|
Attorney for parents calls
hearing process 'tainted' Parents want classroom cameras to protect
children
By Chris Campbell
August 13, 2008
A controversy involving allegations
of abuse at an area school for the disabled could lead to civil
litigation, according to an attorney involved with the case.
Meanwhile, some parents of students
pulled from school in the wake of the controversy are unsure where
or when their children will begin the new school year.
Parents and local advocates for the
disabled are expressing displeasure with a series of due process
hearings looking into abuse allegations at Mapaville State
School.The allegations were made public in March.
As many as 25 percent of the
school's 30-plus students were pulled from the school after secretly
recorded audiotapes containing evidence of alleged neglect and
verbal abuse were turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff's
Office.
While no criminal charges were
issued, parents and advocates involved are demanding firings and the
installation of in-classroom cameras.
Craig Henning, executive director
of the Crystal City-based Disability Resource Association (DRA),
said he holds little hope those demands will be met through the due
process hearings.
The hearings, held before a panel
of three arbiters, are required before any legal action can be
taken.
Henning said the hearings are
little more than a formality.
"The bottom line is taxpayers are
paying for a ridiculous circus," he said. "I have little hope
anything will be resolved."
Under the due process hearing
configuration, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
(DESE), the school district and the parents all select one judge to
oversee the proceeding.
It's a set-up Henning said is
inherently biased.
"It's skewed against the parents,"
he said. "The state picks two and you pick one."
As many as 10 hearings involving
Mapaville are scheduled.
Andy Kuhlmann, an attorney
representing district parents, echoed Henning's complaint, calling
the configuration "structurally tainted."
The hearings are expected to last
until the end of the year, at which time Kuhlmann said a
class-action lawsuit on behalf of all state-school students in
Missouri may be filed.
"I don't think settlement is an
option at this time," he said. "I don't think DESE wants to admit
fault."
Though the complaints from
Mapaville parents involve specific instances of alleged neglect,
Kuhlmann said the whole state school system is failing to adequately
serve the needs of disabled children.
"The schools aren't properly
funded," he said. "They don't pay administrators enough. You can't
provide meaningful education to students with permanent uncertified
substitute teachers."
Charlie Taylor, superintendent of
state schools, declined to comment on the hearings or the
possibility of camera being installed in the classrooms, referring
questions instead to a representative of the state Attorney
General's office, who was not reachable by press time.
Jill Randall, whose son Blake was
pulled from school in the wake of the controversy, is awaiting her
due process hearing.
She doesn't think the hearing will
result in major changes such as cameras or new personnel, but she is
hopeful federal litigation will ultimately change state law.
One option Randall and other
parents are considering is enrolling their children in special
education classes offered at their individual school districts.
That may also prove difficult.
Henning said school districts have
the ability to keep students at Mapaville, at least temporarily, by
invoking a state provision called "Stay Put."
"The Windsor School District
decided to employ 'Stay Put' in one student's case on Friday and
we're quite upset about that," Henning said.
The DRA recently met with state
legislators in an effort to introduce a bill requiring classroom
cameras.
Because many of the students at
Mapaville are severely disabled and cannot speak for themselves,
Henning said cameras are critical to ensure student welfare.
|
