Special-education director outlines inclusion goals, UDL training and target-school rollout

Director of Special Education Heather Morgan told the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees at a Jan. 9 study session that the district is prioritizing inclusion, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) training and site-driven implementation at five —target' schools.

Morgan said the district's inclusion work aligns with California Department of Education targets and described the state's benchmark that 67% of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) spend 80% or more of the school day in general education. She emphasized that the inclusion metric applies to "all students with IEPs," not only those placed in special day classes, and that districts must interpret least restrictive environment (LRE) obligations under federal and state law.

The director listed Foster City Elementary, George Hall, Highlands/Meadow Heights and Abbott Middle School among the initial focus sites and said each school selected a leadership team (principals, general-education and special-education teachers, related-service providers) to pilot strategies that fit local context. Morgan described examples: Foster City prioritized designing science lessons so every student could meaningfully participate; George Hall worked on inclusive scheduling to increase shared instructional time.

On UDL, Morgan said the district delivered UDL 3.0 training to inclusion leadership teams and offered districtwide professional-development sessions. "You design goals that are meaningful, you anticipate barriers and you design options for learning," she said, characterizing UDL as a template for planning instruction that anticipates variability in learners.

Trustees asked whether UDL sessions are mandatory and whether the district will offer credentials. Morgan replied that district professional-development days include required training and that formal credentialing in UDL is not currently established but is under consideration.

Morgan also acknowledged a likely error on a slide showing a 60.5% inclusion rate and promised corrected statistics, saying district data "exceeded the 2025 goal" as of 2024 and she would send updated figures to the board.

The presentation included research-based benefits Morgan attributed to inclusion: higher academic performance and postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities, and gains in math/reading, empathy and social cognition for students without disabilities. She described a placement continuum from push-in supports and pull-out services to special day classes, one-to-one aides, nonpublic school placements and residential settings, stressing that placements can be fluid across the day to maximize general-education time.

Next steps Morgan described included continued peer learning among focus-site teams, additional UDL training, and targeted supports from district and partner organizations as the program scales beyond the initial sites.

No formal board action was taken on the inclusion presentation; trustees thanked Morgan for the deep dive and moved on to other agenda items.