Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Duarte Unified details special‑education overhaul that reduced outside placements and boosted in‑house capacity
Summary
Special education director Dr. Margaret Akinusi told the board the district is no longer identified as "significantly disproportionate," has retrained staff to reduce reliance on non‑public agencies, returned several students from out‑of‑district placements, and certified more than 90% of instructional aides in CPI; she cited cost savings and improved compliance.
Dr. Margaret Akinusi, director of special education, told the Duarte Unified Board that a multi‑year strategic transformation of the district’s special education services has reduced dependence on outside agencies, improved compliance, and increased in‑house capacity.
"We are no longer being identified as [significantly disproportionate]," Akinusi said, noting that status had previously cost the district 15% of IDEA funding. Her presentation outlined a series of operational changes: building an in‑house BCBA (Board‑Certified Behavior Analyst), reopening a fragile classroom at Maxwell, retraining district staff to perform CalPADS and other compliance tasks, and creating a living special‑education handbook to standardize procedures across sites.
Akinusi reported concrete outcomes: the district has trained about 90 instructional aides in CPI (crisis prevention/intervention) this year, reduced out‑of‑district non‑public school placements from roughly 18–19 to seven, and returned two students from residential treatment placements — one return that she said saves the district about $500,000 annually for that student. She said district school psychologists’ calendars were restructured to cover extended‑school‑year work without extra pay, increasing capacity for in‑district services.
Board members asked for timing and details about training and staffing changes. Akinusi described the CPI training as a two‑phase program (online module plus an in‑person multi‑hour session) with certification that lasts two years; she said the district sent trainer candidates to be certified as "train‑the‑trainers" last year and began using them this school year. When asked about aid transitions and parent notification, she acknowledged parents had not always received five working days' notice when third‑party agencies moved staff, and said the district is working to improve communication while noting it does not control private agency staffing decisions.
Trustees praised the department’s progress and emphasized that cost savings should not reduce service quality. Akinusi said the changes were intended to improve both fiscal stewardship and student outcomes by keeping students in neighborhood schools with supported services.
What happens next: The board kept the item in the informational/presentation record; staff said they will continue professional development, strengthen communication with families about staff changes, and monitor CalPADS and compliance metrics to avoid future disproportionate identifications.
