KYLE — The Hays CISD Board of Trustees received an update regarding the district's special education program at its Feb. 18 meeting.
Special Education Executive Officer Michelle Velasquez began the discussion by sharing new inclusive play communication boards for school playgrounds. According to Velasquez, one of the special education staff members brought forth the idea in the fall of 2023 and in February 2024, staff was able to visit with vendors to get more information. After, discussions about upgrading elementary campus playgrounds to provide more inclusivity were had with the necessary staff, which led to their wishes coming true, said Velasquez.
“We did meet with each of the campus principals and a team; they were able to customize their board. They are bilingual [and] they do provide a QR code for parents and families to download the board onto their own device so they can use it at home,” explained Velasquez.
All of the boards have been delivered, she continued, and they are now waiting to be installed.
“We are just very excited that we can bring our verbal and nonverbal students together during this universal language of play on our playgrounds,” said Velasquez.
The last time the board received a presentation on the special education program, there were 324 students who transferred into the district that required these services and now, in a span of six months, there are 578.
With this growth, there are still vacant spaces within the department, but there are applicants currently being reviewed.
Velasquez also touched on the student-to-teacher ratio, stating that there are no mandates, but that the needs of students are being met. For example, at one campus there is the same amount of staff for 14 students as it is for 10 students at another: “The needs of the students are significant enough for us to have that number of staff in the classroom.”
“It is a little easier for our students that are older because they’re a little more independent and have had plenty of practice for transitioning from classroom to classroom,” she said.
Although teachers have struggled this past year, Velasquez emphasized their resilience.
Melisa Corona, director of special education, stated that in the resource inclusion classrooms, the number has grown, but that is primarily due to dyslexia moving under the special education umbrella.
“We have to focus on the foundation that we’re serving our kids in elementary and make sure that those basic skills are right because, like we’ve seen in the data, we have to have that really good foundation, so that they can carry that through middle and high school,” said Corona.
It has been noted that some of the resource inclusion students, specifically in social studies and science, have been struggling with growth in the classroom. This could be because the teacher- to-student ratio can sometimes be high and they struggle to keep track of each person’s goals.
Additionally, special education staff have commented on the need for training for the general education teachers, as they will also have these students in their classes.
“Our goal is to dismiss kids. We want to give them the skills that they need and keep them in receiving special education services only as long as they absolutely need it. Overall, this has been a really difficult year,” said Corona.
As they increase their efforts for staff retention, there will also soon be a Special Education Employee Advisory Committee and a special education cohort has been formed, which will prepare teachers to take the certification test. Currently, 13 teachers are enrolled.
“It’s going really well. I have some feedback from a teacher saying that it was validating for her that many of the differentiation strategies that she’s been learning in the training are things that she’s been doing in the classroom,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Christina Courson.
Trustee Courtney Runkle requested to learn more about how the Curriculum & Instruction Division is involved in training these teachers and what it looks like because she understands that there is a struggle.
In addition to this, 125 substitutes, which is 30% of the pool, according to Courson, have been trained to work in the special education classrooms, as well, with more trainings occurring late spring.
“We’ve also built a great partnership with the city of Kyle. They are bringing lots of inclusive events to our community that we are a part of and it's really great to see families outside the school setting and in the community and join all of the events that they have,” said Velasquez.
“I appreciate you highlighting the vacancies and being really candid of where we are and the roles that we need to fill,” said trustee Johnny Flores. “I love that you showed us the inclusive playground; it shows that we value all students in this district that attend our campuses. We make it 100% possible here at Hays and I hope that the state legislature makes it 100% possible that they fund public education and maybe we can have an easier time filling these vacancies.”
To listen to the presentation, visit bit.ly/3Qu0oq9.
