SCHOOL BOARD WRAP-UP

Grant to help special education graduates

Special needs students will be given local assistance to get job training and other services after graduating through a $279,000 grant from the state Department of Rehabilitation Services to the Laguna Beach Unified School District.

The two-year grant was applied for three years ago by Irene White, director of Special Education for the district. White said she was surprised the grant was finally approved, especially given the state’s budget crisis.

The Laguna Beach Board of Education accepted the funds on April 21.

The grant will serve a relatively small number of “mild to moderately impaired” students beginning in their junior year, with services designed to allow them to become fully independent, White said.

Many of the students have language difficulties that make it harder for them to learn job skills and be employable. The grant will provide incentives for employers to hire them after graduating, in addition to other services and training, she said.

The district has about 300 special education students. The more disabled students are given a higher level of support than the less-impaired, who still need assistance to become employable and self-supporting, White said.

“This will help the kids who fall between the cracks in the system,” she said. White told the board that the program will serve between six and 12 students.

“We don’t have a lot of kids, but if we can get them connected [to jobs] in the next two years, we will have contributed to society,” she said at the board meeting.

White, who joined the district three years ago, said she noticed that many special education graduates of the district did not take advantage of rehabilitation services offered at Saddleback Community College.

“They just stayed home” after leaving school, she said. Through the program, called a Transitional Partnership Project, the district will be able to provide local, individually tailored services for those students.

“We will start offering help in their junior year, and then stay with them up to two years after graduation,” she said.

The district is now seeking to hire a specialist in workability programs, and White hopes to start the program this summer.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “We will move quickly to get up and running.”

“” Cindy Frazier

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Class size reduction in limbo

In other business, Supt. Robert Fraisse told the board that the district may not be able to keep moving forward with efforts to reduce class sizes, given the uncertainty over the effects on the district’s finances from the economic slowdown and the state budget crisis.

He told the board that the district is now spending $1.2 million more than it receives from the state to keep class sizes under 20 in some grades. “We may not be able to maintain that,” he said. “Given the economy, it would be bad to make further commitments.”

In addition, enrollment is projected to increase next year as parents pull their children out of private schools to make ends meet. That will further strain the Laguna district, which does not obtain funding per pupil directly from the state, as do most other districts. After that, enrollment may decline, naturally reducing class sizes.

Fraisse added that in some cases, larger class sizes could be desirable.

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Alcohol, drug policies mulled

The board reviewed a proposed new policy regarding prohibitions on drugs and alcohol in the schools, including suspension and expulsion policies and policies regarding bringing in law enforcement.

The district is proposing to establish a new Readmission Committee in conjunction with early intervention for students who have been caught using or selling illegal or prescription drugs.

The board also considered when and for how students may be suspended from extra-curricular activities, such as sports, as punishment for a drug or alcohol offense.

Board President Jan Vickers thought the proposed 10-day suspension from activities was too harsh and could be “life-changing” for some students and cause students to drop out of school.

Board member Teresa O’Hare agreed, but Board Clerk Ketta Brown said that students needed to learn a lesson.

“Life isn’t fair and it’s a matter of personal responsibility,” Brown said.

Board member Betsy Jenkins said she has heard kids complain they were “enabled” to continue to drink or abuse drugs. “Some kids say they wish they were stopped,” Jenkins said.

The policy will be reviewed and returned to the board in May for final approval.