Schools do all they can for special needs students, but cannot talk about it
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 13, 2016
On the same day The Beachcomber published the 800-word “opinion” piece, “Island schools a very different place from perspective of special needs students,” (June 29) Paula Cummings loaded a pickup truck with the office books, files and other artifacts of her multi-decade career as a proud professional in the field of education, culminating over the past five years as the special education director at Vashon Island School District (VISD). Her life’s profession has been dedicated to advocating, supporting and caring for special needs students, their families and the teachers.
The Beachcomber provided Jon and Shannon Flora a public platform to unilaterally defame the basic integrity of VISD special education services with specific allegations of an uncaring tone for students with special needs, refusal to cooperate with families, using the excuse of “no funds” to deny needed programs, selectively placating some families at the expense of others and a pattern of excluding rather than including students who are different. Periodic parent surveys give VISD high marks for their special services programs, but the Flora’s experience with their child was different.
A key protection for all families that send their children to public schools is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Simply stated, FERPA mandates that school staff must keep certain personal information related to the child and parents confidential. This is a good law that makes sense. Parents do not want school staff disclosing personal details about their family or child, especially regarding matters relating to special needs students.
There are two sides to every story and, in the case of public school children, there is one side (the district’s) that cannot be told in the public arena. Ironically, it is FERPA that allows the Floras to make scathing comments regarding the integrity of VISD special education services void of fair airing of information or facts that could rebut these accusations. It is beneath the journalistic integrity of The Beachcomber to offer a public platform for a one-sided condemnation of VISD, knowing that rebuttal to the specific details of one families experience is not possible.
— Pat Cummings
