Special Education

Local businesses, agencies and nonprofits are coming to together for one night to show Newport-Mesa residents all the resources they have at their fingertips. Newport-Mesa Unified's Community Advisory Committee for Special Education is hosting a free Family Resource Fair from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 25 at Estancia High School, 2323 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa. The annual fair is meant to empower families — both typical and special education — through resources they might not be aware of, said Ann Huntington, the district's executive director of special education.

The Newport-Mesa school district can find neither the people to fill special-educator positions nor the money to better fund the programs for special-education students, Supt. Jeff Hubbard told parents Thursday. Hubbard responded to a number of complaints and concerns from parents of special-education children. He and the parents’ advisory committee convened solely to answer the parents’ questions. Hubbard pledged district staff will develop an account to-the-dollar of its expenditures in special education for all parents who wanted one. Newport-Mesa is one of the costliest special-education programs in the county and is significantly under-budgeted compared to state averages, according to a recent audit of the district.

Wendy Leece This wee,k we asked our parent panelists: A report found that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District pays far more for special-education teaching than the average school district in the state. Why do you think this is, and is there any reason for parents to worry that money is being taken from other parts of the district to pay for these classes? From stories I have heard, I believe our district goes the extra mile to provide a quality education for most Newport-Mesa children in its special education programs.

A former Newport Harbor High School special education teacher has filed a complaint with the state and school board, claiming that administrators mistreated her and her colleagues and denied a proper education to special-needs students. Sandra Sutherland, who taught at Newport Harbor from March through December last year, mailed her statement Monday to the Newport-Mesa board of trustees and the state Department of Education's complaint management office. Among her claims are that Newport Harbor administrators burdened special education teachers with excessive amounts of students, prevented them from adequately monitoring those students, and dismissed Sutherland from her job without explanation.

Marisa O'Neil State and federal funding has not kept pace with rising numbers of special education students and the costs associated with caring for them, a state consultant told school board officials Tuesday. As a result, special education budgets eat into general education money, explained Paul Goldfinger, vice president of the Sacramento consulting firm School Services of California. Goldfinger spoke at a special study session the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees held to learn more about special education issues.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District paid nearly double the average state percentage for its special-education programs last year, according to a report issued by School Services of California. At the district's board meeting Tuesday, school services vice president Paul Goldfinger and educational consultant Sharon Popp presented the results of a two-month study they conducted of Newport-Mesa's special-education programs. In April, district officials had contacted a group in Sacramento help determine how to lower special-education costs in the coming years.

The Newport-Mesa school board received its annual independent auditor’s report Tuesday, this year conducted by third-party company Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. LLP. The company credited the board for maintaining specialized programs and services despite a reduction in state funding. The district dipped into its general fund significantly, $21.8 million worth, to fund special education in the district. That’s nearly 60% more in expenses than the district is allocated for special education funding.

Deirdre Newman NEWPORT-MESA -- School district officials said they won't have to scramble to comply with a federal ruling that provides special education students extra help on the high school exit exam because the ruling mirrors their ongoing efforts. The ruling, handed down Thursday, allows students to use modifications such as a calculator and spell-checker and will require portions of the test to be read aloud if these things are already part of a student's individual education plan.

Deirdre Newman NEWPORT-MESA -- Revamping the way special education programs are delivered may be an answer to solving some of the district's budget woes, an advisory committee told the school board in its final report of the year. The encroachment of special education mandates eats up a significant portion of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District's general budget each year. Encroachment occurs when the state or federal government mandates certain programs, but does not provide the funds to implement them.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District's parent leaders have launched a letter-writing campaign for more federal special education funds, while the district struggles to pay its highest-ever costs for students with special needs. At the Monday meeting of the Harbor Council PTA, which oversees the Newport-Mesa district, President Nadine Turner distributed postcards for parents to mail to their representatives in Washington. The cards, she said, were intended to encourage the government to fund all mandated programs, but the focus was on special education — for which the district has committed a record $26.2 million this year.

Local businesses, agencies and nonprofits are coming to together for one night to show Newport-Mesa residents all the resources they have at their fingertips. Newport-Mesa Unified's Community Advisory Committee for Special Education is hosting a free Family Resource Fair from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 25 at Estancia High School, 2323 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa. The annual fair is meant to empower families — both typical and special education — through resources they might not be aware of, said Ann Huntington, the district's executive director of special education.

Editor's note: This corrects Stacy Lynne de Boom-Howard's name. COSTA MESA — The small, residential street of Santa Clara Circle was quiet Wednesday, with few signs that two people had been slain there the night before. Two yellow tarps were draped in front of Robert Lehmann's modest, single-story house. A thin trail of blood had dried and was crusted on the path that led to the well-manicured lawn, which police had taped off. A brown truck parked in the driveway had the license plate "Dady ♥ AJ. " Costa Mesa police detectives returned to the scene in the 3400 block during the day Wednesday to see if they could spot anything they might have initially missed after the fatal shooting Tuesday night, said Lt. Bryan Glass.

COSTA MESA — The Newport-Mesa Unified school board on Tuesday night approved a one-year contract with the teachers union but also outlined issues with the state budget expected to impact the district. The Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers Local 1794 reached an agreement with district in September and overwhelmingly ratified a one-year contract in which teachers would see no pay raises but no salary reductions. Both Kimberly Claytor, the president of the union, and the district's negotiator, John Caldecott, director of human resources, were commended by the seven-member school board and Supt.

Every Thursday, they’ve got something to look forward to, this set of children who are occasionally overlooked by society or shucked by the wayside. Like clockwork right about lunch, students break out of their natural confines and mix it up with special-education kids in a scene that could easily be mistaken for plain old-fashioned fun. But look deeper within, and ask a few more questions, and you’ll soon realize that there’s a lasting relationship being built here on the Corona del Mar High School campus — and both sets of students are learning from one another in ways great and small.

Roughly 80 teachers, many of them young and fresh out of college, may lose their jobs through budget cuts proposed by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District administration and approved Tuesday night by the board of education. In all, more than 100 full-time positions, both classified and certificated, are slated to be cut from the district’s elementary and secondary levels to shore up a $13.5-million loss in state funding, according to the proposal. On Wednesday, the district was preparing to notify those teachers and administrators targeted by the cuts while Kimberly Claytor, president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, was simultaneously trying to save their jobs.

Nineteen Newport-Mesa Unified School District employees were honored Tuesday for going far beyond the call of duty. The Newport-Mesa Employee Super-Star Awards celebrate excellence; in particular, maintaining high standards, paying attention to the smallest details and going the extra mile. Tuesday’s recipients included Lincoln Elementary sixth-grade teachers Judy Taylor and Nancy Urricariet; Asim Babovic, the district’s assistant director of information technology; Newport Coast Elementary teacher Alicia Colich; Kaiser Elementary administrative assistant Kathy Dugan; nutritionist Dale Ellis; Victoria Elementary teacher Gary March; Risk Management Technician Cheryl Hosman; special education office assistant Debbie Kerwin; Jim Lamond, the district’s director of facilities, planning and design; Newport Coast Elementary teacher Ryan Longacre; nutrition services assistant Lewis McVay; nutrition services office assistant Veronica Sanchez; special education instructional assistant Annette Schumann; Kaiser Elementary music teacher Audrey Seidman; Davis Magnet School music teacher Thomas Shiskovsky; and Transportation Department Behind the Wheel trainer Robert Villalobos.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District is aiming to cut more than $8 million from next year’s budget in the face of shrinking funding, officials said Tuesday at a school board study session. Roughly $5 million will come from program cuts, while another $3 million will come from short-term fixes like delaying equipment replacement, said Deputy Supt. Paul Reed, the district’s chief financial officer. While the equivalent of 36 full-time jobs will disappear next year, those losses will mostly come from attrition rather than mass layoffs, Reed said.

The vast majority of parents who have kids in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District would be interested in having a magnet school in Costa Mesa, according to survey results presented to the School Board on Tuesday. Of a sample of more than 400 area parents, 93% expressed at least some interest in developing a magnet school on the campus of Davis Elementary School. Costa Mesa doesn’t have a magnet school for elementary school students. Magnet schools are designed to give kids an early chance to focus on a particular subject matter in-depth, such as music or technology.