A 2017 federal lawsuit alleged that Berkeley Unified failed to identify students with learning disorders and provide adequate services. The district settled in 2021, agreeing to improve interventions and implement universal literacy screening. The settlement assigned an impartial court monitor to assess progress and report twice yearly. In 2022 the district launched the Literacy Improvement Program (LIP) to boost early literacy and special education for at-risk readers. George Ellis was named the monitor and issued seven progress reports from November 2022 to June 2025. Concerns during a transition period led the monitor to recommend one additional year of oversight to ensure compliance and program success.
A court-appointed literacy monitor is recommending that Berkeley Unified receive an extra year of oversight to ensure compliance with a class action lawsuit settlement that required the district to overhaul how it teaches reading, especially for students with learning disorders. The lawsuit, filed in 2017 in federal court by four Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) students and their parents, alleged that the district had not done enough to identify students with learning disorders such as dyslexia and provide them with adequate services.
The school district denied the claims but agreed to settle in 2021 to avoid further legal fees and make changes to improve its literacy program. The settlement specifically tasked BUSD with improving its intervention strategies for struggling readers and implementing universal screening tests to better identify students with learning disorders. It also assigned an impartial court monitor to assess the district's progress and report back twice a year to the school board.
To meet the requirements, in 2022 the district launched its Literacy Improvement Program (LIP), aimed at increasing early literacy and improving interventions and special education for students determined to be at risk for reading disabilities. Also that year, George Ellis, director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UC Berkeley, was named as the impartial court monitor. He provided seven progress reports between November 2022 and June 2025, with BUSD also submitting quarterly progress reports to Ellis beginning in fall 2022.
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