Shortage of therapists, funding worry parents
Morgan Hill – Parents of special education students, who have felt their children’s needs have not been adequately met by the Morgan Hill Unified School District, are taking a wait-and-see approach to the hiring of a new program director July 1.
Since the school year began, parents claim special ed students have not been receiving services required by their Individual Education Plans, or IEPs, documents that are legally binding. The services students are not receiving include occupational theraphy, speech therapy and adaptive physical education necessary for their progress.
New district Special Education Director Sally Welsh said the lack of services has been caused by a nationwide shortage of speech therapists, and that an occupational therapist will join the district next week.
In the midst of the complaints, Welsh said she is coming into the district with her sleeves rolled up, ready to find a way to better serve the nearly 1,000 students who have disabilities in the district and to forge a new relationship between her department and parents like Linda McNulty. The disabilities range from autism to physical and emotial impairments.
McNulty, who’s a parent advocate, said she is hopeful the special education situation in the district will improve.
“My feeling about special ed is that we have a new director, new cabinet and a new board,” she said. “I often tell my clients, ‘it’s a new director and a new day,’ we need to repair the issues in the past and create a collaborative relationship. This is imperative to moving forward in a productive way.”
In the past, McNulty regretted, the relationship between special ed parents and the district has been less than cooperative.
“Past relationships have created mistrust from parents and left the district feeling like parents are out to slam the district for Cadillac services; I assure you this is not the case,” she said. “I have never met a parent that didn’t want the best for their child.”
The district is working to correct the lack of services, Welsh said.
“We’re doing whatever we can to find speech therapists,” she said. “We’re putting out appeals to other districts, we’re working with contractors, trying to cover our needs. We are begging for speech therapists, anyone with a speech credential to come apply at the district.”
While the district will use contractors when necessary, Welsh said she would rather hire speech therapists to be a part of the district, even on a part-time basis. She and her staff are contacting local universities to recruit recent graduates and interns, she added.
Welsh said compensatory education – “making up” the services that students have missed for lack of an occupational therapist, speech therapist or other professional – would be offered on a “case-by-case basis.”
“I’m very proactive, I want to create a productive department that will serve the needs of the children,” she added. “But I want the community to understand that my message to teachers and parents is to really focus on what the needs of the students are, on providing support, not crutches. Think of it like packing for a holiday: you may want to take everything with you, but at the same time, is that reasonable, is it practical. You take with you what you really need.”
Parent Veronica Hoyle-Kent said the district should not ignore the special education students who are mainstreamed into regular classrooms. She hopes the district will increase the amount of one-on-one aides to work with children with severe disabilities and those who are considered at risk.
“By consciously placing more than one student with an IEP in the same classroom and providing a classroom aide, the district could cut down on aides, provide additional support for teachers, and assist the at-risk kids all at the same time,” Hoyle-Kent said. “If teachers had this additional support now, we could save money on the additional staff it will take later to ensure all our kids pass the high school exit exam and possibly increase yearly test scores. That’s a win-win for everyone.”
Welsh joined the district July 1, replacing former director Ray Houser, whose contract was not renewed. She came to the district from the Ravenswood School District, where she worked on federal compliance issues. She has three teaching credentials, two master’s degrees, national board certification in working with exceptional needs students, is working on her doctorate and has 20 years of experience with special ed students.
“What I would like the community to understand about me and about this department is that our goal is to serve the children,” she said. “We’re not going to shy away from the responsibility in any way whatsoever. It’s hard on (special ed parents) to understand, what they want is what’s best for their children, they are the best advocate for their children. But we are right there with them; we want to form a collaborative so we are all on same page. We want to join forces and collaborate rather than be pointing fingers at each other.”
McNulty said there have been other problems in the past that she would like to see rectified, including the misconception that underfunded special education programs are the result of overspending by the department rather than a lack of funding from the government for mandated programs.
“The federal government is mandated to pay 40 percent of special ed costs; the state essentially steals the money thinking, ‘well, they have got along without it this far.’ Then districts are left to make up the money not paid by the state and feds. This comes out of the general fund and is called encroachment … I often hear that ‘special education spending is out of control;’ I assure you this is NOT the problem.”
