Community Advisory Committee for Special Education Meeting

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Location: Adult Transition Program, 3132 E. Fairmont Ave., Fresno, CA 93726

MINUTES

Welcome (Chair Wong) – 6:12 pm

CAC stands for the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, a volunteer group composed predominantly of parents of children with special needs who attend school within the Fresno Unified School District.  CAC is a group of parents, school personnel, and other community members who work together to ensure that children with special needs receive the best education available.  CAC meets once a month to identify the needs of students with special needs in our district and advises the district on issues relating to special education.  CAC works to provide information to parents and also listens to parents’ concerns.  CAC’s ultimate purpose is to participate in a partnership with the school district that enhances the education of each child with special needs.  Fresno Unified is required by law to have a CAC.

CAC Respect Agreement:

·       Recognize and respect differences of perspective and style of the CAC among members, staff, students, parents/guardians and the community.

·       Act with dignity and understand the implications of demeanor and behavior.

·       When speaking of your concerns, please do not use your student’s name or the school location.  Please respect the confidentiality and needs of your student.

Introduce FUSD administration in attendance.

Roll Call (Vice-Chair Aoki)

14 members were present; quorum was met. 

Agenda Approval (Chair Wong)

Motion to accept: 1^st Eileen G., 2^nd Steven V. – 15 Yeas/0 Nays

Old Business (Patrick Morrison)

Atlas parent access – want to see parent portfolio

No Spanish at School Site Council – has been addressed at site

Traffic and school safety – City of Fresno is in charge of traffic.  Call and submit requests to the non-emergency number.  Rely on community requests.

Membership (Vice-Chair Aoki)

Nora Diaz-Vasquez, Brenda Quispe, and Danny Dote were present.

Motion to accept: 1^st Patricia C., 2^nd Eileen G. – 15 Yeas/0 Nays

Elections for CAC Executive Board (Chair Wong)

Vice Chairperson – Steven Vasquez

Secretary – Amy Aoki

Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) (presented by Ashlee Chiarito)

The LCAP timeline:

·       July-August: plan for engagement

·       September-January: connect with the community

·       February: analyze community data, mid-year update, presented to Board of Education, FUSD writes draft

·       March-April: receive input, revise and update draft

·       May-June: get feedback from PAC and DELAC, public hearing, approval by Board of Education (June 4 – Public Hearing; June 18 – Adoption of LCAP & Budget)

New to the LCAP are the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant (LREBG) - the bulk of funds for literacy and early learning initiatives - and the Long-term English Learner (LTEL) students are now on the California School Dashboard as a group, which can be drilled down to different groups.

You can access the proposed department budget presentations from the FUSD website under the department of Office of the Board of Education.

The top themes for direct investments were academics, safety, engagement/school climate, staff support and food/nutrition.

You can access the LCAP draft, documents and survey results on the FUSD website under the department of State and Federal Programs.

Educational Partners Forum

Patrick M. – Special Education Budget and Public Hearing on June 12, 2025 at 6 pm.  By 2030 student projections will be down to 60,000.  Even if total numbers go down, numbers and costs for students with special needs will increase.

Cathye E. – Paralegal Assistance Unlimited can help with conservatorship.  Begin 3-4 months prior to 18^th birthday; court hearings 1 month prior.  Up to 3 people can be on conservatorship.

Amy A. – Summer swim lessons were not offered to Special Education students in an equitable manner.  Number of classes, times, locations and access to registration were disproportionate to those offered to the general education population.

Kate A. – All summer camps will have baseline paras.

Julie W. – Does SDC have the option of alternate diploma or are they automatically on the diploma track?

The California Department of Education has a decision-making tool for assessment.

Announcements

Next Upcoming CAC Meeting: Thursday, June 12, 2025 following budget public hearing at 6 pm

Closing & Adjournment (Chair Wong) – 7:35 p.m.