According to a Sacramento County civil grand jury, the Sacramento City Unified School District ignored repeated warnings and recommendations for years to improve services for students with learning, physical and behavioral disabilities and failed to meet student expectations. In its report on Monday, the grand jury said that after an eight-month investigation, SCUSD received an “F” grade for “unreasonable failures” in serving the district’s 7,000 special education students. The grand jury said many students would not have needed special education if SCUSD had offered early intervention programs starting in kindergarten. | Related | Read the grand jury report. “Despite repeated warnings and numerous recommendations from national experts, the school board and administration failed to develop plans and services to address the needs of these students,” the report said. “This failure means that students with special needs are not receiving the appropriate education and support services required by law.” Among the failures outlined in the report are that despite recommendations from a coalition of 78 large urban public school systems in 2017 on how to improve early intervention and services, the district made no progress in meeting those goals, and, according to the grand jury, also in 2017, an expert panel recommended how to improve policies related to implicit bias and school discipline, but the district also failed to act. The state Department of Education found that the district’s special education department had not complied with regulations over the past three years and said the district’s special education population disproportionately includes children of color. “Overall, SCUSD has not provided adequate management work plans for special education and has not implemented early intervention in all schools,” the report said. “This is an inexcusable inaction by SCUSD. Who will suffer? Our students. The grand jury recommended that each school establish a hotline for parents and guardians of students receiving special education. SCUSD responds to report The district said Monday afternoon that the issues identified in the grand jury report are “accurate” and that it will work with the state and other partners to address them. “The notion that we are failing to provide appropriate educational services to our most vulnerable students and students with disabilities is unacceptable to any educator or administrator in the Sacramento City Unified School District,” the statement read. “This report is a reminder that our students and families deserve better and that we must do better for them.” SCUSD Board of Education Chair Lavinia Phillips said, “We take the criticisms in this report seriously.” “The findings, related concerns and recommendations provided by the grand jury will be considered and addressed with a focus on our most important constituents, our students, and our most important goal: improving their outcomes,” she said. “The Board of Education is deeply committed to providing the leadership and oversight necessary to ensure that SCUSD students have access to the special education services they need.” The district’s response noted a May 2023 legal settlement with the Black Parallel School Board that mandated the use of an independent monitor to develop an action plan, with specific goals and timelines, to address the disproportionate number of students of color in special education programs in the report. “The Grand Jury expressed unequivocally its support for an independent monitor and measures such as those contained in the action plan, which includes all or most of the specific recommendations contained in the report. “We welcome the Grand Jury’s report,” SCUSD Superintendent Lisa Allen said. “The District looks forward to taking action to implement the finalized plan and continuing the self-reflection and hard work necessary to create the change families want to see.” Read the full response from the district here. Read more of California’s top stories here | Download our app.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A Sacramento County civil grand jury found that the Sacramento City Unified School District neglected to educate students with learning, physical and behavioral disabilities for years, ignoring repeated warnings and recommendations to better serve them.
In its report Monday, the grand jury said that after an eight-month investigation, SCUSD received an “F” grade for “unreasonable lack of action” in providing services to the district’s 7,000 special education students.
The grand jury said that if SCUSD offered early intervention programs starting in kindergarten, many students would not need special education.
| RELATED | Read the grand jury report.
“Despite repeated warnings and numerous recommendations from national experts, the school board and administration have failed to develop plans and services to address the needs of these students,” the report states. “This failure means that students with special needs are not receiving the appropriate education and support services required by law.”
The grand jury said the personnel changes contributed to low morale among administrators, faculty and staff.
Failures outlined in the report include:
The district made no progress in meeting those goals despite a coalition of 78 large urban public school systems recommending ways to improve early intervention and services in 2017. Also in 2017, a panel of experts recommended ways to improve implicit bias and school discipline policies, but the district also failed to act, according to the grand jury. The state Department of Education found that the district’s special education department had not complied with regulations for the past three years and noted that the district’s special education population disproportionately serves students of color.
“Overall, SCUSD has not provided adequate management work plans for special education and has not implemented early intervention in all schools,” the report states. “This is an unjustifiable under-action by SCUSD. Who suffers? The students. They deserve better.”
The report lists 13 recommendations, including one calling on the SCUSD board and district administrators to incorporate all recommendations already from the outside report and develop a comprehensive special education plan by Jan. 3. The district should then take steps to track progress on the measures identified in the plan.
The report said the district should also follow state recommendations and take steps to reduce the number of students of color receiving special education.
The grand jury said SCUSD should also work by Jan. 3 to implement a district-wide policy to identify the learning needs of all students for early intervention services.
The report also recommended that schools set up hotlines for parents of students receiving special education by January 3rd.
SCUSD responds to report
The school district responded to the grand jury report Monday afternoon, saying the issues it cited are “accurate” and that it will work with the state and other partners.
“The notion that we are failing to provide adequate educational services to our most vulnerable students and students with disabilities is unacceptable to any educator or administrator in the Sacramento City Unified School District,” the statement said. “This report is a harsh reminder that our students and their families deserve better and we must do better for them.”
“We take the criticisms in this report seriously,” said Lavinia Phillips, chair of the S.C. State Board of Education.
“The findings and related concerns and recommendations presented by the grand jury will be reviewed and addressed with a focus on our most important constituents, our students, and our overriding goal of improving outcomes for them,” she said. “The Board of Education is committed to providing the leadership and oversight necessary to ensure that SCUSD students receive the special education services they need and deserve.”
The district’s response cited a May 2023 legal settlement with the Black Parallel Schools Committee that requires the report to hire an independent monitor to develop an action plan with specific goals and timelines to address disproportionate numbers of students of color in special education programs.
“The grand jury unequivocally expressed support for an independent monitor and measures such as those contained in the action plan, which includes all or most of the specific recommendations contained in the grand jury report,” SCUSD Superintendent Lisa Allen said. “The district looks forward to taking action to implement the finalized plan and continuing the self-reflection and hard work necessary to create the change our families want to see.”
Read the school district’s full response here.
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