Parents of disabled children seek answers from Manatee school leaders

District officials tried to quell the fears of parents of students with disabilities during a workshop of the School Board of Manatee County on Monday afternoon.

Concerns over major changes to the district’s Exceptional Student Education offerings popped up after a February board meeting when Wylene Herring-Cayasso, the director of ESE, told board members the district would be shifting more students with special needs into mainstream classrooms.

The move prompted fears among special education advocates that a disabled student’s federally mandated Individual Education Plan, which lays out the services a district must provide the student, could be dictated by a desire to boost graduation rates and reduce the number of students in self-contained classes.

On Monday, Superintendent Diana Greene said that was not the case.

“Even though we are advocating toward moving toward inclusion, the IEP is the number one factor that goes into place,” Greene told board members. “If that (IEP) committee decides that student needs self-contained (classes), we are required to provide it.”

Deputy Superintendent for Instruction Cynthia Saunders said the IEP committees would be taking a closer look at students who have been in self-contained classes for their entire education. She said students who never transition out of a self-contained class can end up missing out on the benefits of interacting with other students, and they miss chances to earn credits toward graduation.

“There are some students who are going to be in self-contained classes in elementary, middle and high school, and that is the best setting for them,” Saunders said. “But we have students who, with proper support in a mainstream class, could be very successful. The ultimate goal is for them to get the diploma.”

Advocates have questioned the district’s use of resources, fearing there will be a reduction in the number of therapists providing services to students in Manatee schools. During the meeting, board member Dave Miner said he had heard rumors of a reduction, and he asked Saunders if that was in the works.

Saunders said no, and that the student’s IEP would dictate the therapists offered.

After the meeting both Saunders and Herring-Cayasso confirmed there would not be a reduction in the number of therapists.

“None of our staff is being reduced,” Saunders said. She said the number of contracted therapists can fluctuate from year to year, but that there were no planned reductions.

Herring-Cayasso said when compared to other similarly-sized districts, Manatee has more students on ESE rosters. She said that does not mean they want to cull the rosters or have planned staff reductions, but they want to take a closer look at why that is happening.

At the meeting’s end, board members called on staff to be better with communication to parents of disabled children.

“It comes down to communication,” board member Gina Messenger said. “We received a lot of valid questions, and I hope they got answered today. But they should be able to say, I know this because I was told this in a meeting or it was on the website or I received a letter.”

District administrators said they would begin working to form parent groups to help facilitate communication and disseminate information.

Chairman Charlie Kennedy encouraged parents with remaining questions or concerns to email board members and district administrators directly. He said the board would resume the discussion at the May 9 workshop.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Parents of disabled children seek answers from Manatee school leaders."