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Special-education leaders flag staffing gaps and launch paraeducator training as caseloads rise
Summary
Special-education directors told the board the district now serves about 2,370 students with IEPs (around 17% of enrollment) and identified staffing shortages, agency reliance and training needs. The department will start a paraeducator training series and pursue administrative and roving positions to support service delivery.
Special-education leadership presented demographic trends, staffing levels and an action plan to strengthen services.
The SELPA director reported the district currently serves about "2,370 students with special education that have IEPs," and said the special-education population has grown as overall enrollment declined. Staff described 541 budgeted special-education positions (about 65% classified roles, 34% certificated, ~1% administrative) and noted some vacancies, reliance on agencies for niche services and a need to convert short-hour positions into longer-hour roles to improve recruitment and retention.
Presenters announced a paraeducator training series starting this week (elementary and high-school tracks) and proposed more roving specialist positions (speech pathologist, school psychologist) and administrative designee training to reduce IEP meeting burdens on principals. Trustees asked for a breakdown of in-house versus agency staffing, vacancy counts by job class, and state-monitoring determinations; staff agreed to supply those details and to schedule a special study session to develop a multi-step game plan to address recruitment, retention, and service access.
