Parent group urges Alisal Union trustees to address overcrowded special-education classes after student injury

At the Alisal Union School District board meeting a representative of the LSL Futures Association pressed trustees to act on chronic overcrowding in special day classes (SDC), saying district classrooms often exceed Monterey County SELPA recommendations and that the problem led to a recent student injury.

"This is a profound injustice to the students we are responsible for supporting," the association representative said, describing multiple SDC and communication/social-skills classes with 14–16 students where county guidance recommends smaller rosters. The speaker said one incident in an overcrowded classroom resulted in a student being taken by ambulance and argued that temporary additional staff are only a "Band Aid" that does not address root causes.

The trustee panel did not take immediate policy action during public comment but heard the speaker’s request that the district review compliance with the collective bargaining agreement (which sets an SDC class size target of 12) and county SELPA guidance (which recommends smaller ratios for higher-support students). Board members acknowledged the seriousness of the report and asked staff to provide clarifying information in later agenda items.

The board later received the district’s second interim budget and presentations showing the district contributes tens of millions of dollars to special education above state funding; Associate Superintendent of Business Rais Abbasi reported the district contributes about $19.1 million toward special-education costs. Trustees and staff discussed budget constraints and service models, but no new board action on special-education staffing or class-size caps was recorded at the meeting.

The next procedural step recorded at the meeting was staff continuing regular budget and program reporting; any policy changes or staffing adjustments would require future board action.