Keep Special Education Program at Ohlone

PAUSD Superintendent and School Board

On Monday, it was announced that the Special Education program is being discontinued at Ohlone and being moved to Nixon Elementary at the end of this school year. This decision was made without the input of parents, teachers, and aides. The children who need the most support will be uprooted and relocated to a new (far!) location. Transitions are hard on everyone, but especially so for those who have learning disabilities. Since Ohlone and Escondido (which is also being relocated) are choice schools, this decision has a greater impact - it takes away an important part of a PAUSD education from children with disabilities. The cornerstones of an Ohlone education are kindness and inclusiveness, but how can we remain inclusive if children with disabilities are excluded from our school? Please sign this petition to urge the School Board to reverse this decision.

Petition by
Yaroslava Krivokon
East Palo Alto, California

To: PAUSD Superintendent and School Board
From: [Your Name]

On Monday, the parents of children in the Special Education program at Ohlone were invited to a meeting where the head of Special Education Amanda Bryce announced that the Special Education programs at Ohlone and Escondido are being relocated to other schools. The meeting that we were invited to attend was posed as a meeting to solicit our feedback, however that is not what ended up happening.

1. The parents, teachers, and staff were not invited to meaningfully contribute to this discussion before a decision was made. Those who are affected the most by this decision were swept aside and silenced, which is simply unacceptable.

2. Ohlone Elementary and Escondido Elementary are the only "choice" schools in the district with Special Education Programs. We, like all families, spent a lot of time looking into different school options for our children. Ohlone offers an education like no other - the farm is everyone's favorite part of going to school. Project based learning is the keystone of Ohlone's approach to education and none of the other schools in the district offer it. Taking away the option of "choice" programs for children with disabilities is discriminatory.

3. The students in Rm. 19 do not spend all day there, instead they are integrated in the general education classrooms as much as possible. Ohlone does an amazing job of integrating the children who take part in the Special Education program a part of the community. Room 19 is not an isolated island that can be just transplanted to a new location, it is woven into the Ohlone community. Their absence will be deeply felt across all the classrooms.

4. It is unconscionable that the most vulnerable children are kicked around from school to school even though they have the most trouble with transitions. Their families already spent an inordinate amount time advocating for their children and this decision exploits them further.

This decision lacked transparency and input from the school community. Please reverse this decision before irreparable harm is done to our children.

Sincerely,
Ohlone Community