The Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) has a large population of students whose parents are field workers. Unfortunately, often the parents are not aware of the services that are available to their child with a disability. Parents think that because their child has a disability he/she might not be able to find employment. Parents might not realize, however, that there are programs available for students with disabilities, which assist the student to transition from school into the workforce.

Francisco Rodriguez works as a Vocational Specialist for PVUSD. He assists students with disabilities, predominately Latinos, with making their transition from school to work. Students with disabilities can be referred to the program in a number of ways; by a teacher, a parent, or community member who feels the student would benefit from the services. Once the student is referred, the transition staff will do an intake evaluation to determine whether the student qualifies for services.  

Transition team

The transition team collaborates with a number of agencies including Career Works - an agency that provides employment services to students with disabilities. Francisco is currently working with the assistant principals and the special education chair to provide education to students, teachers and parents regarding students' transition from school to work. His vision is to create an annual event for students, parents, and teachers to network and receive information about the services available for youth in transition. Many people do not know high school students have a range of options including vocational training, college or employment after graduation.

One of Francisco's duties is to identify the 12 th graders who could benefit from services and work with them to transition to their next life step. Francisco and his staff usually work with each student for a total of three years. Francisco said most students choose to attend community college where they work closely with the Disabled Students' Programs & Services to provide support and help assure the students' success. If the student would like to go straight to work, the vocational specialist works with them to find suitable employment. During chamber of commerce events the vocational specialists network with employers and work to create partnerships. For example, the Gottchalks store tends to hire a lot of students for their holiday season, through the program.

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