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Yuma Elementary District proposes two assistant directors for growing special‑education services
Summary
District officials proposed a two‑assistant‑director structure for Exceptional Student Services after several years of rapid program growth, citing large increases in autism and preschool enrollment and saying the change can be funded largely by repurposing an existing preschool director role.
The Yuma Elementary School District on Feb. 17 outlined a reorganization of its Exceptional Student Services (ESS) department aimed at addressing a multi‑year surge in students receiving special services.
Erica Jimenez, who presented the five‑year ESS analysis and proposed the new structure, said the district has seen dramatic increases in several programs — for example, the autism program grew from 107 to 290 students and preschool enrollment rose substantially — and that leadership capacity has not kept pace. "We've had a total of 60% classroom increase," Jimenez said, adding that staff positions in student services and support increased roughly 67% over the period she reviewed.
The proposal would create two assistant director positions: an assistant director of instruction for ESS responsible for supervising preschool and instructional supports, and an assistant director of compliance and related services to monitor evaluations and compliance activities. Jimenez said the district proposes to repurpose the current preschool director position as one assistant director and use the resulting salary savings (approximately one‑quarter of a new salary) toward the second assistant director; the district would fund the remainder from existing budgets, Medicaid funding and annual rebates.
Board members pressed for operational details. One member asked whether the new assistant director post would be filled internally or by open recruitment; Jimenez said the district would prefer internal candidates but expected an open application process. Members also asked about classroom capacity and whether the district has space to expand programs; Jimenez said the district is examining in‑town options, repurposing existing classrooms and potential community spaces but has not finalized plans.
Jimenez described planned measures to evaluate the reorganization's impact: service logs, compliance reports and Arizona Department of Education (ADE) audits, IEP benchmark progress and staff climate surveys. She also said the district surveyed 55 ESS staff and received 32 responses that informed the proposal.
Board members generally voiced support for the structure and recommended gathering parent feedback as a complementary data source. One board member recommended surveying parents and teachers to capture outcomes from enrollment through program participation; Jimenez agreed the district would pursue parent surveys in addition to staff feedback.
Next steps: The presentation served as an informational item and opened questions from the board; no final hiring or personnel action was taken at the meeting. Jimenez said some funding questions had already been discussed with administration and that the district was comfortable proceeding with the request for the two assistant director positions pending further implementation planning.
