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Trustees probe overidentification of Hispanic students in special education
Summary
Trustees pressed district staff about a persistent overrepresentation of Hispanic students in special education categories; staff described root-cause work, early literacy supports and an SIM plan to reduce disproportionality.
During the LCAP presentation trustees raised the district's classification of Hispanic students in special education, with one trustee saying the district appears to overidentify Hispanic students for specific learning disabilities (SLD) and other health-impaired categories. Dr. McCreery acknowledged the disproportionality and said district data show Hispanic students make up about 25% of enrollment but represent roughly 30'40% of special-education placements.
District staff described ongoing root-cause analysis under the SIM plan: reviewing IEPs and SST minutes, examining whether early language development (especially among newcomers) is being misinterpreted as disability, and strengthening early-literacy interventions and teacher differentiation to reduce premature referrals. "If we're going through an assessment process, early identification in kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade, we're kind of rushing our students through this process," Dr. McCreery said. Trustees and staff agreed the district must monitor the impact of pilot interventions and document outcomes as part of LCAP work.
