LAUSD plans to close the PAL (Preschool for All Learners) classroom at Kennedy Elementary—a program that has spent years creating a place where young children with disabilities are included, supported, and given the opportunity to learn alongside their peers. We are asking LAUSD to reconsider this decision and keep the PAL classroom open.

For 12 years, the PAL classroom at Kennedy Elementary has been an integral part of our school community. It provides critical early childhood special education while creating meaningful opportunities for inclusion during some of the most important developmental years of a child’s life.

At Kennedy, inclusion is not just a word—it happens every day.

PAL students participate alongside general education TK students in outdoor play, classroom centers, library, dance, theatre, field trips, school activities, and other shared learning experiences. These opportunities allow children with disabilities to learn alongside their typically developing peers while building communication, independence, friendships, confidence, and a true sense of belonging.

Closing this classroom would take those opportunities away.

The impact extends beyond the students currently enrolled. PAL has helped create a pathway into Kennedy’s general education TK program and has built lasting relationships with families. Some families have chosen to remain at Kennedy even when it is not their neighborhood school because they found a community where their children were welcomed and included.

This is also an issue of equitable access.

Young children with disabilities should not have fewer opportunities for inclusion simply because a specialized classroom in their community is eliminated. Families should not have to travel farther or leave an established school community to access appropriate early childhood special education services.

Early intervention matters. Inclusion matters. Stability matters. And where a child lives should not determine whether that child has meaningful access to them.

The PAL classroom is more than four walls. It represents years of relationships, collaboration, trust, advocacy, and intentional inclusion among students, families, teachers, and staff.

Once an established inclusive program is dismantled, those relationships and opportunities cannot simply be recreated somewhere else overnight.

We are asking LAUSD and the Board of Education to reconsider the closure of the PAL classroom at Kennedy Elementary and preserve this program for current and future students.

Please sign this petition and stand with our students, families, staff, and community.

Save PAL at Kennedy Elementary.
Protect equitable access.
Protect early intervention.
Protect inclusion.
Keep our children learning together.