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Board approves request to seek CDE waiver to run 15‑day extended school year for special education
Summary
The Amador County Unified School District board unanimously authorized staff Feb. 19 to seek a California Department of Education waiver to run the Extended School Year program for 15 days rather than the statutory 20, while keeping required instructional minutes.
The Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously Feb. 19 to authorize staff to submit a waiver to the California Department of Education to operate the district and county Extended School Year (ESY) special‑education program for 15 days instead of the usual 20.
Dr. Hedegaard, the district’s special education director, told the board she is requesting the waiver on behalf of the district and county special‑education programs and said the district has historically requested and received similar waivers from the CDE. She said the district consulted its bargaining partners and the Community Advisory Committee and that those groups support pursuing the waiver.
Dr. Hedegaard said the 15‑day model will preserve the statutory total instructional minutes by offering extended school days rather than the full 20‑day schedule. “The actual day of an ESY, the instructional minutes allow us that we're still providing the same number of instructional minutes to students if we were offering it in 20 days,” she said.
Why it matters: ESY is a legally required service to eligible students with disabilities. Dr. Hedegaard said the waiver process requires board authorization to submit the request and that approval from CDE usually takes time; the district expects to learn whether the request is granted before summer.
Vote: The board approved the motion to authorize staff to submit the waiver on a unanimous roll call.
Ending: Dr. Hedegaard said the district’s recent waivers had been approved in prior years and staff will return to the board if the waiver is granted and to finalize operational details for the summer program.
