www.montereycountyweekly.com MAY 25-31, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 The special education program in Gonzales Unified School District is under scrutiny. It is under a three-year action plan called Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM), meant to improve daily operations and increase positive outcomes for students with disabilities. The state will monitor the district until December 2025. Meanwhile, teachers and staff in pupil support services have spoken publicly during school board meetings in March and again in April, raising concerns about new leadership, specifically Eric Olsen, GUSD’s director of special education, health services and preschool. Nineteen workers took a vote of no confidence, and four of them filed a formal complaint with the district on April 24. They say Olsen has shown concerning behavior which includes questioning the need to translate documents into Spanish for parents; accusing staff of wrongly placing students in special ed; and reducing the quality of special education services. Tsega Getenet Ayon, a nurse at GUSD, says translated documents do not seem to be a priority for Olsen. “We shouldn’t have to have anyone sign anything that’s not in their native language, because how do we know that they know what they’re signing?” Getenet Ayon says. “We don’t want any more discriminatory remarks, we don’t want any more aggressive threatening in meetings in front of parents, none of that kind of behavior—because it’s just demoralizing.” (Getenet Ayon is married to GUSD boardmember Cesar Ayon.) GUSD Superintendent Matilde Zamora says CIM is standard procedure. Every year the California Department of Education analyzes data from school districts and determines which ones will need state intervention. Currently, GUSD is in intensive Level 2, a severe tier. It’s for districts that didn’t meet requirements in one or more areas (GUSD needs to improve in English and math scores, and boost inclusion for special education students in regular classes) for two or three years in a row, and it requires district staff to work with state education officials. CDE’s process is not tied to complaints about Olsen. As Zamora notes, “The district’s engagement in this process pre-dates Mr. Olsen’s employment.” (He was hired in July 2022.) Prior to GUSD, Olsen worked at Soquel Union Elementary School District as student services director. Some staff members there report similar issues. In Soquel, 17 staff members sent a letter to the board expressing concerns about Olsen’s leadership, and cast a vote of no confidence. The letter said Olsen wasn’t maintaining the special ed program’s quality and that he was “prioritizing fiscal impacts over student benefit.” Alyssa Maisano, a former school psychologist at Soquel Union, says students deserve a director “who prioritizes student services over financial benefits to the district.” “Mr. Olsen came to the district with excellent references from his prior employment,” Zamora says. Olsen declined to respond to questions and referred the Weekly to the superintendent. Class Time Special education program in Gonzales Unified is under the microscope with state oversight. By Celia Jiménez Gonzales Unified School District is in a severe tier for monitoring by the California Department of Education for several reasons, including academic performance and its special ed program. NEWS The state will monitor the district until December 2025. DANIEL DREIFUSS BEST SUMMER EVER! THE CITY OF MONTEREY FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION MONTEREY.ORG/REC OVERNIGHT CAMP DAY CAMPS TODDLER CAMPS SPORTS CAMPS AND MORE! REGISTER NOW SCAN ME!
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