ELK GROVE, Calif. — Frustrated parents and educators called out the Elk Grove Unified School District moving some teachers to Special Education in a peaceful protest Thursday.
They recently announced a shift that would see Inclusion Specialists moving to Special Education positions. However, people at the protest said they were unhappy with the approach to filling the empty teacher positions.
"As far as my family goes, it's just been kind of a shock to us. This is our real first year with our son in a special needs class," said Kay Sharma, mother of a son who is on the autism spectrum.
She says his education means the world to her and that it doesn’t seem to be a top priority to the school district after this change.
The announcement from the district means Inclusion Specialists would be teaching Special Education classes instead. It sent dozens of parents and educators protesting for a different solution.
"We feel this is an unacceptable solution to what we already acknowledge is a big problem with the teacher shortage, particularly in Special Ed," said Brandon Morgan, a father and husband of an inclusion specialist.
Sharma’s son Grayson is in one of the impacted classes. She says the class is being taught by two general education substitute teachers who really feel like permanent replacements. She says this is doing more harm than good for students and her son.
"The ideal situation for me would be for the district to offer competitive salaries and incentives for the teachers to come work here,” Sharma said. “We obviously want a special education teacher for the classroom but not at the expense of another child."
The district told ABC10 that this was a decision they had to make.
“Our priority is to make sure students have teachers in the classroom," said Xanthi Soriano, director of communications for the district.
Morgan says he would like to see if there are other options.
"The Inclusive Ed program has a lot of roots and a lot of different parts of the school and they are centered around the Inclusion Specialist, so to remove that person out of the spot with such short notice without addressing all the responsibilities, it's going to put the whole thing into chaos," Morgan said.
The "chaos" Morgan mentions is already being felt by families like Sharma's. She says her son Grayson’s education is in limbo. She has one message for the district.
“Talk to us like we're parents and you're a parent, and you understand the struggles that we're going through,” Sharma said. “I understand you're trying to do your job but at our children's expense?"
Watch more from ABC10: Citrus Heights Mesa Verde High celebrates sports stadium groundbreaking
