> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Talarico asks for more time - URL: https://www.smdp.com/talarico-asks-for-more-time/ - Published: 2008-04-24T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T23:55:28.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *More than $500K remains in limbo* (subhed) More than $500,000 for schools still in limbo By Melody Hanatani Daily Press Staff Writer CITY HALL — A meeting between city and school officials regarding special education, which for weeks generated buzz regarding its potential implications on the future of district funding, saw an anticlimactic end Tuesday when Superintendent Dianne Talarico asked the City Council to continue its hold on $530,000. The suggestion came more than three weeks after the release of an independent assessment of special education at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, a department that has come under fire by parents and city officials for a lack of transparency and an alleged culture of fear. The assessment was among several conditions placed on the district by city officials last summer in order for schools to receive the $530,000 increase in local aid. Strings were attached to the cash after parents of special education children contacted councilmembers informing them of the district’s practice of issuing settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses, dubbed by parents as “secret deals.” Among the conditions was for the district to place a moratorium on confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements unless requested by the parents. Talarico informed the council that a total of 37 settlement agreements had been entered into since the moratorium was enacted in July 2007, a total of 28 with a confidentiality clause. Nine settlement agreements were written without a confidentiality clause. The superintendent said that she was assured by her staff that the parents were notified up front about the moratorium and that confidentiality clauses were agreed upon at the request of the parent, a statement that drew gasps from some members of the audience. But a group of parents in recent weeks has claimed they were actually coerced into signing the confidentiality clauses after the moratorium was adopted. Given that more time would be needed to further investigate those claims, Talarico suggested to the council that it continue to withhold the funding for another 30 days. 40F,“I don’t feel like I can completely say that we have complied at all levels,” Talarico said, adding that she wants the council to hold the money until she can make a solid recommendation to the Board of Education next month. It was believed that the council would make a decision on the funding at the meeting. Among the parents who allege being coerced into post-moratorium confidentiality clauses is Claudia Landis who said that district staff did not mention the moratorium at all during the settlement agreement process. Settlement agreements are entered into after an impasse is reached in the negotiations for Individualized Education Plans, which outline services that special education students receive during the year. Included within some agreements are confidentiality clauses. Landis, her voice shaking and appearing frightened, said that she did not plan to speak at the council meeting but felt compelled to voice her experience after hearing Talarico’s remarks that the confidentiality clauses were entered voluntarily. 409,“I did not have the feeling that we could sign the agreement or had the option to sign with the confidentiality clause removed,” she said. Landis added that she expressed her concern to a school board member who subsequently asked district staff about the confidentiality clause. The unnamed school board member reported back to Landis that the confidentiality clauses were legal for any IEP negotiations that commenced prior to the moratorium. She added that there are four or five other families who have an unsolicited confidentiality clause. The meeting appeared contentious throughout as several councilmembers expressed disappointment and surprise that the confidentiality clauses continued. At least one councilmember questioned whether any disciplinary action would be taken if Talarico learned that the parents were indeed coerced into the confidentiality clauses, others criticized the superintendent for her remarks that she had other work to attend to and did not have time to stay through the entire public hearing. “If I were able to prove indeed that a staff member or some staff members were telling me untruths, then there would be consequences for those staff members,” Talarico said. The meeting was emotional for some councilmembers. Mayor Herb Katz choked up as he spoke about his own experience as a special education parent in the school district decades ago, also going through a similar struggle. “I know how you feel and the amazing thing is how it’s coming back again,” Katz said. He continued that disciplinary action should be taken against staff if it’s true that there were forced confidentiality agreements after the moratorium. “If you leave them there, then they’re going to continue with this,” Katz said. “I may not be on the school board but that just common sense.” Councilmember Pam O’Connor talked about the issues with the council potentially acting as policy makers on education, adding that there should be a funding model in which certain milestones must be reached by the district. “That’s the bottom line here that we need to keep in focus,” she said. The report by Lou Barber and Associates found that while settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses are legal, there was concern in the number of such deals entered into in the past three years — more than 140. In her report to the school board last week, Talarico laid out a preliminary draft response to the report, outlined within it some action steps, including creating a culture of inclusion, training staff on special education law and using settlement agreements as a last resort. During the meeting, school board members appeared near unanimous in retaining an ombudsmen to act as a representative for parents in the negotiations. School board members also said they wanted to see strict compliance with the moratorium and any new confidentiality clauses require approval of the superintendent. Talarico stressed to councilmembers that there is no quick fix solution and it will take time to put new policies into effect. Some councilmembers said it should take only one day, not years, to make changes. “I do know we learned some valuable lessons through this process,” she said. “Part of me wants to thank you for making us go through it.” “We are viewing the report of findings as an opportunity for us to grow and I do believe we must be held accountable, all of us for the words we use and the actions we choose,” she added. Jump hedline: District criticized for continued use of confidentiality clauses Suggested pullquote: “If I were able to prove indeed that a staff member or some staff members were telling me untruths, then there would be consequences for those staff members.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 24, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)