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Crestwood parents press district for broader input on special education plan; board says steering committee, public review will follow
Summary
Parents urged the Crestwood School District to resend a March call for feedback on the special education plan after some families said they did not receive the email; administrators said a steering committee (including parents and attorney Evans) will guide updates and the plan will undergo a public inspection before the May 1 state submission.
Parents at the Crestwood School District's Feb. meeting criticized the district's initial outreach for updates to its triennial special education plan and asked for a more inclusive process.
"Select parents received an email yesterday," parent Stephanie Weber told the board, saying the message from Annie Moran and Natasha Malazo did not reach all special-education or gifted families. "I would encourage you to resend this email to everybody who has a child that's either special education or gifted." She urged the district to create a small focus group, modeled on a previously successful food-services parent group, to provide sustained, constructive feedback.
Superintendent Natasha Malazo said administrators had started a steering committee and that the initial outreach was an early, targeted step rather than the full process. "We are just at the infancy starting phases of that," Malazo said, adding that the steering committee'which will include parents, staff, the special education department chair and attorney Angela Evans'will develop the plan and then present it to the full board. She said the plan will be available for a 28-day public inspection before the board considers approval and that the district intends to upload the approved plan to the state by May 1.
Board members and parents pressed for clearer communications and for concrete options to participate. Several speakers suggested an anonymous survey of all special-education families to identify areas needing improvement and to gauge interest in a smaller, recurring focus group. Malazo said she supports surveying families and will work with administration and the board on parameters for useful, anonymous feedback.
Budgeting and legal oversight were also raised during later public questioning. A district finance representative told the board that last year's litigation-related costs exceeded $400,000, while year-to-date figures used for internal extrapolation were under $200,000. Board members said they are bringing attorney Angela Evans into the review process; the board has already approved retaining Evans, and administrators said they will clarify how any additional legal hours will be budgeted for FY2026-27.
What happens next: the district said it will expand outreach, consider a parent focus group drawn from a wider pool (via survey), and present draft special education plan materials to the board for public inspection and comment before the May 1 submission deadline.
