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LWVSD EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES, 9/24/2025

Beryl Flom

Present: Lindsay Abbot, Laura Adler, Penny Adler, Elizabeth Elchlepp, Summer Girgis, Mary Ann Hawke, Ruth Kaplan, Sarah Kiefer, Miranda Kwong,  Sarina Lynn, and Tara Ryan.  Note: I may not have everyone's names.

Speakers: Marisa Allen, Sr. Executive Director of Thriving School Communities, SDUSD; over

sees the Bilingual Department 

                  Dr. Angelica (Niecy) Watkins, Executive Director, Special Education, SDUSD

Special Education Department - Niecy Watkins

Students with disabilities are supported by ADA, 504 plans and Special Education through IEP's.  Of the 94,439 students in the District, about 17,000 are in special ed.  There are 13 qualified disabilities for the IDEA process.  The goal is to put students in the least restrictive environment.  They are classified as follows:

1. mild/mod

2. ESN/extensive support needs

3. specialized setting

4. non-public school/alternative district site

5. residential treatment center (most are not in SD County)

The caseload for mild/mod is 20:1 and 20:1 para.  The caseload for ESN is 12:1 and 12:2 para.  The vacancies across the district have decreased from 25 to 17.  ESN was down to 0, but then more unexpected students arrived after school started this Fall, so now there is a need of 4 and 8 for mild/mod.  Reassigning para educators has decreased as well.  All campuses have flexible learning environments.  A site supervisor is working with the many new staff this year; training is done on-site.  The area of growth for 2025-26 includes labor market, funding, family engagement, side-by-side coaching, ownership (prioritizing general classroom), access, instruction, equity, and training with administrators.

Discussion

• There are students who are both special ed and gifted or dual identified - how are they taught?

   answer: We teach to their strengths and areas of concern based on their IEP goals and  

   needs.

• One person has a son who is dual identified and is now in high school.  So far, he has not had any Gate instruction.  What is the expectation for children like this?  It should be college and career ready and graduation just like the general students.  Why are their outcomes so low?

   answer: We are focusing on data more, but the dashboard does not get down to individual 

   students yet.  The Superintendent has created a new department which will give the 

   dashboard  more detail and have each student with personalized learning.  The dashboard is 

   based on state testing.  If a student doesn't make more progress in six months, the parents 

   can request a new IEP.

   reply: It was a very challenging experience and wasn't what you are describing.  Is that being 

   addressed?

   answer: We are working on it by having a series of workshops, coaching and staff visiting 

   classrooms.

• How is SDUSD working with preschools so some students who have mild/mod issues can be serviced while they are in preschool and won't need an IEP by the time they enter regular school?  Please send me the contact for your preschool staff member, so I can partner with them.

   answer: That is a focus for this year.

• As a speech pathologist, I find the classes are all over capacity.  Where did 12 students in a room come from?  It's overwhelming!  

   answer: We have added ESN classes two weeks into the school year.  We had to use 

   substitutes for the first couple of weeks.  We have opened six more classes plus seven.  

   Safety is of utmost concern.  Please let us know if it still exists.

Multilingual Education Department - Marissa Allan

There are 13,825 English learners in the District; this number has dropped significantly.  2,991 are dually identified with special ed.  6,751 are enrolled in dual language programs whereby they learn English faster if they know their native tongue.  SDUSD has dual language programs TK-8 with pathways to continue in middle and high school.  A student doesn't need to be in a dual language program if they can pass a test for their second language.  Children come from many countries and speak several languages.  SDUSD is top in the state for dual languages.  The District offers wrap around support for newcomers at the Welcome centers in several high schools.  Come visit one.  They are at Hoover, Crawford, San Diego, Mira Mesa, and Lincoln High Schools.  The focus for 25-26 is professional development in multilingual so that staff are trained to educate other staff members.

Discussion

• Do you have someone to contact during the summer if a family moves here?

   answer: A few of the Welcome Centers are open 11 months of the year, so they could go 

   there.  I will give information to the committee chair.

• Do you know the number by school of how many children become proficient in English each year?

   answer: No, but I can send it to the committee chair.  It is improving and is on the CA  

   dashboard every year.

• The information on the dashboard is awesome!  It's a great way to monitor spotlight students and look at the whole child.  Is it up and running?

   answer: Yes, it is operational.  Teachers are being shown how to use it and there's an app for 

   parents to see where their student is on their path to graduation.

Introductions of Attendees

• Elizabeth is a new LWVSD member and wants to be part of the education committee.

• Ruth helped a family from Venezuela years ago.

• Mary Ann chairs the Gate District Committee which advises the District on gifted students.  They have more than 1,100 on their facebook page.  Their meetings are posted online.  10,000 students are identified as gifted in the District.  There's a new director who meets with the Gate District Committee.  Mary Ann will ask her if she can speak to the Education committee next month.

• Summer is the Vice Chair of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Ed.  It is made up of students, teachers, parents, etc. and they meet monthly.  She commented that every time an outside group has a meeting and records it, it provides publicity for the District.  Penny asker Summer what she thought of the presentation.  Summer said she felt good about the information and just wished there were more attendees who need services present at the meeting.  The recording will be posted on the LWVSD website (lwvsandiego.org) under "Other Issues/Education".

• Sarina heads up the Education Enrichment Systems which is a non-profit ECE with 3,500 students annually.  She's hopeful that she will connect with the District's special ed ECE director and learn more about their preschool programs.

• Miranda works with Gates; she is bilingual.

• Mary Ann said it's important to diagnose special ed early while they are in ECE.  Some gifted children get misdiagnosed into special ed.  The District tests all second graders for giftedness.