

Special Education Staff Newsletter
March 2024
Dear Staff,
As we welcome the arrival of spring, our dedication to our students remains strong as well as our focus on VUSDs core values: respect, trust, collaboration, equity and kindness. In the upcoming month, our department will be hosting the Transition Workshop for families. We kindly request that you help spread the word about this event to our families. Furthermore, we have already distributed the Extended School Year (ESY) Application. Please take a moment to review the links provided below and share them with families whose students qualify for ESY.
We sincerely appreciate all of your continued support as we work together to meet the needs of our students.
With gratitude,
Nereida Gutierrez
Director, Special Education
Madison Middle School hosted its first Unified Sports Event, which brought together general education and specialized program students to promote inclusion through sports. It was a truly exciting event for our students. Please enjoy the pictures of the event below!
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Madison team for organizing this event for our families and students. Thank you for your efforts in promoting inclusion and unity through sports.
The CAC Dinner is an annual event where Districts within our SELPA showcase the key priorities they have been addressing for the fiscal year 2023-2024. It was a successful evening, providing us with a firsthand look at the impressive accomplishments and initiatives underway within the SELPA Districts.
Rancho Buena Vista High School First Coffee Cart
Interested in Teaching ESY?
HR is now accepting applications for Extended School Year (ESY - Special Education). Applications must be submitted by April 5. Please click on the link for more information and the application.
Certificated ESY Application: https://forms.gle/Xpzk65eMGQ8BZncy8
ESY Application for Eligible Students
The ESY letter and application for TK - 12th Grade has been sent home to parents of ESY eligible students along with the transportation form. Please note: Cal Ave and VATC will send out their own correspondence.
We will be holding ESY at 2 Elementary sites (TK - 5), 1 middle school site (6th - 8th), 1 high school site (9th - 12th), and at Cal Ave and VATC. TK - 12 locations are TBD and will be provided to you and the parents by mid-May. The District Office is asking for your support in helping parents if they are having difficulty with the ESY application form or uploading the ESY Transportation Form. (Please note transportation is only offered within VUSD boundaries). Dafnee Ramirez, Joseph Garza and Doris Cruz will be assisting at the DO to ensure that we get all applications back by April 12.
If you add ESY to a student's IEP after April 12th, please immediately notify your Special Education Supervisor, Dafnee Ramirez, Joseph Garza and Doris Cruz so we can provide you with the information for the parent. Remember to use the Guidelines for ESY Eligibility to help guide the team in making decisions about ESY eligibility.
CDE- Special Education Data Monitoring/Service Tracker
The IEP Implementation Audit has returned. All California schools are under an annual audit and will be required to provide proof of the implementation of IEP (SAI) services.
Beginning May 1, 2024, the California Department of Education will begin collecting aggregate data on IEP implementation. This year, VUSD will be required to review a state selected sample of student records to determine the IEP implementation rate for IEPs from March 1, 2024 - April 29, 2024. The district office will aggregate the data, but we will need your service logs to do so.
- As soon as we receive the list of student names, we will contact the people who will need to submit service tracking logs.
A timesheet for 3 hours has been approved for certificated staff who need to submit service logs to help meet the timeline (timesheet should indicate hrs. outside of contract day). This will be paid at the certificated hourly rate: Special Education - Timesheet Submission Form
We understand that this is a busy time of the year and want to make sure that we meet the CDE timeline. Please reach out to Yvonne Fortin yvonnefortin@vistausd.org if you have any questions.
IEP Work Sessions
Back by popular demand - IEP Work Sessions. Mondays 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm in the ASC/District Office Boardroom. The next session is: Monday, April 15, 2024
Please sign up in Vector:
How to add Vector PD to your Google Calendar
For any additional questions, please email or call Joe Garza josephgarza@vistausd.org
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92900
Need a form?
VUSD CPI Training
Saturday 2-Day CPI Training 4/13 & 4/20 (paid) at Mission Meadows Elementary School 8:30 am - 3 pm (SIGN UP IN VECTOR)
The two-day initial training is for individuals who have never attended a Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training OR individuals who have attended the training in the past but whose certification has expired.
Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) training is perfect for educators who directly intervene in crisis situations, teaching staff de-escalation techniques as well as restrictive and nonrestrictive interventions. Participants learn decision-making skills to match the level of the response to the risk of the crisis, focusing on the least-restrictive response to ensure the Care, Welfare, Safety, and SecuritySM of those in their care. This includes recognizing the stages of an escalating crisis and learning evidence-based techniques to appropriately de-escalate. NCI training emphasizes physical intervention as a last resort and appropriate to the level of risk.
Out of District Professional Development
Please note: you must get approval from your site administrator to attend any out of district trainings using the following form:
Staff and Student Travel Form: (FYI: this document is housed in Classlink (formally known as Cloud Connect) under "Forms."
Certificated: If you require a sub, please contact your site office manager for a school business sub. (Due to the shortage of subs, there is no guarantee that a sub will be available. Also, no school business subs are approved on Mondays and Fridays)
If you’d like to attend a webinar, please submit a Webinar Approval Form
Improving Outcomes for Multilingual Students with Exceptional Needs: Building Your Toolkit: Take & Go Resources for Practitioners Serving Dually Identified Students on April 10, 2024, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Please view the attached PDF to register.
Yvonne's Friday Tips...
Did you know that Friday Tips are more than just handy SEIS tips? They may include Important Dates and Deadlines, Changes to SEIS, CALPADS, and even updates or changes to established Procedures. Please refer to the Friday Tips each week for important updates to all things SPED.
Previously on Friday Tips...
03/29/24 - Caseload Cleanup!
03/22/24 - Emergency Circumstances Form A
03/15/24 - My IEP is NOT overdue!!!
03/08/24 - Social Services Questionnaire
03/01/24 - New certification for pending to eligible and Spring Break reminder
02/23/24 - Required dates for Initial IEPs and Initial Re-Evaluations
02/09/24 - IEPs due before Census Day and Services ending in June
02/02/24 - Statewide Assessments Page
01/26/24 - 2024 ESY Dates and IEP Implementation Audit
01/19/24 - New Name for TRI's in SEIS and How to Read the Thursday Report
01/12/24 - DNQ's and Exit IEP's - the difference
12/15/23 - How to print IEP forms in Spanish
12/08/23 - Documenting Special Assessments
12/01/23 - Affirming with an incorrect meeting date or meeting type
11/17/23 - Caseload Cleanup!
11/09/23 - Progress Reports - a walkthrough
11/03/23 - Affirm before signatures
10/27/23 - It's all in the Transportation Details and Parent Involvement
10/20/23 - ESY (does my student qualify?)
10/06/23 - Delay Code Reasons
09/29/23 - Changing signature status from unsigned to signed and Mail Etiquette
09/22/23 - Documenting a Late IEP
09/15/23 - How to edit Services, Printing Greyed out Forms and Do not PREdate IEPs
09/08/23 - Plan Effective Start Date, Selecting the Correct Meeting Type
08/25/23 - Document Management, IEP checklist
08/21/23 - New Students
08/18/23 - SEIS Training, 60 Day Timeline, What to do if an Annual and TRI are due on Separate Dates
08/11/23 - Caseload Management, New Students from a Non SEIS District
Updated: Supervisor Support List 2023 - 2024
SPED Guidelines Shared Drive
We have a shared google drive called "SpEd Guidelines" that stores all of our office hour notes and important documents. Please take some time to explore the drive if you haven't already.
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0AFviPtZ0AtWyUk9PVA
What's happening in VUSD?
Please review the below newsletter to learn about events that are occurring throughout the school district.
Previous Special Education Staff/Parent Newsletters
You can find all our Special Education Newsletters on the school district website. Please take a moment to browse through the website and share the upcoming events with our VUSD families.
Special Education Community Liaison
Please don't hesitate to communicate with our Community Liaison. We are here to facilitate communication between VUSD and families. If you need assistance please reach out to Doris Cruz
Email: doriscruz@vistausd.org
Phone number: (760) 726-2170 ext. 92914
Special Education Department Contacts:
Special Education Department: specialeducationdept@vistausd.org
Nereida Gutierrez, Director, Special Education, specialeducationdept@vistausd.org
Steffanie Rupp, Coordinator, Special Education, steffanierupp@vistausd.org
Rachel Schmidt, Principal, California Avenue School, rachelschmidt@vistausd.org
Katherine Abraham, Principal, Vista Adult Transition Program, katherineabraham@vistausd.org
Jennifer Gruman, Special Education Supervisor, jennifergruman@vistausd.org (Non public schools. residential placements)
William Foley, Special Education Supervisor (K-12 specialized programs) williamfoley@vistausd.org
Kinga Nagorny, Special Education Supervisor (Elementary) kinganagorny@vistausd.org
Casey Lynn, Special Education Supervisor Secondary Mild/Moderate caseylynn@vistausd.org
Dafnee Ramirez, Administrative Secretary, Special Education dafneeramirez@vistausd.org
Joe Garza, Staff Secretary, josephgarza@vistausd.org
Debra Harris, Data Tech debraharris@vistausd.org (elementary, private school, non-public)
Yvonne Fortin, Data Tech yvonnefortin@vistausd.org (middle and high school)
Doris Cruz, Community Liaison, Special Education doriscruz@vistausd.org
Website: https://www.vistausd.org/departments/educationalexcellence/specialeducation
Email: specialeducationdept@vistausd.org
Phone: 760- 726-2170 ext. 92900