Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher Evie Stone self-displaced due to the loss of an RSP position because of the decrease in the number of students with individualized education programs (IEPs).
The number of students with IEPs at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School(DPMHS) dropped from 37 last year to 29 as of Norm Day 2025, according to Principal Kimberly Figueroa-Oliveira. Funding for special education is based on the number of students with IEP and due to the decline in that student population, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) dissolved one of the school’s two RSP positions.
“So right now, there was a special education teacher that self-displaced because our numbers went down,” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “However, I’m advocating, working with the district for her to stay with us. And this is more technical. She would serve as an itinerant, where she would kind of share her role with other schools since we have smaller schools around us.”
Ahead of Norm Day, which took place on Sept. 19, there was no clear information on how things would proceed or how the school students and staff would be affected. According to Stone, this change came unexpectedly.
“This was a shock,” Stone said. She had briefly left the school at the end of the 2024 fall semester in order to gain new experiences, but returned in February. “I semi-expected it as the date got closer because Ms. Figueroa had warned me the district was looking at closing one of these positions but that she was fighting hard to keep it.”
Becoming an itinerant would allow Stone to continue working with students she’s familiar with, just on a reduced schedule, according to Figueroa-Oliveira.
“It’s just tweaking the way we provide those source services while we figure out if Ms. Stone can be our itinerant,” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “We have to make sure that our kiddos get those services.”
Currently, it is unclear whether Stone will be allowed to remain as an itinerant, splitting her time between DPMHS and another school, or if she will be transferred to another school full-time.
“Right now, everything is up in the air,” Stone explained. “The district has been completely silent, so we don’t know if no news is good news. On paper, I’m not a teacher here. But they haven’t told me to go anywhere else.”
If she becomes part-time, Stone worries that it will limit her ability to connect with her students. This change would impact her 5th-period learning center, a class that helps provide support to students with IEPs. The learning center would have to be in the name of another RSP teacher, and she would act more as a substitute who would help out on days she is present.
Sadia Aziz, the remaining RSP teacher, said that losing another teacher could have a major impact on her flexibility and workload.
“Right now we have two learning centers and I have one period and she has one period,” she said. “Moving on, I would have both the learning centers.”
Aziz also noted that this would affect her ability to conduct her IEP meetings and give her less flexibility to work with students in smaller groups or give individual help.
“There would definitely be an impact where I just won’t have the flexibility to work with students whenever they need me to work with them,” Aziz said.
Students also shared concerns about Stone’s displacement.
“I wish she could work here full-time because she is a valued member of the staff and is really helpful when it comes to kids who have learning disabilities like me,” said a junior whose name is not being published since they have an IEP. “She’s very helpful in all of that.”
Despite the displacement, Figueroa-Oliveira remains hopeful for the future of DPMHS and believes that the district will help with both increasing enrollment and ensuring students get the resources they need.
“We’re going to do it this year,” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “We’re gonna increase enrollment and we’re not just gonna survive, but we’re gonna thrive.”
