A Message to Our Community: Continuous Improvement in Special Education

Dear Elk Grove Unified Families, Staff, and Community Members,

As you know, our learning vision is to "Ensure Every Student is Learning, in Every Classroom, in Every Subject, Every Day”. Central to this mission is our unwavering commitment to continuous improvement for the betterment of our students, staff, families, and the broader community we serve.

As part of this ongoing commitment, the District recently partnered with WestEd, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit education research agency, to conduct a comprehensive Special Education System Review. This study was designed to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of our Special Education programs, helping us identify our system's strengths as well as areas where we can grow and refine our services. (You may access the full report here.)

A Collaborative, Inclusive, and Transparent Process

We believe that progress is only possible when we meaningfully engage our student, staff, family, and community member educational partners. This systemic review was a collaborative and transparent process that relied heavily on the active participation of our educational partners.

The study took place during the 2025-2026 school year by gathering a diverse set of perspectives and information from a wide variety of sources, such as classroom observations, comprehensive surveys, focus groups and interviews, IEP instructional reviews, and both publicly available and district-provided program and financial data. 

We are profoundly grateful to our families, teachers, support staff, and administrators for their candor, time, and dedication during this review. Your collaboration has provided us with a clear, honest, and incredibly valuable roadmap for the future.

What We Learned: Confirming Our Direction

The WestEd study focused on five essential, interconnected elements of an effective special education system: Systems Integration, Policies and Procedures, Learning Environments, Human Resources and Fiscal Responsibility, Family and Community Partnerships. 

The findings of this report confirm we are focused on the right things. Those include overall improvement to our Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), strengthening our early response to student needs, expanding opportunities for inclusive learning environments, and building more consistent, unified procedures across all of our school sites. The insights gained from WestEd's analysis will directly inform our upcoming goals and action plans.

Next Steps: Join the Conversation

In keeping with our promise of complete transparency throughout this process, we want to ensure our community has ample time to review these findings.

• Report Availability: The complete WestEd Special Education System Review Report (May 2026) is now publicly available for your review on our district website. We encourage you to download and read the report. (You may access the full report here).

• EGUSD Board Meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026: District staff will present a high-level overview of the report's findings and recommendations.  The full report will also be included within the official September 15 Board meeting agenda item for public access.

We look forward to continuing this vital work in partnership with our community. By building upon our dedicated staff’s incredible strengths, and honestly responding to challenges, we will continue to build an inclusive, equitable, and highly supportive educational system where every student in Elk Grove Unified can succeed. Should you have questions or comments you would like to submit, please send them to westedstudy@egusd.net.  We also have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that provides additional information. 

Thank you for your continued partnership and investment in our students' futures.