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Parents, teachers urge stronger special‑education staffing and quicker disciplinary responses
Summary
Multiple public commenters asked the board to address safety and staffing in moderate‑severe special‑education classrooms and to improve administrative responses to bullying; callers described aggressive student incidents, shortages of trained aides and a student parking‑lot vandalism case.
During the board’s public‑comment period, several teachers, union leaders, specialists and parents urged the district to strengthen supports for students with significant needs and to improve responsiveness to harassment and vandalism.
Christine Daugherty, YCEA union president, read a letter from a moderate‑severe teacher who described repeated safety incidents in special‑education classrooms: staff and students injured in aggressive incidents, aides reassigned so classes were left short, and long waits for behaviors to subside that removed children from instruction. The letter recommended more consistent base aides, stipends for staff trained in Positive Crisis Management (PCM), additional behavior specialists and floating instructional assistants who are familiar with the students and sites.
Amanda Whitaker, a district speech‑language pathologist, asked the board to authorize one speech‑language pathologist assistant position to support inclusive services and to align staffing with the California Department of Education Inclusion Works guidance. Whitaker said SLPs appreciate recent administrative support but still face staffing gaps that limit services for the district’s most vulnerable students.
Several Mesa View staff and parents gave specific incidents in which aides were pulled from classrooms to address aggressive behaviors, leaving other students without required 1:1 support and raising concerns about compliance with IEPs. One parent described a child in a wheelchair who is especially vulnerable when staffing is short.
Student Sarah Gonzalez and her father Gonzalo Gonzalez described repeated vandalism and harassment of Sarah’s car on campus. The father said school staff initially did not promptly move Sarah’s parking assignment and, when contacted, an administrator told him the incidents did not amount to vandalism; he asked the board to investigate and to hold administrators accountable for delays. He cited a vehicle code in the record and urged clearer communication with parents.
Board members thanked speakers and said the concerns would be considered as the district finalizes staffing and budget decisions for the coming year.
