ONCE UPON A GENE - EPISODE 022 - School Closures and FAPE
After the schools closed, I saw an uproar on social media, reading a lot of incorrect information, worry and confusion. This episode is geared to helping form realistic ideas about why distance learning isn't for all students and find acceptance of this topic. This is a huge hit to everyone, but joining me to help us all take a deep breath on the matter is Jen Cole.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Tell us about your position at PAVE.
I'm the Director of Parent Training and Information at PAVE. Every state has a parent training and information center, funded through a grant from the US Department of Education and we're here to provide technical assistance to families and community members when they have questions or concerns about education for a child, birth through 26. What makes us uniquely positioned to help families is that most of us at PAVE are parents of disabilities. I have a 9 year old with a developmental disability, so I got thrown into this years ago shortly after he was born and I endeavored to learn as much as I could and that's how I crossed paths with and later began working for PAVE.
Explain what FAPE is.
FAPE stands for Free and Public Appropriate Education. FAPE applies to any eligible student for special education and also includes students with 504 plans. A 504 plan is typically a plan of accommodations and doesn't usually contain specially designed instruction for a student.
Can you explain the district's thought process behind it considering special education and 504's?
As a parent, I've always been concerned with equitable access for my child's education. When the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) issued their handbook to parents regarding COVID-19, they said districts have an obligation to provide equitable access. So this goes beyond special education and can include our students who are English learners, who are experiencing homelessness, who are in foster care and who need access to nutrition services. Special education is definitely a strong consideration. For some students, there's multiple intersections where a student might be experiencing homelessness and may have an IEP and they're at a further disadvantage. Equity is key here and that's the obligation the districts have to all of their students. It's a huge consideration when districts are offering distance or remote learning and determining if all students can access it and if they can't, they have to re-think that.
Do you know of any ideas or plans that school districts are working on to establish an equitable distance learning program?
I have not heard any or seen any great plans at this point. What I do know is that a lot of the Superintendents are in communication with OSPI and their educational service districts to get creative and be solution-focused on how to move forward with a plan.
What are some resources that you know of that parents can turn to in order to get other services for their children?
At the local level, it behooves schools and districts to be in communication with families. For a lot of families who have access to social media and the internet, I'm noticing communities pulling together online to share resources. One of the most recent thing going around is companies giving away free trials to their educational apps. I've heard that some of our community partners are continuing some of their child care and opening that up to the community, which may provide additional experiences to keep kids engaged.
On the matter of services for the kids that have an IEP, are they entitled to these no matter what?
I have been looking at the most recent guidance from OSPI regarding this and generally speaking, if schools are shut down to all students, then they're shut down to all students. Schools do have an obligation to consider this impact on students with disabilities. Because IEP's are individualized for each student, it potentially becomes that team's decision as they look at the information around the closure and determine the impact on the student. I encourage families to start thinking about this as they monitor their child's progress or lack thereof while they're out of school and to raise this issue with the IEP team.
Is the ESY something that's typically provided for any student who needs extra credit or failed a class or is it currently just for kids with IEP's?
Extended school year services are different from summer school. Summer school is typically offered to all students, but is more targeted to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch or students who might be not on track to graduate. For students with IEP's, extended school year services is an IEP team decision. There's specific code laws around how that is defined and is often around regression in skills or knowledge due to time off. It can also be offered to students who are at the cusp of some emerging skills where to cut off services at the end of the school year would be detrimental.
Do you have any ideas about how you're going to help your son with his developmental challenges that he gets help with in school?
Like many families, I work full time. I do have the privilege of being able to telecommute, so if my son is at home while I'm working a full day, it can be challenging to balance my work needs and also his needs. I'm trying to figure that out now. I know a lot about my son's disability and I'm very familiar with his IEP, so I have some ideas about how I'm going to be able to support his learning. My son also gets occupational and speech therapy, so those things might be a bit trickier for me to implement, but I'll go back to his IEP and look at the goals and see what I can work on. I'm his first and most important teacher, so I think as much as I can, I want to support his learning at home.
What are your final thoughts on this subject?
It's best for us to be united and care about every student's access. Working together, pulling together and working with our community partners and our schools to be solution-focused is going to be helpful as we emerge from this and move forward from this.
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