Children with developmental delays undoubtedly add a financial challenge to the school districts they attend. Without the legal rights to free education designed to the meet the needs of every child, I shudder to think of how little our districts would be willing to do for them. During this time of economic downturn, the strain on districts is worse than ever. Those answering for the budget are undoubtedly under great pressure and I do not envy them their position.
This being said, Sumner School District has been failing families with children with special needs where other surrounding, similar-sized districts have been able to succeed. Valuable staff members are slowly throwing in the towel and moving on to districts nearby that allow them to provide their students with the level of attention and services needed and where they will have adequate staff support.
Painful Losses for the District
One example of this is Pati Miller. Known by many respected educators of the district as the best special needs teacher the district had, she moved on to Dieringer School District at the end of the 2010 school year. While she did not speak against the district, it was clear that leaving behind a class size of 13 for a class size less than half of this was a major factor in her decision. Her loss is keenly felt in the district.
Our newest casualty is Ken Turcotte. Ken is a major advocate for all special needs students in the district, but as the district’s autism specialist, is especially valuable to those families with children with autism. Every year for the past several years, Ken has gone to bat for parents and students to ensure quality programming for students with autism while serving in two roles . He has finally been successfully wooed away by a similarly-sized district that provides substantially more staffing to address autism. His loss, I fear, may result in the loss of additional, valuable teachers.
Threats are Not Empty
DLC program teachers and parents have had to fight hard these past many years to force the district to do right by the program. These fights have included threats to quit by teachers, and to file lawsuits by parents. Why is the district so unwilling to do what many other districts around us seem eager to do? Why are they seemingly more concerned with the cost of providing a free and appropriate education for our kids than the ultimate cost our kids will pay because they didn’t receive it? These are questions they may soon have to answer in a court-of-law.
Paula McCullough - Tax Specialist and Accountant for almost 20 years and still learning. Mother of three young children, one with Autism.
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