Benicia Unified School District recently announced plans to address a projected $5.1M budget deficit by the close of the 2025-26 school year, including a "significant gap in special education funding", by cutting approximately $2M funding over the next 12 months.

Based on government figures, 1 in 7 public school students will require special education services between the ages of 3 to 21. For Benicia this equates to around 645 students a year (based on total average enrollment of 4300 students) - approx x1.5 the size of Mary Farmer Elementary. This number is only expected to increase with growing prevalence of conditions requiring access to special education services in our children (autism, ADHD, sensory integration disorder, anxiety, depression, trauma, issues associated with school avoidance etc). The shortfall in funding doesn't only impact students with special education needs, but has a counter impact on general education resources (teachers, classrooms, students) needed to step in to address the gap.

School psychologists provide the first line of assessments required to evaluate and qualify students for special education services; these resources are in increasingly short supply, with case load being split across public, private and homeschooled cases, with staff juggling extensive demand to strict legal timelines.

I am actively seeking community support to prevent immediate cuts to Benicia Unified School District Special Education services, while simultaneously advocating for sustainable funding for this crucial element of our school district budget to support the long-term growing needs of our children and community.