FCMAT SPECIAL EDUCATION REPORT HAS BEEN RELEASED

Dr. Lawrence released the FCMAT Special Education Report to the board members at the Mt. Diablo School District Board of Education meeting last night.  Below is a link to the district website where the report has been posted for community input.    Please email me with your comments.  Thanks.
Lorrie Davis  

CAC Chairperson
See FCMAT SPECIAL EDUCATION REPORT HERE.

MDUSD Transportation updates - Dr. Lawrence states no Board approval required for "cluster"

Here are the following updates on MDUSD transportation from CAC chairperson, Lorrie Davis:

Update #2  September 20, 2012

Dr. Lawrence has informed us that the decision to "cluster" is a managerial decision; therefore, board approval is not required.  He stated the decision will be made by Transportation (department) and the board will be informed of the decision.  I personally think board policy has to be approved by the board of education.  We were also told that the parent meetings will be to INFORM parents of decisions made, not gather parent input.  I find these statements very disturbing.  Parents - please contact your board members and provide your input.  

Board members names and contact information HERE.

Lorrie Davis

CAC Chairperson

Update #1 Emailed September 19, 2012

At our September 4, 2012 CAC meeting, Carolyn Patton, Special Education Administrator, provided us with an update on Special Education Transportation.  As promised, attached is the PowerPoint presentation and the new Specialized Transportation Needs Assessment form which is being used to determine eligibility.  As discussed at the meeting, the district is exploring the possibility of clustering but it has NOT yet been approved by the board of education.  They are currently collecting data to see how many students would be affected and what would be the cost savings to implement clustering in our district.  Parents input meetings have been postponed until the district decides if they will be considering a clustering model of providing transportation.  I will keep you updated as we receive more information.   

Lorrie Davis

CAC Chairperson

The FCMAT Transportation Report is being discussed at the Mt. Diablo School District Board of Education Meeting

Monday, September 24, 2012

   6:30pm  (please notice the early time)

   School District Board Room
1936 Carlotta Drive, Concord

Parents - please attend the meeting and share your thoughts with the board members. 

FCMAT report HERE.

MDUSD Special Education Update

By Theresa Harrington
Friday, August 24th, 2012 at 7:59 pm in Education, Mt. Diablo school district,special education.

Mt. Diablo special education administrator Carolyn Patton has posted a special education update on the CAC blog, reiterating the district’s previous commitment to hold parent meetings in September to discuss transportation changes. However, the update still does not list any times, dates or locations for these meetings.

The post also links to updated Frequently Asked Questions at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1jYYWk0faJA6qqtaws10PqRSLZ3igqUS7IQvJYiptBxZRv5vZu8RBIx7rz2D0/edit?pli=1#

Here is the first question and answer regarding the FCMAT transportation report:

Q: “When will the final report be available?”
A: “We have received and released the draft report. We do not have a final report, but it will be released when received.”

This is very interesting, since the district has not publicly presented the draft report to the CAC or board. In fact, Trustee Cheryl Hansen said she has not received it. Although Superintendent Steven Lawrence inadvertently sent it to me, he has not mentioned it to trustees during board meetings since then. Neither has Patton. So, it’s unclear what is meant by: “We have received and released the draft report.”

Read more of Theresa Harrington's On Assignment article HERE.

MDUSD may overhaul transportation and special education programs

By Theresa Harrington

Through a Public Records Act request, I have received several emails and documents from the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) related to the Mt. Diablo school district’s contract for two studies:

1) providing findings and recommendations related to the district’s transportation programs; and
2) providing a review of the district’s special education program.

As noted in recent blog posts, these findings and recommendations have not yet been presented to the school board or the public. However, the district sent a June 20 letter to parents informing them of transportation changes it claimed were recommended by FCMAT.

I have previously pointed out that some of the ideas for these changes came from the district itself, instead of from FCMAT. This came to light after Superintendent Steven Lawrence inadvertently sent me a copy of FCMAT’s draft transportation report, which did not directly support some of the changes being implemented by the district.

After Lawrence sent me that report, he followed up with an email saying that he expected the final report to be presented to the board Aug. 13. Subsequently, the Aug. 13 meeting was postponed to Aug. 20 (tonight), because two trustees were unavailable last Monday.

Contrary to Lawrence’s assurance, however, no FCMAT reports appear on tonight’s agenda. Instead, the board will consider three transportation-related staff recommendations, without any backup material from FCMAT.
The first is a contract for nearly $1.7 million to transport 132 Non Public School and County students to and from school. Neither the staff report nor the contract reveal to the board or the public how many students are in-district, how many travel outside the district or how many use wheelchairs.

According to the contract, the district pays $40 per day for ambulatory students sharing rides within the district; $120 for students in wheelchairs within the district; $70 per day for ambulatory students sharing rides outside the district, and $140 per day for students in wheelchairs traveling outside the district. In addition, the district may pay $25 per hour for ambulatory students and $40 per hour for students in wheelchairs. The board and public deserve to see a breakdown of these costs. Absent such a breakdown, it appears that the district intends to spend an average of $12,743 per student per year on this contract.

The second transportation-related item is a $307,500.00 contract with AA Med Trans to transport 24 medically fragile students. This averages $12,812 per student per year — or about $69.50 more per year per student than the Pawar charges.

Although FCMAT specifically addressed outside transportation contracts in its draft transportation report, the district is not presenting FCMAT’s findings and recommendations.

Here is what the report said: “…the district should closely evaluate the need for a third-party transportation provider. This transportation is generally provided in a one-on-one fashion and may be less efficient than transportation on a school bus.”

In addition, FCMAT recommended: “…improve transportation request forms and checklists and cluster stops for students who can reasonably get to their local school or nearby bus stop. These changes should be clearly communicated to parents well in advance.”

As has been noted in previous blog posts, the idea for clustering students came from a third-party legal analysis provided by the district to FCMAT, which both FCMAT and the district are refusing to publicly release, citing attorney-client privilege.

Read more of Theresa Harrington's On Assignment article HERE.

IMPORTANT Special CAC Meeting, Tuesday Evening, May 17 at 7 p.m.- Strategic Planning Meeting

Don't miss the the special CAC meeting with Mount Diablo Board of Education Members Cheryl Hansen and Sherry Whitmarsh. They will be discussing Strategic Planning. Please spread the word and bring a friend.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Dent Center Board Room
1936 Carlotta Dr, Concord

See draft of Strategic Plan HERE.

School Board to Vote on Special Education Cuts

On Tuesday, the MDUSD Board of Education (BOE) will vote on cuts to the Special Education and restructuring of the district's office administration staff, including the administration of Special Education.

WHAT: MDUSD Board of Education Meeting

WHEN: Tuesday, May 5

TIME: 7:30pm

WHERE: District Office Board Room

AGENDA: HERE

View the proposed list of Special Education cuts HERE.
View the proposed structuring for Special Education HERE.
View the current Special Education structuring HERE.
View the proposed district office restructuring HERE.