Parents protest special education changes
By Lynn Wolstenholme
Parents and advocates for special education students in Loudoun County are protesting proposed state regulations, saying they would be a step backward for Virginia.
The revision of the state's special education rules would, in part, take away parents' role in determining which services their children receive. For example, schools would have the ability to remove services like speech therapy from their children's programs without parents' consent.
This part of the proposal has drawn the most criticism from parents, who say the new rules would leave them powerless over their children's education.
"No one knows a child's abilities, hopes and dreams better than their own parents," said Eleanor Voldish, executive director of The Arc of Loudoun, a nonprofit devoted to those with disabilities.
"Many members of a child's [Individualized Education Program] team have not known the child for more than a year," Voldish said at a public input meeting on the proposed changes May 15 at Freedom High School in South Riding. "The parent knows the full child."
Voldish, whose 20-year-old son has Down syndrome, said if it weren't for her close involvement with his education over the years, he would not be attending George Mason University today.
"We were told he would never read and so many other things he would never do," she said. "It's because we were able to give input ... because I had that, it kept us moving forward together."
Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, said the proposed changes are happening at this time because Virginia wants to conform its regulations to new federal requirements.
In the case of the parental consent change, Pyle said the new regulations would help put an end to situations where schools and parents may not see eye to eye.
"There are situations where you have a student who has progressed and it is the belief that a student no longer needs a service," he said. "[If a parent objects] the parent could have another evaluation done, and then dispute resolution could take place, and all the while the service would continue."
Thomas Nash, a director with the Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education, said he agrees with the proposal on parental consent.
At the hearing May 15 in South Riding attended by about 50 parents, Nash was the only one who spoke in favor of the change.
He said he is "opposed to providing parents unilateral control that forces school divisions into a position where they're providing expensive, unnecessary services to children who do not need it."
But the others who spoke at the meeting said it is the new regulations that are unnecessary.
Virginia is one of the few states in the country that is known for parental rights when it comes to special education, they said.
Changing that would be a mistake, said Sharon Tropf, whose has a son who is dyslexic at Broad Run High School and another son who has autism at Farmwell Middle School.
"To ensure each child will grow to be a successful citizen, we need to ensure that each child has a voice," she said. "[With these regulations] I would have no voice for my child in the IEP process, and the IEP process would have no meaning at that point."
Mary Kearney, director of special education for Loudoun County Schools, said the county also does not support the removal of the requirement for parental consent.
"We believe parental involvement in all aspects of their children's education promotes a better education," she said.
Sen. Mark Herring (D-eastern Loudoun) also turned out to the hearing to say he hopes Virginia will continue to be a leader in parental rights.
"Virginia has had a strong tradition of valuing parents as a part of the decision-making process for their children's education, and I think that's a good thing," he said. "In Loudoun County, we're growing very quickly and often school boundaries change, which means the IEP team sometimes changes. The one constant is the student's parents."
The Virginia Department of Education has received more than 4,000 comments on the proposed changes, Pyle said.
The nine members of the state's Board of Education will review all comments and should vote on the regulations in December.
The department is hosting nine meetings across the state to allow for public input on the topic. The next hearing in the area will be June 2 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Oakton High School in Fairfax County.
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com