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Parents and commenters urge LAUSD to address DHH staffing gaps, implementation fidelity and conservatorship practices
Summary
At the committee meeting, members and public commenters pressed the district to expand mental-health staffing for deaf/hard-of-hearing students, make trainings more accessible at school sites, and review practices including conservatorship recommendations; a student also urged a balanced phone policy.
Committee members and parents told the Los Angeles Unified School District special-education committee that mental-health services and communication access need faster attention and clearer channels to reach families.
During committee questioning, members raised the lack of visible representation for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) programs at the presentation and asked how the district supports this population. One committee member said DHH parents need specialized supports; staff replied that instructional coaches and program specialists work with DHH programs, that ASL interpreters are provided when teachers or parents require them for trainings, and that the division is exploring expanded specialized modules for paras working in DHH settings.
Members and parents raised staffing concerns. A committee member and several speakers said there have been very few PSWs assigned to DHH supports (one speaker recalled two across the district at one point) and urged that the district develop stronger clinical linkages and more in-person outreach at school sites. Jackie Morrow, the division's behavior support coordinator, said onboarding for paraprofessionals has been expanded regionally and that trainings are recorded in the professional learning network so completers can print certificates.
Public comment underscored a range of concerns. High-school student Elliot Pac presented survey research suggesting strict phone bans are often inconsistently enforced and recommended the district adopt a balanced policy that limits device use during instruction but allows appropriate use during non-instructional time: "The solution should not be a complete ban, but rather a balanced policy that reflects how students actually learn."
Other callers urged attention to implementation fidelity and civil-rights outcomes. A remote caller described safety as including access to education and said inconsistent training for teachers and paraprofessionals can lead to more-restrictive placements. Former committee member Lucas Cook criticized the committee for presenting selected perspectives and cited a recent surge in special-education litigation as an indicator of implementation problems. He also warned against framing students'developmental goals in a way that prioritizes predictability over autonomy, saying staff comments suggested a goal "to inspire students to become predictable citizens."
A caller who spoke in Spanish commended the resource fairs and urged that assistants, therapists and principals receive more classroom-facing training. Another commenter, Megan, warned that conservatorship is often overrecommended and described it as "an extremely constraining life sentence" that can have long-term harms; she urged earlier transition planning beginning in middle school and stricter standards for placement recommendations.
A final public speaker said a recent state change in respiratory regulations narrowed the duties of district healthcare assistants, reducing summer-school and bus-route hours and creating continuity-of-care concerns for medically fragile students.
The committee heard the critiques and asked staff to bring back answers and follow-up. No formal motions were made during the meeting; members said recommendations would be compiled and forwarded to the division and the board.
