Schools struggle to serve special needs students amid COVID-19

Sep. 3--Janet Callahan has been anticipating the start of the school year all summer and asking school officials: What is your plan for my two children who have disabilities?

Just days before the start of school on Tuesday, Callahan got her answer: the Troy School District created an online learning plan to be done at home for Alexander, 12, and Bethany, 9, who had one-on-one support from adults at all times inside school before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Callahan, who works at home full-time, was hoping for more -- more for her son who is nonverbal and uses a communication device and more for her daughter who has anxiety. Neither child can be in front of a computer for hours with much success.

"How do we get enough support to manage online all day? The answer is we don't," Callahan said. "We already know kids in special education need more help and nothing has changed. The plan is 'we are going to put everybody online and hope for the best.' I am very frustrated."

Callahan is not alone. Many parents in Metro Detroit have expressed frustration at what school districts are offering this fall for special education students. They say their children sat home with little or no services or supports after the virus outbreak forced school buildings to close in March.

Education experts say children with special needs are among those most ill-equipped to access instruction and learning through computers and tablets.

More than 200,000 children served by public schools in Michigan have moderate to severe disabilities, with educational plans and therapies that rely on the structure of a classroom setting and face-to-face services and lessons.

School districts are required by law to provide a "free appropriate public education" to students with disabilities. They are also required by law to provide services outlined in individualized education plans, known as IEPs, or 504 plans that outline specific accommodations for a student.

While many districts have decided to keep all students at home on virtual learning plans, several Michigan districts are offering some in-school services to families whose children have disabilities, with phased-in approaches that include limited hours and reduced class sizes.

But not all parents of students with special needs are getting them, including the Callahans. Some parents said they have never heard from their district about a plan for their children; others have said they are still waiting on specific plans from district officials even as school gets underway. Some have been offered in-school services for their child on a reduced schedule, either a few hours a day or a few days a week.

Troy schools spokeswoman Kerry Birmingham said her district started remote learning Tuesday and will eventually transition to face-to-face learning for occupational and physical therapy for students who struggle with having those services rendered remotely.

"We will do this in phases, dividing our students into three groups," Birmingham said. "This is all part of our overall plan to slowly transition back to face-to-face for all students, but this will be our first step."

'No one answer'

Rachel Fuerer, director of the Special Education Instructional Leadership group at the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Districts, said districts are facing tremendous challenges in deciding how best to serve special education students.

"It's really messy right now. I have to be super honest. There is a real lack of guidance at the state level of what things should look like," Fuerer said. "Guidance takes forever, and in the absence of guidance, like how to provide special education virtually, schools are doing the best they can. There is no one answer."

Experts say districts are struggling to put together plans for virtual learning since most students need individualized support and care from trained professionals. They are also struggling with in-person learning plans where students with disabilities would be required to wear masks, unless they have a medical waiver, and understand and carry out social distancing rules.

Many districts are trying to operate face-to-face learning for special education students in schools, Fuerer said, and others are focused on designing virtual classrooms for special needs students.

According to a study released last week by Michigan State University, 86% of the state's K-12 districts will offer at least some in-person learning at the start of this school year.

The study found 84% of districts that submitted Return to Learn Plans to the state are in Phase 4 regions (where virus cases, deaths and hospitalizations are "clearly declining"), while the rest are in Phase 5 regions (with continued improvement in cases and deaths).

"Because we are in Phases 4 and 5, we really should be offering face-to-face instruction for special education students," Fuerer said. "We are encouraging members to do that. Even if a student is online, they should be able to come in for special education services, like speech services."

Parent Julie Moe of Grosse Pointe Woods watched and waited all through August as officials in her son's school district updated school reopening plans, announced athletic camps and offered fee-based day care for families for the new school year.

But she saw nothing offered for her son, Max, a 7-year-old with Down syndrome and other disabilities. Then two weeks before the start of school, the Grosse Pointe Public School System announced it would offer limited services to children with disabilities.

Moe said since March, when the pandemic shut down schools statewide and sent students home for remote learning, Max has not gotten the therapies that are required in his special education plan, including the speech and occupational therapies he used to receive from teachers every week.

Under the plan for fall, Max is eligible for about 12 hours of in-school support compared with the 30 hours he received before the pandemic. Moe said she will send him to school for what's offered but wants more services for him sooner.

"I think they need a plan to ramp up. Their plan is delayed as to where it should be. They won't start therapies until two weeks into the school year," Moe said. "Our kids have already lost five months."

Grosse Pointe superintendent Gary Niehaus said the district sent a letter to parents on Aug. 27 about its new approach, which includes staying with remote learning from Sept. 8-20 and then phasing in an in-person return of students for individual therapies Sept. 21 through Oct. 12.

"We have a three-tiered plan that will be implemented with specific starting dates," Niehaus said. "It is a staggered start and will provide individual therapies to individual students. So we are adding as we determine our success in the process."

Districts get creative

Kanika Littleton, director of Michigan Alliance for Families, which advocates for students with disabilities, said she is seeing more examples of districts offering in-person learning for students with more significant needs in self-contained classrooms of smaller groups.

"Some districts are saying no, students can only attend virtually," Littleton said. "We try to stress that federal and state special education laws have not been waived due to COVID-19. Districts have the obligation to provide a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment."

Littleton said her organization is encouraging families to reach out to their district and speak to the IEP team about what will best meet their children's individual needs.

"It can't be a blanket decision by a district to do one thing or another. The education program is individualized," she said. "If there is going to be remote learning, they have to figure out how to deliver those services," Littleton said.

Some districts are getting creative, she said, and creating videos to show parents how to do things or show the student.

"It's not as good as being in person but we are seeing a lot of districts make a good-faith effort to deliver those services," Littleton said. "It is difficult for all parents to do virtual learning when they are working, someone is sick in the household, they have other children or there are connectivity issues."

Some complaints

Special education advocate Marcie Lipsitt says Michigan has about 211,000 special education plans, or IEPs, in place that districts are legally required to follow. Among those plans, about 50,000 are for students with severe cognitive and physical impairments and students with autism who rely on one-on-one services.

"For those populations, it's like they are back in the 1950s. They are home with no learning of any kind," she said.

Lipsitt said she is outraged some districts are advertising day care options inside schools for up to 10 kids at a time but are not offering special education services for students.

Since March, she said she has filed 30 formal complaints for Michigan families with the federal Office for Civil Rights, alleging districts aren't making a good-faith effort when it comes to special education plans.

"Some districts didn't even try virtual instruction," Lipsitt said. "Families, if they have no schedules, no formal plans, that is discrimination."

The bipartisan "Return to Learn" legislation signed last month by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says districts must describe how they will ensure students with disabilities will be provided instruction as well as detail how students will be provided technology and internet if instruction is virtual.

In the state's largest district, students with disabilities can choose between online learning and in-person instruction, said Chrystal Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Wilson said if parents requested face-to-face learning and their child's teacher also chose to teach in person, then that model is being provided.

"If not, then the student will be served online. A parent who requested (face-to-face) but the teacher is not meeting that request can bring their child to the school's learning center, where the student can log in to their child's teacher's online class from the school," Wilson said. "They will also be given breakfast and lunch."

While her students were home this spring, Berkley Public Schools special education teacher Carolyn Evans says she did her best to stay in touch with students and families via phone calls, texts and emails to offer her support.

This week, as school started in the Berkley Public Schools, Evans said she planned to meet her special education students in an appointment-only "meet and greet" to build rapport and help families understand what the school year will be like.

She knows online learning does not work in many cases for students with disabilities and that all students have different needs.

"All IEPs are individual. The equity of making sure what students need is not going look the same with every student," Evans said. "So I ask, what do I need to see this person in-person for and what can be done with technology?"

'A happy medium'

Livonia schools superintendent Andrea Oquist said her staff was committed to putting together a program that would allow students with disabilities to come into school for services and supports this fall.

There are 1,900 students in the district with IEPs. Of those, 300 have been invited to come into school buildings for services and programs. The remaining have remote plans. The district created a learning binder of resources for families who have students with special needs.

"Students with the greatest needs and most need of support are coming in during the remote-learning time; the remaining will have their needs met virtually," she said. "Our most unique learners with the most unique needs are the ones we are bringing back."

Livonia parent Mike Testa says he feels like he is one of the lucky parents who has the option of sending his daughter, Gaby, a special education seventh-grader, into school to be with teachers and receive services.

The district has dedicated the first week of school starting Sept. 8 to be remote for all students. Starting Sept. 14, Gaby can come into school for two hours in the morning or afternoon. Classrooms will be at 50% capacity in each session.

Testa says his daughter is thrilled to be going back.

"I am thankful they are providing some type of option for parents to get some services and class time in person," he said. "It's a happy medium. It's a hybrid. It's better than nothing. There will be remote work every day."

Gaby, 13, who has a developmental delay, starts middle school in a new building this fall, Testa said.

"She definitely wants to go to school. We told her she would start Sept. 14; she got upset and went to her iPad and showed us school should start Sept. 8. So I drove her to school to show her the building," Testa said.

Testa said he and his wife have discussed the risks of a child entering a school during the pandemic and decided Gaby should attend in person.

"The benefits outweigh the risk," Testa said. "She needs to be in school."

jchambers@detroitnews.com

Parents looking for help with their child's special education needs can call the Michigan Alliance for Families for free help at 1-800-552-4821 or email info@michiganllianceforfamilies.org. Special Education Mediation Services can also help for free at 1-833-KIDS-FIRST.

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