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Board approves agency contract increases to keep special-education services running amid hiring shortfall
Summary
Trustees voted to increase agency staffing contracts after administrators warned gaps in paraeducator and nursing coverage could leave students without IEP services within days. Board members pressed administration for an expedited hiring and retention plan and two study sessions on special education and declining enrollment.
The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board of Education voted this month to approve increases to several agency contracts to cover paraeducator, health-care and specialized instructional vacancies while the district continues active recruitment.
Administrators told the board they faced a moving target of vacancies and extended leaves and that without contract increases some agency-provided supports could stop "this week or next." "I don't have the number to tell you exactly, but I can tell you the likelihood that it would end this week or next," an administrator said during the discussion.
Board members pressed for alternatives to ongoing outsourcing. "I am not going to approve a single dime more for these initiatives," one trustee said, emphasizing the board wants to reduce outside contracts and hire district staff where possible. Trustees and staff agreed to schedule two study sessions before the end of the school year: one on special education staffing and one on declining enrollment and fiscal strategy.
Administration described active recruitment measures — recursive posting cycles, pool hiring and a paraeducator training academy — and said the contracts are intended as temporary measures while hires are finalized. The board approved the contract amendments by roll-call votes recorded in the meeting; individual items carried with five votes in favor and one or more dissenting votes on specific amendments.
The board also directed staff to provide weekly updates on vacancy counts, expenditures against the contracted amounts, and progress on converting part-time positions to full-time or six-hour positions where feasible.
Provenance: The topic appears in public comment and action item discussion (topicintro: SEG 2670; topfinish: SEG 4045).
