CAC NEWS
VENTURA COUNTY SELPA, SEPTEMBER 2025
INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
A collaborative partnership of
school districts, staff, students, parents/families,
and community agencies
Supporting Equitable Learning, Programs and Access
for ALL students.
Next CAC Executive Board meeting:
CAC Meeting
Monday, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Members of the public are always welcome to attend CAC meetings and give pubic comments.
To receive Meeting Notices Click Here.
Down Syndrome Awareness Walk
2025 DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS WALK
Saturday, Septemeber 6, 2025
Join us as we gather at 'olotkoy Beach Park (formerly known as Oxnard Beach Park) for our
Annual Down Syndrome Walk.
There will be Resource Booths, Food, Raffles, and a DJ!
Register today! Register Here *Event is FREE, however, participants must pay for parking
Date: *SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH 2025
Time: 11:00 AM-2:00PM
Address: 1601 HARBOR BLVD, OXNARD.
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
CAPTAIN & RAINBOW COLLABORATION
How To Handle the Hectic Holiday: Tips and Strategies for Supporting Youth with Autism During Unstructured Breaks.
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Time: 6:00PM - 7:30PM
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE: The holidays - everyoneβs favorite time of the year! Or is it? Are you concerned with how your child will handle the unstructured time? This practical and engaging workshop will offer strategies tools for not just surviving the holidays, but possibly enjoying them as well!
ENGLISH:
Julie Affronti,
Behavior Specialist, Ventura County Office of Education
Tamme Koehn,
Program Specialist, Ventura Unified School District
SPANISH:
Isabell Garcia-Thomas,
M.S., B.C.B.A, Oxnard School District
***There is no cost associated with this event, however, online registration is required.
Click here for registration. A zoom link will be emailed to you a day prior to the event.
A Message from Joanna V. Della Gatta, Ventura County SELPA Assistant Superintendent:
"Dear families and community agencies, I wanted to share this special message.
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a landmark legislation that reshaped public education and opened doors for millions of students with disabilities.
To celebrate this milestone, the SELPA Administrators are curating a series of resources that reflect on IDEAβs legacy and its ongoing impact in our schools. Our SELPA will be sharing these resources with districts, families, and community partners throughout the school year to honor the progress we've made and inspire continued advocacy and inclusion.
Linked here are the first set of resources. We hope they serve as a meaningful reminder of the power of inclusive education and the importance of our collective commitment to every learner."
SELPA ADMINISTRATORS OF CA
We invite you to celebrate the 50 anniversary of the IDEA throughout the 25/26 school year by engaging in activities that will facilitate learning, promote recognition and inclusion, and celebrate diversity. Each month, theme-based activities and resources will be shared. To share your celebration ideas/activities with us, please email: IDEA50@selpa.info | To learn more about SELPAs, visit www.selpa.info
Honoring the Roots of Inclusive Education
Pioneers & Progress: Honoring the Roots of Inclusive Education
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), originally enacted in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was born from the civil rights movement to ensure equal educational access for children with disabilities. Influenced by landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education and PARC v. Pennsylvania, the law mandated a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Renamed IDEA in 1990, it expanded to include autism and traumatic brain injury, and later amendments emphasized parental involvement, transition services, and alignment with broader education reforms. Subsequent amendments in 1997 and 2004 strengthened its provisions. Though the federal full funding promise has not been fulfilled to date, IDEA continues to be the foundation of special education in the U.S., guaranteeing students with disabilities the right to learn and thrive.
Exploring the concept of LRE and its importance in ensuring students with disabilities are educated with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate.
Least Restrictive Environment: β...to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.β
[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]
DISABILITY HIGHLIGHTS: DEAFNESS AND HARD OF HEARING
Deafness: A hearing impairment so severe that a child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Hard of Hearing: An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a childβs educational performance but is not included under the definition of βdeafnessβ.
Do you know a teacher, student, parent, paraeducator or specialist who has gone above and beyond to in serving Special Education student(s) and/or families?
Nominate them for a Ventura County SELPA Commendation. Use the application provided below.
CLICK HERE for the VC SELPA Commendation Application.
Attendance Awareness Month!
The 2025 Attendance Awareness Campaign, led by Attendance Works, is focused on reducing chronic absenteeism with the slogan: "Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow!". September is recognized as Attendance Awareness Month, with a major push to highlight the connection between regular school attendance and student well-being, academic success, and future career readiness. The campaign emphasizes partnerships between families, schools, and communities, and offers webinars, toolkits, and promotional materials to support efforts to improve attendance across the country.
Parents and families are essential partners in promoting good attendance because they have the bottom-line responsibility for making sure their children get to school every day. Just as parents should focus on how their children are performing academically, they have a responsibility to set expectations for good attendance and to monitor their childrenβs absences, so that missed days donβt add up to academic trouble.
This Parent Handout outlines strategies including:
- Make getting students to school on time every day a top priority.
- Alert schools and community agencies to barriers that keep kids from attending class.
- Ask for and monitor data on chronic absence.
- Demand action to address systemic barriers that may be causing large numbers of students to miss too much school.
For parents of secondary school students, check out this handout.
Absenteeism has surged among students at every economic level, some groups are more impacted than others, such as students with disabilities, who are more likely to be chronically absent than their peers.
Alternative Diploma Pathway
In 2022, new legislation in California went into effect that states that local education agencies (LEAs) should offer all qualifying students with disabilities a new pathway to a high school diploma. This legislation was amended in 2023 and clarified by the California Department of Education (CDE) in a 2024 guidance letter and frequently asked questions.
Governor Approves AB 438 Establishing New Postsecondary Goals and Services Requirements for High School Students
Existing law requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Existing law requires, beginning not later than the first individualized education program to be in effect when a pupil is 16 years of age, or younger if determined appropriate by the individualized education program team, and updated annually thereafter, the individualized education program to include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals and transition services, as defined, needed to assist the pupil in reaching those goals.
This bill would instead require an individualized education program, commencing July 1, 2025, to include measurable postsecondary goals and transition services, if determined appropriate by a pupilβs individualized education program team, beginning when an individual with exceptional needs is starting their high school experience and not later than the first individualized education program to be in effect when the pupil is 16 years of age, as provided. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies in relation to individualized education programs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
"RECOGNIZING A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE IS NOT AGREEMENT; IT IS SIMPLY UNDERSTANDING THAT OTHER POINTS OF VIEW ARE ALSO MEANINGFUL."
Peopleβs feelings and experiences are their truth. To build a strong partnership, clearly express your concerns and perspective, and acknowledge other views by showing you are listening through repeating what they say or putting it into your own words. Recognize their perspective without immediately judging their intent. Accepting and recognizing others' perspectives, even without agreement, helps to defuse tension, shows respect, and promotes productive conversation where you can work together for your child.
Sample language:
βI can see from your perspective why you would feel this way.β
βI hear your concerns about...β
βThank you for letting know.β
To help address concerns surrounding immigration and schools, VCOE has created a web page with information and resources for educators and families.
You can find it in English at www.vcoe.org/rights and in Spanish at www.vcoe.org/derechos.
The Ventura County SELPA recognizes that we can't do our best for our students with disabilities without the care and support of their parents, guardians and others who know and love them. The SELPA and its member districts are committed to involving parents as important members of the team in reviewing assessments and progress and making decisions about their children.
In addition, the SELPA is committed to including parents of children with disabilities in evaluating programs, providing ideas for improvement, and developing educational opportunities for other parents along the way. Our Special Education administrators appreciate your input regarding program improvements and encourage you to call or write with constructive suggestions. In addition, the Ventura County SELPA Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is mandated by California Education code to receive input and make recommendations about Special Education programs.
Rainbow Connection Family Resource and Empowerment Center
Rainbow Connection serves children and adults with developmental disabilities, their families, the professionals who work with them, and their communities, families of children and young adults with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 22 navigating special education and the IEP process throughout Ventura County.
Rainbow Connection believes that every person should be valued, respected, and given the opportunity to reach their fullest potential. Rainbow Connection is dedicated to offering understanding, support, information, education, and resources to all members of the community in both English and Spanish.
Email: rainbow@tri-counties.org
Website: https://rainbowconnectionfrc.weebly.com/
Phone: 805-485-9643
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rainbowconnectionfrc
Record Keeping With Rainbow!!
Rainbow Connection offers training sessions to help parents and caregivers keep track of their child's paperwork!
Please call for more information:
Rainbow Connection
805-485-9643
Tri-Counties Regional Center
Tri-Counties Regional Center is one of twenty-one non-profit regional centers in California providing lifelong services and supports for people with developmental disabilities residing in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
TCRC provides person and family-centered supports for individuals with developmental disabilities to maximize opportunities and choices for living, working, learning, and recreating in the community.
Early Start Program β Newborn to Age 3, No Referral Needed
Are you concerned about your child's development? Does any aspect of their speech, physical abilities, behavior, or any other area seem delayed? We want you to know that the Tri-Counties Regional Center Early Start program is here to identify and treat developmental delays in children 0-3 years of age. These services are free; there is no cost to you. Please share the word that anyone may refer to our Early Start program. If you are concerned about your childβs development, visit our Connect with an Intake Coordinator web page. Learn more about our Early Start program here.
Register Here For Regional Email Alerts
Oxnard
2401 East Gonzales Road, Oxnard, CA 93036
(805) 485-3177 (800) 664-3177 FAX (805) 988-9521
Simi Valley
2635 Park Center Drive, Suite A, Simi Valley, CA 93065
(805) 522-8030 (800) 517-2524 FAX (805) 522-8142
Fillmore
970 W. Ventura Street, Fillmore, CA 93015
(805) 292-1101 (844) 926-5992 FAX (805) 292-1103
State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD)
Welcome to SCDD!
The State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD)is established by state and federal law as an independent state agency to ensure that people with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and supports they need.
Consumers know best what supports and services they need to live independently and to actively participate in their communities. Through advocacy, capacity building and systemic change, SCDD works to achieve a consumer and family-based system of individualized services, supports, and other assistance.
Vision:
Californians with developmental disabilities are guaranteed the same full and equal opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as all Americans.
Mission:
The Council advocates, promotes and implements policies and practices that achieve self-determination, independence, productivity and inclusion in all aspects of community life for Californians with developmental disabilities and their families
SELPA LEADERSHIP AND STAFF
The Ventura County SELPA office is responsible for the
implementation of the Ventura County Special Education Local Plan, and for ensuring a free appropriate public education to all students with identified disabilities according to the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Joanna V. Della Gatta - Associate Superintendent
Sarah Fontenot - Administrative Assistant III
Regina Reed - Director of Personnel Development
Anabel Lopez-Penny - Administrative Assistant II
Ana Teran - Administrative Assistant II
Kerry Newlee, Director, Technical Support and Transition
Heather Manheim & Jorge Contreras, Workability Program
Lisa Garcia, Administrative Assistant II
Stacey Alvey - Director, Family & School Collaboration
Peter Aguirre - Program Specialist, Family & School Collaboration
Tailina Tapia - Administrative Assistant II
Melbourne Aquino, Program Specialist
Lisa Garcia, Administrative Assistant II
Email: vcselpa@vcoe.org
Website: www.vcselpa.org
Location: 5100 Adolfo Road, Camarillo, CA, USA
Phone: 805-437-1560
Facebook: https://facebook.com/VenturaCOE
Twitter: @VenturaCOE