A parent can have an educational evaluation from board-certified child psychiatrist outlining what your child needs to be successful in an educational setting, but that doesn’t mean the school will provide the needed services. The school’s IEP team is composed mainly of WCPS employees who decide on the educational assessment performed by the school guidance counselor. Their own assessment criteria are the only information they will use to evaluate a child’s special education needs, and their limited assessment falls short. They simply ignore any outside evaluations from licensed professionals who are certified to determine such needs. Any assessment performed by school staff does not test for the diagnosis of disability, so the child looks great on paper.
Example: Susie had an Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation from the WCPS OT for sensory issues. The report was 10 pages long, containing terminology that most wouldn’t understand. The assessment was based upon Susie’s ability to ride the school bus, which is typical a noisy environment that triggers her sensory issues. They reported that Susie rode the noisy bus without issue, and that she even enjoyed the ride. The OT failed to mention that when Susie rode the bus, there was only one other child on the bus, and the child was nonverbal.
Of the professional staff that conduct these assessments, the school fails to inform them that if their action violates a licensing board standard, they can lose their ability to practice. What staff is not aware of is that WCPS does not and cannot protect them. It only takes one parent to file a complaint to a licensing agency to result in losing their credentials. Since the position doesn’t fall under the teacher’s union, they are completely unprotected.
If a parent disagrees with the IEP team’s decision, what can they do? They can get an attorney and file for due process. This can be legally intimidating, extremely expensive, time-consuming, and it often pits families and school districts against each other as adversaries, rather than partners. The process also diverts hundreds of thousands of dollars to attorneys, that could otherwise be going toward the education of students.
And while Susie was riding the bus, no one was actually trying to teach her anything…
Well i heard that Johnnie (the other unreported student on the bus) gave Susie a wet willy. Would that be considered technically, although not professionally credentialed, a life teaching moment?
(snicker snicker)
folks have no clue how bad it is with the treatment of special ed kids in the system. So many kids do not get what they need because they do not have anyone fighting for them other than their teacher. Its a shame that WCPS does this. I love the exposure
There is so much wrong with this I honestly don’t know where to start. While I consider a response, please consider who the author is, that the article reflects their perception, and whether that perception is even remotely accurate.
Good day. Having read this article in it’s entirety, I would like to share a few thoughts from the perspective of both a 30 year special ed. teacher and administrator as well as being the parent of a special needs child. My thoughts are in parenthesis. As a professional who advocates for special needs children and families daily, I will refrain from sharing my personal information as the ‘woke’ mob mentality that rages against anyone or anything perceived to be whatever the ‘issue’ of the day is, simply is not worth the issues that could be potentially cause for my child or my employment.
A parent can have an educational evaluation from board-certified child psychiatrist outlining what your child needs to be successful in an educational setting, but that doesn’t mean the school will provide the needed services. (school systems are required to consider medical diagnosis but determine whether academic needs are present)
The school’s IEP team is composed mainly of WCPS employees who decide on the educational assessment performed by the school guidance counselor. ( First, I know of no school guidance counselors that test students – if the author has witnessed this it needs to be shared. They may be part of the team to add input on counseling needs, but that would be all.) Second, if the IEP team rejects the diagnosis from a board certified psychiatrist, the parent needs to simply have the school system share their rationale in writing. Then the parent can/should retain counsel immediately)
their own assessment criteria are the only information they will use to evaluate a child’s special education needs, and their limited assessment falls short. (typical testing / screening is provided by a certified school psychologist, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist and possibly a screening by a social worker) They simply ignore any outside evaluations from licensed professionals who are certified to determine such needs. (I know of no time that information was ignored. Likely, it may not have been educationally relevant)
Any assessment performed by school staff does not test for the diagnosis of disability, so the child looks great on paper. (again, incorrect as schools are looking for educational impact)
Example: Susie had an Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation from the WCPS OT for sensory issues. The report was 10 pages long, containing terminology that most wouldn’t understand. The assessment was based upon Susie’s ability to ride the school bus, which is typical a noisy environment that triggers her sensory issues. They reported that Susie rode the noisy bus without issue, and that she even enjoyed the ride. The OT failed to mention that when Susie rode the bus, there was only one other child on the bus, and the child was nonverbal. ( a very poor example. Without a qualifying diagnosis, OT cannot by law be provided as a stand alone service.)
Of the professional staff that conduct these assessments, the school fails to inform them that if their action violates a licensing board standard, they can lose their ability to practice. (the professionals involved are all well aware of licensing standards, and they simply don’t violate them)
What staff is not aware of is that WCPS does not and cannot protect them. It only takes one parent to file a complaint to a licensing agency to result in losing their credentials. (again, incorrect – consider the veracity of that statement) Since the position doesn’t fall under the teacher’s union, they are completely unprotected. (Unprotected from what/whom – a vengeful parent who didn’t get their way?)
If a parent disagrees with the IEP team’s decision, what can they do? They can get an attorney and file for due process. This can be legally intimidating, extremely expensive, time-consuming, and it often pits families and school districts against each other as adversaries, rather than partners. The process also diverts hundreds of thousands of dollars to attorneys, that could otherwise be going toward the education of students. (huh? refer to IDEA / federal law and simply hold the school system accountable)
I could go on, but you get the point. This is exactly the kind of flat out wrong information that is circulated in a way to bring a lot of attention and ‘flash’. I would encourage parents to ignore this type of rhetoric and educate themselves on the law and heir child’s needs. This individual is campaigning and nothing more. Do issues occur and are schools systems liable? Certainly, and again educating yourself on IDEA and simply holding school systems accountable to reasonable actions is far better than taking bad advice, or out right erroneous information from someone who clearly thinks they know more than they really do.