Special education services continue to be a focus for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and a familiar face will lead the charge for the 2023-24 academic year and beyond.
The district approved the appointment of Victoria Hurst as the new special education director at the Sept. 21 meeting of the Board of Education. Hurst has served the district for 20 of her 25 years of education experience, and said she is "honored and humbled" by the appointment.
"I look forward to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure that all students have access to an appropriate education," Hurst said. "I share in the district’s vision of curiosity, belonging and empowerment for all."
Hurst has been prominently involved in the district’s special education program, serving as one of four Special Education Coordinators for the past 13 years. She has also ingrained herself in the Roosevelt Elementary School community during her time with the district as assistant principal, teacher, summer school intensive intervention teacher and family literacy specialist.
For the 2023-24 academic year, Hurst is replacing Deanna Sinfield, who worked for SMMUSD for 24 years. Sinfield is now the assistant superintendent of the try-city Special Education Local Plan Area, which serves SMMUSD along with Beverly Hills USD and Culver City USD. The district congratulated Sinfield on her new position, and knows that Hurst will make a worthy successor.
"Ms. Hurst is a proven leader on our special education team with the best interests of our students always in mind," said SMMUSD Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton. "We congratulate her on her new position and know she will have continued success serving our students, families and staff."
The California Department of Education defines special education as "information and resources to serve the unique needs of persons with disabilities so that each person will meet or exceed high standards of achievement in academic and nonacademic skills. During her time as Special Education Coordinator, Hurst worked to achieve those standards with school sites and developed relationships with families and staff. A liaison between families and school officials, she "(worked) out ways to support the students and for the family to feel supported."
"I am fortunate to have relationships with many parents since I have been in my position for a long time," Hurst said. "So a lot of the parents I’m speaking to, I worked with them in preschool or elementary school, and now their students are in high school. So it’s really just a collaborative process with not only the parents, but our staff as well."
Once assigned just a few school sites, she will now oversee the entire district’s set of special education services, such as an internalizing program, a program that focuses on social skills and self-regulation, and programs based on teaching life skills and community-based instruction.
The internalizing program, called STEP (structured therapeutic education program), is implemented at Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH) and Malibu High School for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. The district also saw a "large area of need" for instruction in social skills and self-regulation, expanding social skills programs to different school sites.
"I think what has changed over time (in the district) is the needs of the students," Hurst said. "What our job is, and my job is now, is to make sure we have programs to meet the students' needs."
Saying that any good leader doesn’t make changes during a first year, Hurst will continue to travel to district sites to see what students' needs are for the next academic year and beyond.