Parents of special needs students – much like Morgan Hill resident Jayne Rovianek, who has three children ages 11 to 20 with varying disabilities – expressed their displeasure with Morgan Hill Unified School District’s recent decision to implement a satellite program for students with moderate to severe disabilities.
For $180,073, MHUSD says that hiring the state-certified Beacon School satellite program, which will be run out of Ann Sobrato High School and this year cater to as many as 10 special needs students, is a step in the right direction of providing the proper services for disabled students in Morgan Hill. The program focuses on students with autism and/or severe social and behavioral needs.
But Rovianek, highlighting a grievance expressed by numerous parents of special needs students, thinks the district got it wrong and has a history of poorly handling the education of special needs students.
Some parents claim MHUSD has continually tried to cut from its special education program funding by providing “substandard” in-house services that do not comply with state special education laws. They also say the district has been difficult to work with when putting together Individualized Education Plans for special needs students.
“We would love our children to be back in Morgan Hill,” said Rovianek, who has one child attending a non-public school paid for by MHUSD; another in a special day program at PA Walsh Elementary; and a third she paid for to attend private school. “However, without having a program with a consistent record of supporting children with all disabilities…we don’t feel that would be a prudent answer.”
For the 2013-14 school year, MHUSD allocated more than $5 million of its $63 million operating budget to enroll 103 special needs students into non-public schools or Santa Clara County Office of Education special education programs, according to Assistant Superintendent Kirsten Perez of Business Services for MHUSD.
Additionally, the district estimates spending another $6,700 per student for transportation costs.
MHUSD is required by state and federal legislation to (a) provide programs for students with special needs from kindergarten through the age of 22, or (b) find them elsewhere. Between three MHUSD schools, the district serves 966 special needs students with varying disabilities. MHUSD special education staff includes resource specialists; speech and language therapists; occupational therapists; and adapted physical education specialists.
“We want to serve all kids the best way possible,” proclaimed Interim Superintendent Steve Betando, who plans to meet with parents of special needs children to learn more about how the district can better cater to those students. “We want to supply all those services to all kids in our community.”
Beacon School “offers a therapeutic educational environment designed to meet the needs of special education students with emotional disturbance, autism spectrum disorder and students with other disabilities that may affect their behavior in the school setting.”
But parents of special needs students who spoke during last week’s Board of Education meeting did not feel confident in Beacon’s expertise, specifically working with autistic children, and want the district to seek out other special education programs with better track records.
Parents also shared during the meeting personal accounts of their strained relationship with MHUSD due to delayed assessments to identify students’ disabilities, and disagreements on the types of necessary services for their children. One parent also spoke of “vicious” treatment from MHUSD staff during an IEP meeting. Several other parents mentioned they had to threaten and/or take legal action to ensure their child would get adequate services.
“I do appreciate where they’re coming from and we don’t always see eye to eye, but we’re working through many of these issues,” said Rose DuMond, Director of Student Services and Special Education for MHUSD. “Each (case) is individual and each one is a process.”
That “process” is something that has angered some parents. They believe the district purposely delays assessments for students who show signs of having a special need because the end result could be a costly one. They also say the district tries to stonewall special needs parents into taking the least expensive route.
Parent Sue Stapleton, who has a 9-year-old, high-functioning autistic son entering the fourth grade at Paradise Valley Elementary School, told the Board of Education that MHUSD’s paraprofessionals “do not have the same credentials, nor the prerequisites required to support my son’s deficits.”
Rather, her son is doing “very well” thanks to a “highly trained behavioral management staff (contracted through MHUSD) that works with him in school.”
Stapleton said getting those services was no easy task and she has lost faith in MHUSD’s recommendations for handling special needs students.
Dumond wants to rebuild that trust. She explained the Beacon School program will include a district teacher supported by three, highly trained staff from Beacon School. This includes a behavior specialist, therapist and administrator.
Beacon has been running similar programs for about 11 years in as many as 11 other districts, including one at Branham High School in San Jose.
“This is just one step,” she acknowledged. “It doesn’t solve all of the issues.”
Linda McNulty, a former Morgan Hill resident with an autistic child, represents more than a dozen parents who filed a lawsuit regarding mistreatment of special needs students and non-compliance with state laws. The suit was filed against the California Department of Education in 2010. That case, she says, originated from parent complaints in Morgan Hill and then grew to statewide proportions after other parents shared their negative experiences with other districts.
McNulty claims MHUSD has whittled down its special education funding in the past during times of budget cuts by providing “substandard” programs of its own. Each time, she said, the cost-saving special education programs were thrown together last minute without input from parents and adequate research.
“It’s been a total debacle each time,” said McNulty. “I have no confidence in them based on what’s happened in the past.”
Despite emotionally charged protests from upset parents, the Board unanimously opted during its meeting to approve its own plan for catering to special needs students for the 2013-14 school year.
McNulty was hoping the Board would delay the vote and form an oversight committee to create “transparency of the new programming.”
“I really do appreciate all the parents who came today,” said Dumond. “It takes time to build programs…and the capacity to serve all kids.”
Over time, she thinks MHUSD will be “capturing and keeping (special needs) kids here and providing the appropriate services.”
