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Teachers press Beaumont Unified to add class-size and caseload caps, protected time for special education
Summary
The Beaumont Unified Teachers Association and several special-education teachers urged the board to add explicit special-education class-size and caseload language to the contract, citing burnout, high turnover and safety concerns; teachers proposed numeric caps, pay for overages and splitting Learning Centers by grade bands.
A string of teachers and the Beaumont Teachers Association urged the Beaumont Unified School District board to negotiate explicit special-education protections into the district contract, saying current caseloads and Learning Center configurations are unsustainable.
"We have proposed reasonable numbers to cap special ed class sizes and case loads," said Chase Moore, president of the Beaumont Teachers Association, urging the board to direct negotiators to reach a binding agreement. Speakers described classrooms where one Learning Center serves TK through fifth grade students in the same room, workdays filled with back-to-back IEPs, and staff cataloguing high rates of burnout and resignations.
Teachers asked for several concrete changes: contract language that caps special-education class sizes and caseloads, options for additional pay if a site exceeds the caps, protected time during the workday for completing IEPs and paperwork, more instructional aides, and splitting Learning Centers into lower- and upper-elementary models to reduce inappropriate age/behavior mixes. "It is time to show leadership and say that this is a priority," Chase Moore said.
Several teachers referenced state guidance and district practice: Joel Berdick said his emotional-disability class is at 15 students while a CTC recommendation cited in the public remarks suggested eight pupils for that category. Speakers warned that sending students to nonpublic schools because the district cannot serve them would remove resources from local programs and hurt both students and families.
The board heard the presentations and acknowledged the concerns. Several board members said the comments were heard and would be taken into account during negotiations. The teachers asked the board specifically to task negotiators with creating a proposal that includes the requested caps and supports.
The meeting record shows no agreement was finalized; the speakers asked the board to direct the negotiators and to put agreed numbers in writing so improvements would not be temporary.
