Battle Ground Public Schools last school year failed to provide about 90 students at Glenwood Heights Primary School with the special education services they should have received, violating federal and state special education law, according to findings by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
According to the report released in May, those students were supposed to receive part-time special education services in a designated “resource classroom” as a part of their Individualized Education Program, or IEP. IEPs are written plans made with input from students’ teachers, school counselors and parents outlining what services special education students are supposed to receive at school. Those services can include extra time on tests, permission to take breaks throughout the day or occupational therapy.
About 142 students at the Brush Prairie-area primary school are eligible for special education services, 90 of whom had IEPs that include part-time special education services, called “resource students” throughout the OSPI report. There are about 800 total students at the school.
But changes to the 2017-2018 master schedule reduced that resource class period time from 40 minutes to 30 minutes. That meant some students who were supposed to receive additional math, writing, social skills or other lessons during that time did not receive the full amount specified in their IEP. An OSPI review of 20 students’ IEPs shows “that the primary school’s practice of limiting the amount of special education services resource students can receive, based on the building’s master schedule, is contrary to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and state special education regulations.”
“A student’s placement is not determined based on a district or school policy,” the findings read.
Battle Ground Public Schools is offering 40 hours of summer school in July for the 90 students affected, and 13 students are expected to attend.
“We totally acknowledge a mistake was made and we’re very sorry it happened,” said Ellen Wiessner, the district’s executive director of special services, which includes special education.
‘Time adds up’
Among those students is Tiffani Shupe’s granddaughter, a 9-year-old who recently completed third grade. Shupe filed a complaint with OSPI after discovering in March that her granddaughter was only receiving 30 minutes of daily math education when her IEP specified she was to receive 40 minutes.
It may not sound like a lot, but Shupe said by the time she became aware of the problem in March, her granddaughter was owed 730 minutes — more than 12 hours — of special education services.
“That’s a lot of time for a kid,” Shupe said. “The amount of time adds up.”
When the district first became aware of the problem in March, it began working with students to make up those lost hours, district spokeswoman Rita Sanders said.
“When we discovered that this had happened we immediately developed a plan to provide these services to students because we want to provide these services to students,” Sanders said. “We’re sorry this happened.”
But OSPI’s findings suggest even if the master schedule hadn’t changed, some students still would not have received the services promised in their IEPs.
OSPI compared 20 individual students’ IEPs with the services they received, and discovered “other discrepancies” for many of those students, according to the findings.
For example, one student was supposed to receive 60 minutes of social skills instruction every week, but was only scheduled for 30 minutes. Another was supposed to receive 150 minutes of social skills instruction and 40 minutes of study skills each week, but only received 30 minutes of social skills, no study skills and, “confusingly,” 120 minutes of writing services, which were never listed in her IEP.
Before next school year, the district must review resource students’ IEPs to determine who may need additional instruction, and provide all district special education staff, principals and assistant principals at Glenwood Heights with additional special education training.
The district will bring in three special education teachers to offer next month’s summer classes, Wiessner said. She did not know how much those additional classes are slated to cost the district.
“Providing a quality education program is a priority to us and we’re making amends,” Wiessner said.
