A bill before the Oregon Legislature would rectify a key priority of OSEA for several years: granting classified school employees who work with special needs students access to individual education plans (IEPs) and 504 plans. Senate Bill (SB) 756A acknowledges classified employees as a key group of frontline workers whose care provides daily support for Oregon special education students, including some of the most medically fragile in the system.

The combination of access to the planning documents and acknowledgement of classified as key members of the IEP teams is an important step in meeting the needs of students with special needs. An IEP is a blueprint for a child’s special education experience at school. A 504 plan identifies how a school or ESD will provide support and remove barriers for a student with a disability. While classified in some districts have access to IEPs and 504 plans, it is far from universal across the state. SB 756A would require schools to give employees assigned to work with a special needs student access to specified records, to consult those employees when an education plan is reviewed or revised and to provide adequate training of staff to work with a student safely and effectively. Withholding access to a student’s IEP means staff are working in the dark, hampering a student’s educational experience and risking staff and student safety.

OSEA members testified before the House Committee on Education on Monday, April 24, to urge lawmakers to pass SB 756. Misty Talerico of Tillamook Chapter 28, herself the mother of students with special needs, told committee members that Oregon cannot afford to exclude classified at IEP meetings. “Many districts will say that we cannot afford to have classified employees at the IEP meeting. They are wrong… As a mother to children on 504 plans and IEPs, I want the staff who spend the majority of their time with my child there at the meeting giving important information to the IEP team and being fully aware of changes that need to be made.”

Next, SB 756A will head to a House Floor Debate. It has already passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support.

Representative Zach Hudson told OSEA, “I’m proud to support SB 756. As a special education teacher, I know how important it is to include classified staff who work with students in the decision-making process. Classroom assistants are often the ones who spend the most time with a student and have the most insights when it comes to their educational needs and their progress. Furthermore, I know that all staff can do their job better when they have accurate and up-to-date information about a student. It only makes sense that classified staff should have access to the IEP of a student they work with. Special education takes teamwork, and classified staff are an essential part of that team.”