Santa Rosa outlines special‑services restructure to reduce costly out‑of‑district placements

Santa Rosa City Schools is proposing a major reorganization of its Special Services department designed to standardize procedures, build in‑house expertise and reduce reliance on costly out‑of‑district placements, the district’s director of special services told the school board on June 10.

Director Fiser said the district’s identification rate for special education is “about 18 to 19%” depending on the denominator used — above county and statewide rates — and described efforts to provide earlier, lower‑level supports so fewer students require formal services. He also reported the district has roughly 140 students in non‑public schools and highlighted the fiscal strain of such placements: “the rate this year for Sonoma County Office of Education placements was $110,000 per student,” he said.

Those figures frame the district’s rationale for a restructure that would reassign administrators by function and create dedicated program managers — including staff focused on out‑of‑district placements, compliance and data systems, behavior/MTSS, extensive support needs and early childhood — and add teacher‑coaches to improve IEP writing and instructional practice. Fiser said the goal is to serve more students in general education settings “with appropriate supports” and to identify students in restrictive placements who might return to Santa Rosa campuses when conditions allow.

Trustees pressed Fiser on specifics about staffing and timing. Public commenter Margaret Boone asked how the district would staff a proposed “push‑in” model “when we’re already short 109 SSM positions,” and trustees asked for concrete recruitment and retention strategies for special‑education teachers and aides. Fiser and task‑force members described recent salary adjustments for aide positions and efforts to convert contracted positions to district jobs, but said some contracting will remain where hiring is not possible.

The presentation also previewed the district’s plan to form a Santa Rosa SELPA (SULPA) composed of the high school and elementary districts for the 2027–28 school year; Fiser said the SULPA will create new data‑reporting responsibilities and require a data specialist to certify state submissions. The board did not vote on the restructure during the meeting; Fiser said the plan remains a work in progress and staff will return with details about implementation, position control and timelines.

Board members and staff said they will seek to balance fiscal constraints with service continuity. The district emphasized that any changes will “not deny student services” and that supports will continue while the restructuring and SELPA work advance. The board encouraged continued outreach to families and feeder districts as the district builds procedures and IEP training for staff.

What’s next: staff will circulate refined org charts and a timeline for implementation and SELPA formation, and the board directed staff to provide follow‑ups on vacancy mitigation, the proposed program manager roles and the data‑specialist plan to support SULPA reporting.