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Buena Park highlights preschool inclusion, reports progress reducing special-education disproportionality
Summary
District special-education leaders told the board the district serves 677 students with IEPs, has moved from significant disproportionality to targeted assistance on one indicator and is expanding preschool inclusion (preliminary inclusion up to ~33%).
Julie Linicki, the district’s director of special education, told the Buena Park School District board the department currently serves 677 students with individualized education programs and provides a continuum of supports including specialized academic instruction, speech and language, occupational and physical therapy and adaptive physical education.
“The numbers you see here reflect a snapshot as they are continually changing due to student needs, eligibility, and progress,” Linicki said, summarizing caseload and service models and noting district partnerships with Chapman University and regional centers to support early identification.
Linicki also reviewed state performance indicators. After three years of overidentification for Hispanic students in certain learning-disability categories, the district moved from a designation of “significant disproportionality” into targeted assistance after reducing the relevant risk ratio, she said. The department is refining assessment practices and inclusive instructional supports to continue improvement.
The presentation gave special attention to preschool inclusion. Linicki said the 2024–25 state target for preschool inclusion was about 47 percent, the district had historically reported roughly 25 percent, and preliminary data for the current cycle looks closer to 33 percent.
Mary Bekelheimer, administrator of early education, described changes in practice designed to increase inclusion: enrolling children directly into the state preschool program, pushing in therapy services, using speech and language pathology assistants funded by early intervention grants, and building reciprocal peer models and collaborative teaching teams.
“We have a speech and language pathology assistant that works with children weekly in the general education setting in preschool regardless of their IEP,” Bekelheimer said, describing the grant-supported change. Both presenters said professional development, coaching and parent engagement are next steps to sustain growth.
The board thanked the presenters and asked no substantive policy changes; staff said they will return with further updates as metrics and facilities change.
