Special Education Action Page 40 of 44

How to Choose a Reading Program that Addresses the Needs of a Student? Clue: Take “Convenience” and “Trust in Colleagues” Off Your List

Let’s imagine you have a child who has that oh-so-unique wiring that is Dyslexia

And let’s imagine that the school division denied that child an evaluation three times between first and sixth grades.

And let’s imagine, too, that the child finally received an IEP and that you went to mediation and that the school division enrolled your child in a year-long reading elective during 7th grade and provided tutoring twice a week, one hour each time, after school, for a chunk of the school year.

And, last—but not least—let’s imagine that you uncovered problems with the implementation of that program

And, let’s imagine that after all this, the school has another program for your child.

What would you do?

The Special-Education-Cholera-Outbreak-John-Snow Connection

So often, the answer is right in front of us—sometimes in our very hands—but we lack the imagination to look beyond the obvious.

With a little imagination, so much can be achieved with a low-cost, high-touch approach.

Do you know Dr. John Snow?

In 1854, a London cholera outbreak erupted, killing over 600 people in just over a week.

It had to be stopped.

But how? (And what does this have to do with special education?)

Dear Silverbrook ES: A Public List of Students Who Take Medicine is Not a Good Idea

Silverbrook Elementary School (SES), in Fairfax Station, Virginia, has a history of sharing personally identifiable information about students, which is a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

On at least two occasions, since 2015, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has provided SES “FERPA/confidentiality training”.

Looks like SES needs more.

FCPS Disabled SEA-STARS’ Function that Tracks Login Information, Record Access, and Changes to Student Data

Riddle me this: Why would you purchase a program to maintain special education records, if the function for tracking files, changes to files, and log-ins would “seriously degrade the operational performance of the system, largely making the system unusable for authorized users”?

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) did just that.

If you have a child who receives special education via (FCPS), you’re likely familiar with “SEA-STARS”, which is the program FCPS is always logging into to access your students’ information.

What you might not know, is that 10 years ago, FCPS disabled the function that tracks login information, record access, and changes to student data.

Worried About Hackers? FCPS has Been Breaching Students’ and Staff’s Privacy for Years

For years, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has been aware of its failures to secure private information.

Hackers breaching its system is another breach in a long line of privacy breaches and failures to secure information.

This evening, news outlets reported that the hackers posted private information about students.

And yet . . .

FCPS has been releasing information about students—without their permission—for years.

Dear FCPS: Universal Screeners WILL NOT Identify Students in Need if the Data is Falsified, Misrepresented, or Misunderstood

“Monies paid out during dispute resolution processes”

This headline appears in an internal FCPS report and precedes the following two entries about two Fairview Elementary School students (Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia).

For Student One:

“Lack of acceptance of dyslexia by teachers”

For Student Two:

“private dyslexia diagnosis; student parentally placed at ”

Silverbrook ES Principal Advises Staff Member: “No Paper/Email Trail”

Fairfax County Public School (FCPS), VA, Principal Melaney Mackin advised FCPS School Psychologist Michael Borsa not to respond to a parent’s questions via email. She specifically stated:

“I suggest that you do not email your reply to her questions (no paper/email trail)”

This occurred after the parent shared a private evaluation with the school.

The parent went into the meeting thinking she was providing information that would help the school division address her child’s needs, only to learn later that the principal focused on “paper/email” trails and the psychologist had no intention of responding to her.

FCPS Vice Principal Sets IEP Meeting Rules; Full Parental Participation Truncated

August 28, 2020, Daniel Clements, a Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Assistant Principal at Robinson Secondary School sent a set of IEP meeting rules to the parents of one of the school’s students.

Although parents are considered equal IEP team members, in this case, the “rules” were set without their input and included a threat that the meeting would be shut down if the parents violated the rules.

And yet, some of the rules err on the noncompliance side of state and federal regulations.

Author: Callie Oettinger (page 40)