Wake County Public Schools violate State, Federal law
District found noncompliant with legal
protections for students with disabilities
August 8, 2011 Media
Release, Advocates for Children's Services
(Raleigh,
NC) – For the second consecutive year, the
NC
Department of Public Instruction’s Exceptional Children Division
has found the Wake
County Public School System (WCPSS) in violation of state and
federal laws that protect students with disabilities who are
long-term suspended.
The findings were prompted by a complaint filed by
Advocates for Children’s Services (ACS) on behalf of six WCPSS
students. Students with disabilities who are long-term
suspended have a right to continue receiving a “free, appropriate
public education” in the “least restrictive environment.”
School districts must provide such students with the services
necessary for them to continue to participate in the general
curriculum and to progress toward meeting the goals established in
their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), written plans with
annual goals for each identified special education student.
According to DPI, "the current system of delivering services to
students who are long-termed suspended for disciplinary reasons is
not effective and had caused a deprivation of educational benefit.”
Other specific findings for the 2010-11 school year include:
-
• WCPSS is "failing to develop IEPs based
on the unique needs of each student with a disability who is
long-term suspended."
-
• Long-term suspended students with
disabilities—who are desperately in need of high quality,
extensive services—received a drastically reduced number of
hours of instruction (3-32 hours/month).
-
• Some of the instructional services were
provided in the following locations: McDonalds, Starbucks,
Dunkin Donuts, Borders, Hardees, and Subway.
-
• 45 suspended students received
computer-based instruction via SCORE (Second Chance Online
Resource for Education). According to DPI, "A system of service
delivery via a computer is fraught with problems from its
inception; and the data supports that it had not proven
successful. The data from the first semester clearly
indicates that a vast majority of students failed...the evidence
from grades and EOC test results indicates that the students are
not benefitting from the services delivered via the computer..."
-
• "Student grades and EOC test results
indicate that a vast majority of the students are failing."
“Noncompliance with state and federal laws
governing how we are to educate our students with special needs when
they are long-term suspended is almost a guarantee of recidivism,”
said Jason Langberg, Equal Justice Works Fellow, Advocates for
Children’s Services. “Repeatedly ignoring DPI's mandates and
failing the most vulnerable students in our school district is
simply unacceptable—on many levels. On top of it all, WCPSS is
reliant on federal funding for special education. Failing to
act will only put that funding in jeopardy, which is certainly not
something we can afford in tough economic times.”
Advocates for Children's Services (ACS) is a statewide project
of Legal Aid
of North Carolina that: 1) provides free legal advice and
representation for children from low-income families who are facing
long-term suspension, who have unmet education (including special
education) needs, or who need other education-related assistance;
and 2) engages in community education in the form of presentations,
trainings, publications, and media outreach. ACS is dedicated to
correcting the serious misconception that children are not
independent, rights-bearing citizens, entitled to express their
opinions in matters. For more information, please visit:
www.legalaidnc.org/acs.
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CONTACT:
Jason Langberg (Staff Attorney/Equal Justice Works Fellow,
LANC-ACS), Durham, NC, 919-226-0051, Ext. 438
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SEE ALSO:
- DPI
Report, April 30, 2010
- DPI
Report, June 29, 2011
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