Looking Forward: Future Improvements

Despite the many programs that PAUSD offers for special education students, some community members have criticized the district’s initiatives for being ineffective and poorly funded.

Chiu said many programs in PAUSD were far from perfect, especially with the district’s large budget.

“I think as a district with a really high budget of over $30,000 per head, (they) could do a much better job of providing the resources that students need in the special needs community,” Chiu said.

Emily Lee, who has a child who was affected by PAUSD’s decision to move special education classes from Ohlone to Nixon, said special education teachers in PAUSD are overworked.

“Our experience with teachers has been that they have been very caring, but I think they’re also overwhelmed with a lot of the administrative tasks that they’ve been given,” Lee said. “They have to attend trainings. They have to do IEP meetings and so forth. That gives them a very heavy workload, and it’s something that I’ve definitely noticed over the years.”

But Gallucio said he is impressed by the district’s willingness to listen to his ideas.

“I’ve been able to talk with administrators and build relationships with people at the district office who I never really had a chance to in other districts I’ve worked at,” Gallucio said.

Chiu, though, said she is concerned about the district’s management of special education.

“What can parents and students do better?” Chiu said. “I don’t know that they can do any better. They’ve been advocating to a district that isn’t willing to listen to them.”

However, Austin said the decision to move special education classes from Ohlone and Escondido to Nixon was based on a recommendation from special education teachers.

“We’ve called everyone who had a student in the program, and we have not had that feedback at all,” Austin said. “We called every family in the program. So (it) sounds, again, like this is a campaign issue, and that campaign (is) over, so I’d rather not talk about it anymore.”

Lee disagrees. She said parents were not consulted in the decision.

“Our case was very extreme,” Lee said. “Families that were removed from Ohlone and Escondido were told on a Zoom call, and the teachers also found out the same day, so the teachers weren’t even in the loop about what news was coming down. In that specific situation, there was, like, there was no discussion, there was no transparency.”

Newly elected school board member Josh Salcman, who is a parent of a student with special needs, also said the future of his son’s education is unknown.

“One thing that I feel as a parent is a sense of tremendous uncertainty about what things will look like for him at the middle school level and the high school level,” Salcman said.

Despite some community doubts, Gallucio said the district is moving in the right direction.

“If there were any glaring issues in the past with these programs, I think there has been a concerted effort to really ramp up the special education services,” Gallucio said.