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Staff Contacts - Office of Special Education

Assistance for Parents

Parents with questions or needing assistance can contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit. 

Special Education

Questions about Special Education or needing assistance please contact the Office of Special Education at:

Phone: 720-926-1453
Email: Parents_ESSUquestions@cde.state.co.us

Young Children (Birth to age 5) or Preschool

Questions about young children (birth to age 5) or Preschool Special Education please contact the Preschool Team:

Phone:  303-501-0837
Email: White_H@cde.state.co.us

Preschool Special Education and Child Find Contacts

Gifted Education

For questions about Gifted Education, please contact Gifted Education Team:

Phone: 720-774-0908
Email: McKinney_R@cde.state.co.us 


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This list provides the areas of responsibility for the Office of Special Education staff as well as the offices listed below as part of the Exceptional Student Services Unit. ESSU Responsibility List.

Staff contacts for other ESSU offices:


Executive Director & Administrative Assistant

Paul Foster, Ed.D., Executive Director
Email Dr. Paul Foster
720-926-4033

Suzy Shotts, Administrative Assistant
Email Suzy Shotts
720-926-4033

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Gloria Durosko
Supervisor, Data and Monitoring Liaison
Email Gloria Durosko
720-822-5102

 

Orla Bolger
Special Education Data Analyst
Email Orla Bolger
720-921-0524

 

Josh Fails
Online Project Coordinator
Fails_j@cde.state.co.us
720-618-0538

Sarah Tarus
Program Support
720-765-0361

 

Vacant
Accountability Specialist


Kerry Whitmore
Supervisor, General Supervision and Monitoring
Email Kerry Whitmore
720-456-0397

 

Kathryn Hunt
Fiscal Monitoring Specialist
Email Kathryn Hunt
303-681-8049

Becky O’Malley
SPED Monitoring and Technical Assistance Consultant
Email Becky O'Malley
303-895-5108

Nick Smosna
SPED Monitoring and Technical Assistance Consultant
Email Nick Smosna
303-548-5597

Hannah Prokop
SPED Monitoring and Technical Assistance Consultant
Email Hannah Prokop 
720-284-8144

Zack Van Sant 
SPED Monitoring and Technical Assistance Consultant 
Email Zack Van Sant 
720-668-2609

Vacant
DMS/State IEP Specialist
Email Kerry Whitmore
720-456-0397

Vacant
Program Support

Vacant
RDA Specialist
Email Kerry Whitmore
720-456-0397

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Access, Learning and Literacy (ALL) Team

Tanni Anthony, Director / Blind/Visually Impaired and Deaf-Blind Specialist
Email Tanni Anthony, 303-503-4647

 

Roberta Curtis
Program Support
Email Roberta Curtis
720-456-2601

Steve Dyer
Program Support
Email Steven Dyer
720-467-0914

Holly Jackson
Program Support
Email Holly Jackson
720-948-8141

Berta Schlachet
Program Support
Email Berta Schlachet
303-725-9245

Lauren Gould
Program Support
Email Lauren Gould
720-467-1474

 

 

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Jon Paul Burden
Supervisor, Special Education Director TA Specialist
Email Jon Paul Burden
(720) 646-0101

Jody Dickerson, RN, BSN, MN
Brain Injury Specialist
Email Jody Dickerson
(720) 795-2273 

Gail Lott, Ed.D.
Secondary Transition Specialist
Email Gail Lott
303-501-0347

Katie Oliver
Inter-agency Transition Liaison
Email Katie Oliver
720-413-4006

Vacant
OT / PT Consultant
Email Jon Paul Burden
720-646-0101

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Gina Hererra
Supervisor / SSN and Deaf-Blind Specialist
Email Gina Herrera
303-253-0451

Bill Brown
Affective Needs / Serious Emotional Disability Specialist
Email Bill Brown
720-603-3000

Krista Klabo, Ed.S., NCSP
School Psychology and Special Education Evaluation Specialist
Email Krista Klabo
720-284-2524

Shani O'Brien
Speech Language Pathologist Specialist
Email Shani O'Brien
303-868-8351

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Ellen Hunter
Supervisor / Literacy Specialist
Email Ellen Hunter
720-512-8614

Holly Baker Hill
Structured Literacy Coach
Email Holly Baker Hill
720-814-6941

Val Rolph
Structured Literacy Coach
Email Val Rolph
720-512-8613

Tamara Viehl
Structured Literacy Coach
Email Tamara Viehl
720-799-3722

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Shauna Moden
Supervisor / Deaf Education Specialist
Email Shauna Moden
720-413-0179

Brooke Carson, PhD
Autism Spectrum Disorder Specialist
Email Brooke Carson
720-215-8647

Rhonda Danner, M.A.
Autism Spectrum Disorder Specialist
Email Rhonda Danner
720-460-8368

Hunter Smith
Multilingual Learners With Disabilities Specialist
Email Hunter Smith
720-202-2623

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Michael Ramirez, Ed.D.
Supervisor, Strategic Partnerships, Equity Projects
Email Michael Ramirez
720-460-6251

Emily Ottinger
Specific Learning Disability Specialist
Email Emily Ottinger
720-456-5301

Cindy Petersen
E-Learning Specialist
Email Cindy Petersen
720-760-0806

Amanda Timmerman
E-Learning Specialist
Email Amanda Timmerman
720-916-4481

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Early Childhood Special Education Team

Heidi White
Director
Email Heidi White
303-501-0837
 

Marcia Blum
Early Childhood Special Education Specialist
Email Marcia Blum
720-799-4015

Rebecca Browning-Floyd
Results Matter and Early Childhood Specialist
Email Rebecca Browning-Floyd
303-880-3697

Mary Morin
Child Find Specialist
Email Mary Morin
720-766-6507

Michele Pugsley
Early Childhood Special Education Specialist
Email Michele Pugsley
720-660-0255

Missy Taucher
Early Childhood Special Education Specialist
Email Missy Taucher
720822-6239

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ESSU Fiscal Systems

Vicki Graham, Supervisor, ESSU Fiscal Systems
Email Vicki Graham, 303-866-6442

 

 

Lisa SchmitESSU Accounting Technician
Email Lisa Schmit
720-916-6123

 

 

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General Supervision and Monitoring

Candace Hawkins, Director, Dispute Resolution and Guidance
Email Candace Hawkins, 720-355-1869
 


Brandon Edelman
Supervisor, Dispute Resolution
Email Brandon Edelman
303-704-9138

Ashley Schubert
Senior State Complaints Officer
Email Ashley Schubert
720-788-0576

Rachel Dore
Senior State Complaints Officer
Email Rachel Dore
720-951-8457

Nick Podsiadlik
State Complaints Officer
Email Nick Podsiadlik
303-548-5597

Nick Butler
State Complaints Officer
Email Nick
720-402-0333

Lee Sosebee
State Complaints Officer
Email Lee
720-926-7945

Gloria Alaniz
Dispute Resolution Coordinator
Email Gloria Alaniz
720-584-4673

CiCi Lyman
Program Support
Email Cici Lyman
720-760-0421

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Katherine Rains
Supervisor, Dispute Prevention and Assisted Resolution
Email Katherine Rains
720-990-1464

Beth Donahue
Family Engagement Specialist
Email Beth Donahue
720-926-1453

Vacant
ADR Coordinator

Pahmela Mendoza
Family School Program Specialist
Email Pahmela Mendoza
720-237-4600

David Ramer
Program Support
Email David Ramer
303-866-6943

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TTY (Deaf & Hard of Hearing)

Call 303-860-7060

 Find Your Special Education Director

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If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit at ESSU@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.