinator position.

The presentation included performance measures the district will continue to monitor, including CAST and i-Ready data and suspension/compliance indicators collected by the California Department of Education. District staff said they will continue monthly SELPA coordination and on-site coaching to support teachers and administrators.

The board discussion on special education and the subsequent approval took place during the regular board meeting; staff notes and curriculum materials remain on public display at the district office for community review.