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Special Ed Services Available for All Students

Maureen Moorehead explains the special education program at Wednesday's Government House meeting.Parents of children with special needs can get the services their children need through the V.I. Department of Education – but it’s important they work through the system to make sure they get all the services they need, parents were told at a meeting on special education law Wednesday night.

It’s even harder for the parents who choose to send their children to private or parochial schools, according to Stephanie Barnes, the territory’s coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act and organizer of Wednesday’s meeting at Government House.

The Department of Education holds regular gatherings to update public school administrators and parents on the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which mandates that every school district provide a free, appropriate education regardless of disabilities.

Wednesday’s meeting was a chance to share that message with an audience of about 20 private school representatives and parents who send their children to those schools. They listened as Maureen Moorehead, district coordinator for special education, explained how the system works and what parents can expect.

The Department of Education program, Child Find, is designed to locate, identify and assess children and youth up to the age of 21 who have disabilities or are in danger of developing them, Moorehead said. The program includes reaching out to students of private schools and children in highly transient populations, such as migrant communities and the homeless.

Students who are assessed as having a learning disability in any of 13 categories—including autism, deaf-blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment and mental retardation—are eligible for services, and by law the district is required to make the necessary accommodations.

The school, teachers and others involved put together an Individualized Education Program, known as an IEP, which outlines how the district will address the needs of each eligible public school student.

But for children whose parents choose to send them to private schools, while the system is essentially the same, there are much less services available.

The district will pay to get the child assessed, Moorehead said. Once assessed, the parents work with the district on an Individualized Service Program – similar to an IEP – for the child, outlining what service the district will provide for the private or parochial school student.

But there are far fewer services available, Moorehead said, who compared the stem to a luncheon buffet. The services available to public schools students are like a smorgasbord, she said, while the menu for private school students is much more limited.

"All children will eat," Moorehead said, "but they will eat differently."

Essentially, the district will provide speech therapy to private school students and 10 consultations a school year for the school’s staff, teachers, administrators or whoever is appropriate on how to best work with the student, Moorehead said.

The amount of money the district receives from the federal government for special education is based on the number of eligible students, counted every Dec. 1, including the number of eligible students attending private schools. A portion of the money is assigned to provide service to eligible private school students as a percentage reflecting their percentage of the whole special needs population.

In 2009 that worked out to about $390,000, or $4,800 per student, except that the district is not required to spend it on a per-student basis.

The district does not attempt to divide the services equally among the 27 eligible private school students, Moorehead explained, saying it’s the difference between an equal and an equitable program. There is no requirement that the district spend the money equally for each qualifying private school student. Instead, it provides services to that population as needed until the funds run out.

Barnes said there are circumstances where the district can be required to pay for a student with special needs to attend private school, if that proves to be the best, most appropriate option for the child.

But it’s necessary to work within the system, she said, and give the public school system every opportunity to make the changes necessary. That can put the child’s education at the mercy of the public schools, which may move slowly or draw the process out. Sometimes parents have to sue their school districts to get it to provide services the law clearly states are the child’s right under law.

It’s important to see the process through, Barnes said. She spoke of parents who, out of frustration, removed their child from the public school before the process had played out, and found themselves with no recourse.

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