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Board approves revised preschool handbook after licensing-driven edits; trustees press on inclusion language
Summary
Staff revised the preschool handbook following Step Up to Quality licensing guidance: the daily schedule was removed from the handbook and programmatic components clarified; trustees sought assurance that the changes do not undermine inclusion of students with disabilities.
Trustees approved the revised 26-27 preschool handbook after staff explained that licensing reviewers recommended removing the daily schedule from the public handbook and instead describing programmatic components. "They recommended us taking the daily schedule out of the handbook and describing what the programmatic components of preschool of a daily preschool would look like," staff said, adding that teachers will provide schedules to parents at open house and maintain flexibility to meet students' needs.
A trustee raised concern that deleting a sentence implying all classrooms include typically developing students might appear to back away from inclusion. Staff and a trustee clarified that the district provides a continuum of settings (general education, integrated 50/50, itinerant/home services, and specialized classrooms) and reiterated that least-restrictive-environment decisions will be made by IEP teams.
