03/28/2024
Spread the love

One Bladen County family has been in contact with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. regarding obtaining appropriate services for their child enrolled in the Bladen County School System.

Chris Clark said the family had spoken via telephone with Sebastian Amar who is an attorney for the OCR in Washington, D.C.

According to Chris Clark, the family is hopeful that now with the OCR involved, things will improve. According to Clark, Amar told the family that there are two methods the OCR has at its disposal to try to bring the situation to a satisfactory end. The first method is mediation and the second method is a full investigation, said Clark.

“We’re waiting to see what he (Sebastian Amar) says,” said Clark.

Bladen County Schools Public Relations and Information Officer Valerie Newton said due to state and federal laws and regulations the district cannot comment specifically on one student’s situation.

In a written statement, Newton said, “North Carolina General Statue 115C and FERPA legally prevent a school system from releasing or discussing specific information about a student’s education records to the public. The official record of a student is not a public record as the term “public record” is defined by G.S. 132-1. The official record shall not be subject to inspection and examination as authorized by G.S. 132-6. We treat all student records with complete confidentiality as required by law. However, FERPA provides that a school system may release personally identifying information from a student’s education records if the student’s parents have provided a signed and dated written consent.”

Clark said the family has been frustrated for some time as they have attempted to learn about and obtain the appropriate services for their child that are supposed to be provided by Bladen County Schools.

Clark listed some of his frustrations as an inexperienced staff and a breakdown and/or failure of the central office staff to communicate with the family.

Newton said in her response, “All staff is hired by Bladen County Schools with state license certifications and qualifications as defined and deemed appropriate by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Staff within the Exception Children’s division of the school district has been vetted for specific licenses and certifications necessary for the job classification including an Exceptional Children’s Program Administrator’s license held by the Director. Additionally, the Superintendent also holds the Exceptional Children’s Program Administrator’s license.”

Clark said at times, the family has had to learn through other avenues such as contacting the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh and the Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center in Raleigh to learn what to ask for in terms of Cody’s education and individual education plan.

“In the situation with Cody, we are having to educate ourselves on what Cody is entitled to when the Central Office should be notifying us,” said Clark.

According to Clark, when Cody first returned home from Duke University Medical Center, he was placed in the homebound program. For a period of time, no one came to the home to provide Cody with his daily lesson plan, said Clark.

Clark said after some investigating by the family and several telephone calls to central office, the situation was eventually rectified.

He added that the family has been forced into doing extensive research to learn what services Cody is entitled to and how to go about obtaining those services. For example, they learned about individual education plans and how they are to be evaluated.

Clark explained that once the central office receives a letter asking for an evaluation of the IEP, the staff have 90 days to complete the review process. Clark said that process was slow to materialize.

Clark explained that he and his family have learned through research that if something is specified in a child’s education plan, than it is supposed to be provided. Clark said this has not always happened in Cody’s case.

“All we ask is that you do what you are supposed to do,” said Clark.

Clark said an inexperienced staff working in the district office is not helping the situation.

“We are paying people at the district office to do a job and some have no experience in it (their position),” said Clark.

For example, Clark said that one incident to which he is referring occurred when a teacher had not read Cody’s IEP thoroughly and began to make changes. Clark said that they spoke with several officials to correct the situation.

Another item of concern to the family is the fact that at the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year, Cody missed some days of his therapy routine, according to Clark.

Newton said, “The Exceptional Children’s Department contracts with outside agencies to provide specific services based on an individual student’s needs. All services and therapies are closely monitored by the district to ensure compliance. Currently, all services and therapies are in compliance and operating according to schedule and contract.”

One of the things the Clark family would like to see improved is the county to begin making all of the schools more handicapped accessible with the installation of wheelchair ramps in the vehicle drop-off zones.

Currently, some schools in the county do not have awnings or shelters where students load and unload causing them to get wet in rainy weather. In Cody’s case, Tina Clark said that often the wheelchair Cody uses will become

wet by the time she gets the chair ready for Cody to get into or out of the car because Bladen Lakes School currently does not have an awning where students dropped off by car load and unload. Instead, students use the awning at the bus parking area when it is raining. In their December 7 meeting, the Bladen County Board of Commissioners approved the capital outlay request from the Board of Education for an awning to be constructed at the front entrance of Bladen Lakes School at a cost of $5,946 and one for the front entrance of East Arcadia School at a cost of $1,329.

The family says that they simply want the school district to provide the appropriate services, not just to Cody, but to all children.

Newton said, “Discrepancies within any division of a school system are handled, when appropriate, by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. School districts must operate in full compliance according to federal and state regulations. Bladen County Schools and any of its divisions have had no findings or issues of non-compliance in regards to its operations.”

Share on Social Media using Short Link: https://bladencounty.org/?p=36020

 

About Author