Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Teachers and specialists warn reduced para support in elementary autism classrooms is creating safety and instructional gaps
Summary
Two elementary autism teachers and a district behavior specialist told the board that classrooms that had three paraeducators last year now have only two, causing supervision gaps, increased requests for 1:1 para assessments and disruptions to instruction. They urged the district to restore the third para to improve safety and learning.
JL Gomez, an elementary teacher who oversees a transitional‑kindergarten through second‑grade autism classroom, told the Coachella Valley Unified School District board on Oct. 23 that reduced paraeducator staffing has created daily safety and instructional problems.
Gomez said the classroom currently has 10 students — including four who are attending school for the first time — but lacks the third paraeducator that was in place last year. “When two parents must accompany a student to the restroom, the remaining students are left without adequate supervision,”…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
