By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
1/28/10
The Parent Advisory Council, a parent watchdog group, is taking the School Department to task over its current approach to special education, which they say is marred by finances that outweigh students’ needs, stretching special-need student achievement gaps and spotty communication from administrators.
Those were the concerns voiced in a letter to the School Committee last week, which was read by PAC co-chair Kimberly Zieselman. The letter expressed both what the PAC feels the current school administration has done well and what they can improve upon.
Zieselman first praised Superintendent Mary Gormley and staff for implementing several initiatives she said has brought positive change in special education and fostered better inclusion for special needs students, including “co-taught” elementary classrooms that have both a special educator and a regular teacher on hand; addition of peers into summer programs; elementary language-based classrooms; the addition of a New England Center for Children classroom at Collicot; and a gross motor therapy room at Collicot, which came about from a private donation.
However, chief among the concerns expressed from the PAC was communication.
As the letter read: “Generally speaking, the PAC feels we have been left out of the planning, developing and evaluation of special education programs as required by law.
“To make matters worse, we are sensing an overall chipping away of special education that seems to be driven too much by financial concerns instead of best practices or students’ needs. [We] are aware of the economic challenges, but also note that this fiscal crisis does not eliminate the district’s responsibility to provide a ‘free and appropriate’ education for every one of our students.”
Zieselman pointed out what the letter calls a “substantial achievement gap in the special education subgroup in many of our schools,” including those students failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) at Pierce Middle School and the Collicot and Glover elementary schools.
The letter also says that children’s access to services and programs in the integrated preschool program are “being quietly reduced, and in some cases, families are being shut out and programs and services are being denied even when children have well-documented needs.”
The letter argues other points, such as the administration has not clearly communicated staffing decreases to parents of those with special needs. Parents have “little to no understanding” as to the goals of certain special-education programs and schools have inadequate plans for services when special-needs specialists are absent.
For example, in one case, the occupational therapist at Glover Elementary School went on an unexpected personal leave in October and was only replaced in January.
“So much can be accomplished simply by improving communication between staff and parents, as well as between administration and staff,” the letter concludes.
Finally, Zieselman urged the School Department to include the PAC in the screening process for a new special education director and Glover Principal, both of whom are retiring at the end of the school year. Gormley said PAC parents will make up part of the screening committees.
She said her administration takes the PAC concerns seriously and will review them as a team and report back to the School Committee.