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Special‑education parent advisory committee survey shows high trust but calls for clearer progress reporting and more staff
Summary
Director Armando Libre told the board that a CPAC survey (107 responses) found high levels of family trust and inclusion but recommended clearer, consistent IEP progress reporting, more paraeducator training and expanded continuum services; the district outlined UDL training and site‑visit plans as next steps.
Armando Libre, the district director of special education, presented results of the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (CPAC) survey and an annual update to the Santa Maria‑Bonita Board of Education on May 6.
Libre said 107 families responded (85 English, 22 Spanish). He summarized strong family‑reported strengths: 89–95% of families said they felt like a valued team member in the IEP process, and 85–95% reported positive inclusive practices across sites. Spanish‑speaking families reported especially high trust in home‑to‑school communication.
Areas for growth included clearer and more consistent reporting on student progress and the need for more staffing — notably speech and language services and better prepared paraeducators. Libre told the board families want more consistent continuum‑of‑services availability across sites.
Libre said next steps include strengthening IEP progress communication, investing in staff capacity and continuing districtwide Universal Design for Learning (UDL) training. He noted the district has conducted site visits to exemplary inclusion programs and plans more targeted training for paraeducators and general education teachers to increase consistency.
Board members thanked Libre and staff for the work and asked about staffing pipelines; Libre said the district is working with HR and local training programs to bring more internal staff on board and to convert long‑serving contracted staff to district employees when feasible.
