Dear Members of the OUSD Special Education Community: We urge you to attend the OUSD School Board meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, June 22 at La Escuelita Elementary, 1050 2nd Ave, Oakland, CA 94606. At this meeting, the Board Directors will vote to adopt the 2016-17 Annual Service Plan and Budget for Special Education. The meeting begins at 5:00 pm with opportunity for general comments at 6:30 pm and the Special Education segment beginning at 7:30 pm. Here is the link to the agenda for the meeting: file:///C:/Users/k978443/Downloads/Agenda%20(2).pdf THESE ARE OUR CONCERNS: The Annual Service Plan and Budget are part of the Local Plan for Special Education that requires review and input from all Special Education stakeholders. One of many provisions within CA Education Code related to these requirements reads: EC 52605. The description of the governance and administration of the plan, and the policymaking process shall reflect a schedule of regular consultations regarding policy and budget development with representatives of special education and regular education teachers and administrators selected by the groups they represent and parent members of the community advisory committee. As OUSD moves towards greater transparency and shared decision-making in planning and budgeting, it is completely excluding the Special Education community from these reforms. It is doing so as School Board directors failed to respond to the Advisory Letter that the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and the larger Special Education community sent to them in May 2016 listing major concerns that require serious engagement by the OUSD Board and staff with the CAC and the community that it represents. The Superintendent’s response did not address the mandate for engaging the CAC in the development of the Special Education plan, its related policies, annual priorities, and the annual budget as expressed in the CA Ed Code. The meetings that the Superintendent mentioned in his letter were very basic presentations to orient individual families to the basic elements of Special Education. They were not meetings to review the elements of the Special Education plan that are listed above. The civil and education rights of our children and their families are being violated as we are excluded from shaping decisions that affect us. This exclusion is happening as OUSD claims that we need greater inclusion at school sites. Inclusion must begin at the top. Please come to the School Board meeting tomorrow to share your concerns and ask questions, including: · Why have you ignored the letter that the CAC, the body that is supposed to advise you on Special Education, sent you in May? · What evidence of “regular consultation” for developing the Special Education Annual Service Plan and budget have you sought out or received from district staff? · Do you believe that the Special Education community should be engaged in the development of the Special Education plan and budget? If so, how have you demonstrated that this is a priority? · What options are left at this point for Special Education families who have not been informed or engaged in the plans and changes that you will vote on today that will affect their children? Thanks for adding your voice. See you tomorrow at the OUSD School Board Meeting.