Special education director reports graduation gains, ongoing challenges in math and monitoring status

Miss relle yomi, the district’s director of special education, presented an update to the Paramount Unified School District board on April 10, emphasizing progress in several areas while identifying continuing challenges.

Miss relle yomi told the board that graduation rates for students with special education needs have exceeded the district average and that the department has made strides in service delivery documentation. At the same time she flagged mathematics as an area where the special education subgroup performs below peers and noted the district remains in monitoring for ‘‘significant disproportionality’’ related to overidentification of African‑American students with emotional disturbance — a finding that has persisted since 2021.

Yomi described four priority areas guiding the department: processes and procedures, community communication and partnerships, programming, and professional development. Initiatives she described included a moderate‑severe committee of teacher representatives that visited other districts to calibrate practice, a pilot of new instructional technology (smartboards) for moderate‑severe classrooms, improved translation and interpreting processes for IEPs, and production of a special‑education procedural manual and instructional aide handbook.

In response to board questions, Miss yomi explained that IEP teams have authority to grant domain exemptions for students with IEPs and outlined how tiered PBIS supports and behavior plans are used before recommending disciplinary actions such as expulsion. She said recent state inquiries had focused attention on documentation of IEP implementation; the district reported a high proportion of students with evidence of services delivered at a 90%+ threshold in the reporting period.

Yomi said the department plans to publish a parent newsletter, hold a second annual parents night out, expand co‑teaching professional development, and refine a secondary moderate‑severe program to align with new alternative pathway diploma options.

What’s next: The board asked follow‑up questions about supports for English learners with IEPs and PBIS tiering; staff said they will continue updates and bring specific implementation steps to future meetings.