• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Parents Decry Special-Ed Program

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 15:02 CST

By Jeanine Benca, STAFF WRITER

DANVILLE -- A longtime controversy over San Ramon Valley Unified School Districts special education program resurfaced this week, with school trustees defending efforts to improve the program saying progress has been made, despite parents vociferous claims to the contrary.

About a dozen mothers and fathers spoke at Tuesdays heated board meeting, which included an annual update from the districts special programs department. The group coordinates services for San Ramon Valleys 2,371 special education students, overseeing every child with a diagnosed physical, mental or emotional disability.

Weve definitely gone down in our number of (complaints), assistant director of special education, Karen Hoillbrenner told the board.

Ten parents filed for due process hearings in 2004-05, compared to 18 last year and 25 the year before, according to the departments report.

A special education action plan, implemented three years ago in response to compliance complaint findings by the state Department of Education, has bolstered organization within San Ramon Valleys program and helped improve parent/district communication, staff members said.

The departments most challenging task is facilitating individualized education plans (IEPs) -- the written contracts between parents and school district that determine which services students are entitled to based on their disabilities. Examples of services include speech therapists and one-on-one classroom or home aides.

In a public forum following the presentation, parents attacked school leaders claims that they have tried to make improvements, accusing them of ignoring their repeated calls and e-mails, and breaking IEP contracts by failing to provide promised services.

The parents argued they have been forced to resort to attorneys to advocate for their children.

Ive sat here numerous times to giveyou a piece of my mind. Most of us parents are just exhausted of the fight and know that nothing concrete ever comes of these meetings," said one speaker, Stefanie Clark.

Another parent, Nanette Frost, told the board angrily, "Things are no different from what they were three years ago. Nothing ever gets better."

Parents' biggest grievances were of continuous breaks in service, resulting when their child's aide or home tutor abruptly quits. It takes months for the district to provide a replacement, causing problems for special-needs students who rely on consistency, parents said.

They also balked at the quality of the district's aides, many of whom only have high school degrees and no experience working with special-needs students.

One father reported a tutor falling asleep in the back of the classroom when she was supposed to be working with his son.

In complaints filed with the state Department of Education, San Ramon Valley Unified was found out-of-compliance four times this year for failing to implement IEPs, compared to three times last year and once the year before. In two separate cases this year, the district was found out-of-compliance for failing to adhere to IEP and assessment timelines.

Assistant superintendent Christine Williams attributed the problems to "systemic" issues, including a statewide shortage of qualified speech therapists and lack of adequate special education funding.

She cited the district's rising number of autistic children, many of whom require highly specialized, one-on-one attention.

"We are seeing many more students with more severe disabilities," said Williams, who added that low pay combined with the stresses of the job lead to high turnover among the students' classroom aides.

Currently, there are 118 autistic students in the district, making up the third largest special education sub-group. Most of the speakers Tuesday were parents of autistic children.

Board members, who didn't begin speaking until the public forum ended at 10:30 p.m., made relatively terse comments and appeared incensed at a number of remarks made by parents.

"I don't really know what to say... We need to do more. There's only so much we can do," said trustee Nancy Petsuch.

School officials have maintained that those who spoke at the meeting are part of a core group of chronically dissatisfied parents who do not represent the majority of special education families. Those parents, they say, are driving up the district's legal costs.

San Ramon Valley Unified spent $534,000 last year in attorney's fees related to special education disputes and has spent $379,555 this year, according to school officials.

Not all who attended the meeting aired complaints. Several mothers of special-ed students spoke on behalf of the district, including one mom, Rachel Hurd.

"I've got plenty of complaints, too...but you can't expect the schools to fix your child," she said.

Cathy Nicoll, coordinator for the state-run Special Education Planning Agency, said San Ramon Valley Unified was found out of compliance by the state more times than any other school district in Contra Costa County this year.

But she added,"I think parents in San Ramon are much more vigilant in watching compliance issues than they are in other districts. Families may have unrealistic expectations about the level of services a financially strapped public school district can provide, Nicoll said.

Eileen Matteucci, a children's rights attorney who is representing several parents at the meeting, disagrees.

"All of my clients would be happy if they just got what was promised to them in their IEPs."

Source: Oakland Tribune

More News in this Category