On July 18, the state Department of Education sent its conclusions from its investigation into Darien Public Schools to Superintendent Stephen Falcone. Here’s the letter, provided to Darien Patch by Andrew Feinstein, a lawyer for various Darien parents of children in special education.
Response from Superintendent Stephen Falcone
Schools Superintendent Stephen Falcone sent the following message to parents of students in Darien Public Schools (and also included a link to a PDF of the letter posted on the school district's website):
From the Superintendent
In late April, I shared that the Darien Public Schools would be cooperating with the State Department of Education in their investigation into a complaint filed by parents regarding special education procedures and practices. Representatives from the State conducted an investigation into written procedures, including training materials, and today we received their report. The report is attached for your review.
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First, we appreciate the comprehensive review the State undertook. We will be moving quickly to implement the State’s recommendations, and have already begun that process by retaining Terri DeFrancis who will be working diligently throughout the summer. Ms. DeFrancis will work to revise materials and provide training to administrators, teachers, related service providers, and parents to fully understand the federal and state procedures in special education. Having a common understanding of procedures will allow the entire school community -- both parents and staff -- to move forward together.
We welcome the State's continued oversight and we will be transparent with, and accountable to, our school community in seeing this process through. I pledge to this community that I will hold myself, our administrators and our staff to complying with the law. We care deeply about the quality of education that all children, including those with special needs, receive from our caring and dedicated staff. We also welcome and appreciate the candid input from our parent community because it is necessary and important for our school district to receive constructive feedback if we are to improve what we do on behalf of children. The Board of Education Committee on Special Education will continue to monitor our changes and progress in special education. Also, the district looks to continue to work with the Special Education Advisory Group - a PTO Council Special Education Representative group whose goal is to ensure quality services for all Darien children with special needs – to support students with special needs.
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As a district administration, we take our responsibility to serve the students of Darien very seriously. It is a professional, legal, and ethical responsibility that guides our practice. We will act quickly to respond to recommendations and involve a range of constituents, especially those in our parent community, in our efforts. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Response from Andrew Feinstein
Feinstien, an attorney representing Darien parents of special education students, emailed the following response to the Department of Education's letter:
After conducted a limited, paper review, the State Department of Education (SDE) has slammed the Darien Board of Education finding 16 Darien special education documents that "contain overly restrictive, inaccurate, noncompliant and/or incomplete guidance." The State Department of Education ordered Darien to clean up its act.
While we are gratified that the State Department of Education vindicated the allegations made by a group of 25 parents in March, we are in general disappointed with the effort of the State Department of Education.
1. There is a very serious allegation that the Darien school administration changed the educational programs of children with disabilities without the knowledge or consent of parents. We submitted evidence of this practice of making unilateral, illegal changes. The SDE report does not deal with this issue.
2. SDE found that Darien used illegally restrictive guidelines for providing summer services. Yet, the department offers no mechanism by which students can be made whole for these violations.
3. SDE found that Darien used illegally restrictive guidelines for denying parents the right to independent educational evaluations. Yet, the department offers no mechanism by which students can be made whole for these violations.
4. SDE found that Darien used illegally predetermination to frustrate parent involvement in designing educational programs for their children. Yet, the department offers no mechanism by which students can be made whole for these violations.
5. SDE found that Darien used illegally restrictive guidelines for determining eligibility, particularly for attention deficit disorder. Yet, the department offers no mechanism by which students can be made whole for these violations.
6. Over one hundred parents came out on a rainy evening to tell the investigators how their children were hurt by the illegal policies of Darien. Yet, the report of the SDE makes no reference whatsoever to the information provided.
7. Numerous parents and staff members called the investigators to report a variety of instances of illegal conduct by the Darien Board of Education. The report of the SDE makes no reference whatsoever to this information.
8. We asked the SDE investigators to review the internal emails, some of which have since surfaced in response to Freedom of Information requests. The investigators appear to have not looked at these emails.
9. We asked the SDE investigators to look at IEP Direct to identify instances of educational plans changed illegally. The investigators failed to follow this obvious lead.
10. Most importantly, the final statement that Darien's retention of a consultant to develop training materials and train staff "is an appropriate response to the findings and conclusions noted in this report," is pathetic and unacceptable. The State Department of Education found widespread, systematic, and serious violations of the rights of students with disabilities, conducted in response to a plan developed and implemented from the top. The State needs to do far more than ratify the paltry initiatives of the Darien administration
The SDE report promises a second report. We have been unable to learn the scope of this second report. Given the State’s dilatory and inept response to the petition filed four months ago, we are not counting on much.
The parents have a number of serious options to force Darien to make the changes needed. We will be discussing those options in the coming days.
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