A host of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education policies and administrative regulations may soon reflect the board’s plan to address disproportionality in district Special Education programs.
According to the Department of Education, local educational agencies are required to collect and examine data to determine if "significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity" is occurring with respect to identification for special education (called "eligibility"), educational placement (once identified as eligible for special education) and discipline. Disproportionality is defined as "the overrepresentation of a specific race of ethnicity," and the California Department of Education found that the district was "significantly disproportionate" in this category from the 2019-20 school year through the 2021-22 school year, particularly with identification of Latinx and Hispanic students for special education based on learning disability.
In a November 16, 2023 meeting, the board unanimously approved a plan to address this, with the district’s "Dispro Core Team" identifying three root causes of disproportionality. The team said the root causes were a "lack of clarity, communication and understanding" of the districtwide support system framework, the "inconsistent implementation" of the district’s English Language Arts program, and a "lack of cultural awareness and cultural competency" with inclusion and relationship-building with students and parents.
During Thursday’s meeting, the board will discuss proposed updates to board policies to address the problem including clarification of who should be eligible for special education programs.
The board will also hear an update on student achievement data, focusing on data collected since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year in areas of student academic achievement. This includes the district’s universal literacy and math assessments for all students, and the rates of non-passing grades (Ds and Fs) among students in secondary courses. Thursday’s presentation centers on the district’s Local Control and Accountability (LCAP) goals, which hone in on the themes of college and career readiness, English Learners proficiency and "culturally response and conducive" learning in safe schools.
One of the discussed metrics will be student attendance, broken down into the categories of "excellent" (zero absences), "satisfactory" (2-4 days absent), "manageable" (5-8 days absent), "chronic" (9-16 days absent) and "severe chronic" (17 days or more absent). Attendance statistics were given for grades K-8, grades 9-12, special education students, socio-economically disadvantaged students and English Learners. In the English Learners subgroup, 152 students (28% of the group) were in the "excellent" category, while 28 students were noted as chronically or severely chronically absent.
Other highlights include the potential approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between the district and the City of Santa Monica regarding allocations distributed to the district via Measure GS, which was approved by Santa Monica voters in November 2022. Effective in March of 2023, the measure provides an estimated $50 million annually for homelessness prevention, affordable housing and schools in the City, and the first $10 million of allocated funds is set to be distributed to SMMUSD on or before May 15.
The board also plans to recognize the importance of the district’s career technical education program, likely adopting a resolution in honor of Career Technical Education (CTE) Month, wherein the board "recognize[s] the importance of career and technical education in preparing a well-educated and skilled workforce." Representatives from Webster Elementary School will be commended for their CTE work at the meeting.
