MDUSD CAC Update

It's been a few weeks since I've sent out an email so I wanted to give you an update on some specific issues we have been working on with the district.

FCMAT Transportation Report
The CAC has been requesting the following data from the district:
(1)  A copy of the "Third Party Analysis" that was provided by staff to the FCMAT team.  Dr. Lawrence has stated it will not be shared because it is an internal legal document and protected by attorney/client privilege.
(2)  Validation of statements made when comparisons were made to other districts.  Dr. Mills has contacted FCMAT and expects to send me a summary in the next couple of days.  When I receive, I will forward the info to you.
(3) We continue to hear "many districts are clustering"; however, Poway is the only district currently being named.  Originally the only district named was Vacaville and when I called the Vacaville Transportation department, the person told me they do not cluster special ed. students.  Although the Poway district is comparable in size (Mt. Diablo is slightly larger in comparison), the demographics are unclear.  There is no school-wide demographic information on the website and the City of Poway page states that it is an "upper middle class" community.  Any analysis should include at least three comparable districts; therefore, if there are no comparable districts available, a smaller pilot program should be instituted prior to expanding the change throughout the entire district.  The pilot program should also have a complete safety and cost analysis prior to implementation.  We have asked the district to provide us with names of other districts that are currently clustering.  Dr. Lawrence forwarded our request to Carolyn Patton and Greg Rolen so I hope to receive this information soon.  Dr. Lawrence continues to state that if the district decides to cluster and more time is necessary, the clustering could start next Fall instead of January this year.  We continue to hope the plan will include parents in the discussion before any decisions are presented to the Board of Education.

FCMAT Special Ed. Report
Dr. Lawrence has stated the FCMAT Special Ed. Report will probably be distributed in December or January.

Returning Phone Calls from Staff
Parents have been reporting they are not receiving call backs from district office staff.  I notified Dr. Mills and she sent out an email to all of the managers and program specialists to let them know that her expectation is to have them return calls within 48 hours.  If for some reason they are unable to do that, they should have their secretary or Chris Wilburn call the parent to tell them that they have received the message and give them the time that they should expect to hear back from them (very shortly thereafter).  If parents are not getting a returned call, it would be best if they call Chris Wilburn.  Chris will then alert Dr. Mills and she will follow up.  Chris Wilburn's phone number is 925-682-8000 ext. 4048.  If you, as a parent, continue to have issues with staff returning calls promptly, please email me and I will follow up with Dr. Mills.  My email address is lorriedavis80@yahoo.com.

Parent Communication
We need to expand our parent communication network.  Please let other parents know about the MDUSD CAC Email distribution list and suggest they send me their email address so they can be added to the list and be informed on special ed. issues in the Mt. Diablo School District.  Also let me know if there is an issue that the CAC can assist you with.  My email address is lorriedavis80@yahoo.com.   

Next CAC Meeting
Our next CAC meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00pm in the board room at the District Office.  I hope you will join us and please remember to vote before you come since we have two seats open for our Board of Education.

Thank you for your time.