Board of Ed Starts Its Own Investigation of Special Ed

Here's the full text of Board of Education Chairperson Betsy Hagerty-Ross' statement and motion to start an investigation of allegations surrounding the school district's alleged violations of education law regarding special education. Hagerty-Ross emailed the text at Darien Patch's request. The board unanimously approved the motion on Tuesday evening.

Public Statement and Proposed Motion

In March, the Board of Education received notification that a number of parents filed a complaint with the State Board of Education alleging systemic violations of the requirements of the laws governing special education. 

From the beginning, the Board of Education took this complaint seriously.  Compliance with these laws assures parent participation in planning and an appropriate decision-making process. 

As is typical of such claims, we left it to Board counsel and the Superintendent to deal with the complaint in the appropriate legal forum.  Therefore, to date the other members of the Board of Education and I have had little to say publicly, even though on behalf of the Board I have been monitoring the situation and conferring with Board counsel as requested since the complaint was filed. 

However, new allegations have been raised recently, including claims that unilateral changes had been made to official special education documents, such as IEPs. 

Given that these allegations involve central office administrators, at this point I believe that the Board must now act directly as stewards for the district to assure that all allegations are fully and fairly investigated, that responsible parties are held accountable, and that remedial measures are taken promptly to assure that the legal rights of children with disabilities and their parents are fully protected.

Given the need for Board action, with the advice of Board counsel, I am recommending that the Board take the following actions.  First, we must assure that we undertake an independent and thorough investigation of the allegations concerning special education administration. 

Acting through Board counsel and the Superintendent, we will, of course, continue to cooperate with the state Department of Education in its investigation of these complaints. 

Moreover, I am recommending that the Board, in consultation with the State Department of Education, retain its own independent investigator, given that the State may have limited resources to devote to this investigation. 

We want to assure that the investigation of these matters, in cooperation with the State or otherwise, is thorough and independent so that the results of that investigation are credible to parents, teachers, and other members of the Darien school community.  

Second, I recommend that we seek to find an independent person to oversee special education in Darien for the coming year.  That person will be responsible for assuring legal compliance, for restoring credibility in the PPT and IEP process, for addressing concerns by parents and teachers about that process, and for assuring that responsible parties are held accountable for any mistakes or wrongdoing. 

As a Board of Education and as a community, we must make sure that appropriate procedures and practices are in place and are appropriately supervised to assure that the special education needs of Darien students are met in accordance with the law.

Specifically, I ask for action on the following motion:

MOVED: That the Board direct Board counsel to consult with the State Department of Education to identify an independent person of appropriate training and experience to investigate PPT procedures, allegations concerning unilateral substantive changes in IEP documents, and the delay in providing training materials requested under the Freedom of Information Act, and

That such person be retained by Board counsel on behalf of the Board and Superintendent to conduct such investigation and report back the results of that investigation to the Board, the Superintendent and Board counsel, and

That the Superintendent and Board counsel, in consultation with the State Department of Education, seek to identify and present to the Board of Education for appointment an independent person to oversee special education in the coming year, with responsibility for

(1) overseeing the implementation of appropriate training and procedures for special education staff,

(2) identifying and recommending appropriate disciplinary action for any staff member whose actions have been inconsistent with law, and

(3) offering staff an opportunity to share concerns, if any, over administrative oversight of PPT decision-making, and

(4) providing oversight of Darien special education programs for the 2013-2014 school year.