Bellevue board reviews special-education overhaul as staff and parents warn of unsustainable caseloads
Summary
Board receives a special-education report outlining systemwide inclusion work and training; staff and BEA representatives told the board that caseloads and recent staffing cuts are leaving students without required services. Directors asked for clearer metrics, scheduling fixes and systemwide tools to ensure IEP fidelity.
The Bellevue School District Board of Directors heard a detailed briefing on the district’s special-education work and fielded public comment from educators and parents who said staffing shortfalls are limiting services for students with disabilities.
Scott Powers, executive director of inclusion and accessibility, told the board the district’s special-education operation includes roughly 600 staff across roles and continues coordinated work with OSPI to address disproportionality and improve services. “We want full participation and a learning experience in the least restrictive environment for our students,” Powers said, describing efforts to improve IEP and 504 processes and build system-based supports rather than relying on individual staff members.
The department outlined three workgroups this year focused on student-centered meetings, training for staff and informational support for families. Erin Hagen, a special-education director, described summer administrator training on human-centered IEPs and said the teams are preparing a family guide and an enrollment roadmap to ease navigation of special-education services.
Public commenters — including BEA representatives and Education Support Associates (ESAs) — pressed for faster, concrete action. Michelle Mordaunt of the BEA Executive Board said financial constraints are creating “ethical dilemmas” for ESAs and forcing staff to choose which students to serve. “These limitations are directly affecting students, especially those receiving special-education services,” she told the board.
Jenny Schreier, a special-education social worker, said her department “shrunk by about 20% this year” and described caseload and scheduling pressures that make it difficult to deliver required supports. Occupational therapist Holly Dvorick testified that OT and PT caseloads are 20 to 30 percent higher than neighboring districts and said the district cut roughly 10 percent of the department’s staffing in 2024, contributing to recruitment challenges.
Directors asked for measurable evidence of training uptake and clearer systems to ensure IEPs are scheduled and implemented on time. One director suggested a one-page accommodations summary teachers could carry for each class; others pushed for districtwide scaling of promising practices demonstrated at Stevenson and Sammamish high schools.
Superintendent Kelly Aramaki responded that the district is trying to move from vision to training to quality control: "We have to train, we have to support, and then we have to ensure quality control so that everybody has that experience," Aramaki said, noting the connection between special-education functioning and staff well-being.
The board discussed how to measure progress and requested future reports on implementation fidelity, scheduling, and outcomes. The board later approved the district’s 2025–26 school improvement plans, which directors said should tie clearly to the special-education strategies discussed.
What’s next: The board asked staff to return with clearer metrics on IEP scheduling and fidelity, to share scalable tools used by high-performing schools and to include the special-education implementation plan in upcoming study-session materials.
