Parents and an SLP raise concerns about SLP staffing and caseload reporting as district presents SELPA and special‑ed budget
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Summary
During the SELPA and LCAP review, district staff said the SELPA's average SLP caseload is not greater than 55 after a revision; a public commenter, Clark Knudsen, challenged prior board communications that listed 36 SLP employees and questioned whether part-time FTEs were counted correctly.
At the public hearing on the district’s Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) and related service plan, district staff presented required sections of the annual SELPA service plan and special-education budget and confirmed a correction: the SELPA average speech-language-pathologist (SLP) caseload entry on section E was revised to "No" for "is average SLP caseload greater than 55."
In public comment earlier in the meeting, Clark Knudsen, a district SLP who spoke at the April board meeting and again during the LCAP/SELPA discussion, told trustees he found "blatantly incorrect information" in a board communication. Knudsen said a published figure of 36 SLP team employees included staff on sabbatical or unpaid leave, and multiple part-time SLPs; he argued the 36 number did not reflect FTEs and therefore misrepresented average caseload calculations. Knudsen asked the board how the district counts part-time FTEs and preschool-only assessors and urged trustees to clarify whether the average is calculated by headcount or FTE.
District staff acknowledged the revision to section E and said the public hearing was opened to receive comment; staff said the governance section had been completed and that sections A, D and E would be forwarded to the California Department of Education after board approval. In response to Knudsen’s concerns, staff committed to answering the specific caseload-calculation questions and to provide the board with clarifying information when the SELPA/attachments are returned for consent approval on June 24.
Separately, the special-education budget slide presented by Kate Ingersoll listed projected special-ed expenditures of $101.5 million and a projected $300,000 revenue increase tied to the 2.3% statutory COLA; the budget presentation acknowledged an estimated district unfunded contribution of $42.6 million for special education after state/federal and LCFF-applied funding.
Ending note: Trustees closed the public hearing and will return SELPA sections to the consent agenda for approval at the next meeting, with staff to provide the requested clarifications about SLP headcount and FTE calculations.