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Parents and CAC warn of special-education gaps; SELPA presents larger 2026–27 budget and priorities
Summary
The Special Education Community Advisory Committee and parents warned of staffing shortages, assessment backlogs and rising chronic absenteeism among students with IEPs; SELPA staff presented a larger FY26–27 budget driven by bargaining changes, transportation costs and plans to reduce contracted services.
Families, special-education advocates and the district’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) told the Board of Education on June 9 that staffing shortages, IEP/assessment backlogs and inconsistent implementation of supports are harming students with disabilities. The CAC asked the board to prioritize a robust MTSS framework, improved recruitment and retention, and investments to reduce the backlog of evaluations.
Melanie Valino Balzon, incoming CAC chair, recommended a districtwide MTSS implementation, stronger mainstreaming initiatives and mandatory training for administrators. The CAC documented 35 special-education teacher vacancies and 96 paraeducator vacancies and urged urgent recruitment, earlier hiring timelines and clearer caseload/workload practices. "Retaining qualified staff must remain a top priority to meet student need and fulfill our legal obligations," the CAC said in its presentation.
SELPA leaders presented a proposed 2026–27 SELPA budget increase from approximately $279 million to $352 million, explaining most of the change reflects bargained staffing models (requiring certain positions to be budgeted as FTEs instead of contractors) and the addition of roughly $32 million in transportation costs now captured in the SELPA budget. Finance staff said the change also reflects efforts to move contracted services in-house and to staff positions required under the recently negotiated collective bargaining agreements.
Commissioners expressed concern about the sufficiency of positions requested by the CAC (including a request for additional psychologist positions) and asked for clearer quantification of supplemental allocations and formulas by which site-level resources are targeted to high-need schools. The board tabled formal SELPA adoption to allow staff, CAC and finance to resolve open questions and to avoid repeating prior years’ implementation gaps, and asked for clearer documentation before the next meeting.
