BY MADDY FURDEK
[email protected]

Earlier this year, Roseville Joint Union High School District introduced its iteration of the LCAP fund, which created streamlined funds for underrepresented students. One of such groups should include the special education programs at RJUHSD sites.

Instead of the funds going entirely towards programs to help underrepresented students, these funds have been used to pay for an Advanced Placement Improvement Program, cover release periods for math teachers and an AP coordinator and to help fund AVID field trips.

Last year, I was a teacher intern for the special education class and feel that I can reveal insight to just how badly this program is in need of LCAP money to fund their programs.

One of the biggest purchases the special education program was hoping to get last year was a SmartBoard, which would have significantly aided in instruction. There is an incredibly broad spectrum of abilities in the special education program at Roseville, so it is crucial that these students had the best technology available to them to further drive home the lessons attempted to be taught.

However, one of these devices was never bought for the program, and the teacher was forced to use an overhead projector, a less effective tool for teaching math lessons which require a lot of visual aid.

One of the four classes that every student in the special education program is required to take each semester is called “ILS,” or independent living skills. This class is supposed to prepare these students for living in a group home or simply with less help from their caretakers, but these allotted 90 minutes were rarely used as such since the class lacked the funding for proper resources to start doing so.

These students were supposed to use this time learning how to cook, clean, take care of their personal health and maintain a job in a workplace setting such as Pride Industries.

However, the class simply lacked the funding to teach these lessons, and although a few of last year’s graduating seniors in the special education program were allowed to go to Pride Industries to learn more about their future jobs, during the ILS class period, all of the other students not attending usually spent this period watching educational videos or listening to other lectures about ILS subjects. They could not actually experience a hands-on lesson due to a lack of funding to buy supplies.

One of the most unfortunate cuts that the special education program suffered was with their funding for field trips. I was told that the year before I was interning, the students went on field trips almost monthly, to places such as local grocery stores and laundromats so they could learn how to properly buy groceries or do laundry.
They also would go on trips to popular community areas such as the Carnegie museum or downtown library to experience new social settings while also learning about their city’s history.

In the entirety of the 2014-15 school year, the special needs class did not go on a single field trip, save the occasional walk to Woodbridge park. To me, it seems crucial that these kids get the experiences of visiting these important and historically rich areas in Roseville to improve their social skills, student etiquette in a non-classroom setting, and simply getting to learn more about their community.

In October 2015, RJUHSD introduced the idea of renovating the 400s computer lab to be used as an ILS classroom where students in the special education classes could practice their cooking, cleaning and maintenance skills.

Although one of LCAP’s central goals is to fund the underrepresented students and supply them with the necessary supplies to achieve their goals, the construction of the 400s classroom is being funded by other district money, not associated with the LCAP.

The creation of LCAP is a step in the right direction for the special education program to get the funds and materials it so badly needs; but it is pivotal this money is monitored to ensure it is put towards the right programs, as well as properly spread throughout each of the four branches LCAP claims to fund.