Jennifer Stanchak is an education specialist at Bird Rock Elementary School. She works with students with mild to moderate disabilities. They’re in general education classrooms but need extra support for reading, writing or behavioral challenges.
Last year, she said, she had 35 students. That’s 15 more than the caseload limit the district and teachers union agreed on.
“We can't support our students when we are over caseload year after year,” Stanchak said. “It means less support for our students. It means less time that we have to work with our families.”
Stanchak and other special education staff held a rally before the San Diego Unified School District’s board meeting on Tuesday to call for improved staffing. She said when staff like her are overloaded with students, their classmates suffer, too.
“Parents, when you hear that we’re over caseload, it’s affecting your student,” she said. “It’s affecting every general education teacher because there’s not that support in the classroom.”
There are 93 schools where teachers are over their caseload caps, said Kyle Weinberg, president of the San Diego Education Association.
“That's out of 172 schools,” he said. “So the majority of the schools in the district right now have caseload overages, and students aren't getting the services and support they need.”
The union can file grievances against the district when caseload caps are violated. They’re currently negotiating a grievance settlement from last school year.
Along with a fair settlement, Weinberg said teachers want to see long-term solutions to the staffing problem.
“The district needs to do a better job of recruiting and retaining educators into special education positions,” he said. “We've seen these caseload overages and these vacancies in our schools year after year, and what we're doing as a district right now is not enough.”
Interim Deputy Superintendent Nicole DeWitt said the shortage of special education educators is part of a nationwide crisis.
“It's not specific to just San Diego Unified,” she said. “We see this throughout the county, throughout the state, throughout the nation.”
The district is working to recruit and train special education teachers through a paid residency program with the University of San Diego. The first group of teacher residents started this school year. The district also partners with local universities for a teacher internship program.
The San Diego Education Association also unveiled its initial proposals for upcoming contract negotiations Tuesday. Along with addressing special education vacancies, they include smaller class sizes and more prep time for teachers.
