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A Decade of Hopscotch for Special Ed

January 25, 2010

Carl Traeger Elementary student Ben DeLap made his first friend at school this year.

His autism aside, the third grader has struggled to socialize with his p eers after the district moved him into new schools four times in five years.

"It’s not fair to our children," said his mother, Pam DeLap. "The typical children in our district don’t put up with shifting around year after year, yet the kids that can tolerate it the least are being subject to that."

This hopscotching of children in special education programs has plagued many of the district’s most challenged students and their families for more than a decade. And now, as the district faces critical building decisions to cover deep budget deficits and a mountain of deferred maintenance, many other affected families are pouring forward to voice their frustration.

"We were like a ping pong ball," said Kevin Jahnke, the father of a North High School sophomore with severe autism who has already attended 11 different schools. Since the fall of 1996, Ben Jahnke changed school buildings 15 times, including summer school and two short stints in programs outside the Oshkosh school district.

Meanwhile, district leaders, facing the task of balancing spending cuts with tax increases during an economic recession, can’t seem to muster community support for a building consolidation plan designed to regain financial and program stability. As part of a proposed consolidation of middle schools, the plan would establish linear paths for children in special education that would allow them to follow their peers through middle and high school.

The consolidation of five middle schools into three buildings also requires increases school enrollments, shifts boundaries and cuts teachers to save money.

Parents’ and educators’ anxieties have heightened in recent months since the district announced the possibility of consolidating middle schools and shutting down two elementary schools. Many families with children in special education would have to move yet again, and parents are worried they may find themselves in a position they’ve been in before – feeling their children are little more than an afterthought for district decision makers looking to cut costs and adjust school enrollments.

Parents of special education students say they don’t want to be confrontational about the issue. Instead, they hope to work collaboratively with the district to solidify a long-range plan that would end the hopscotching. And, administrators insist stabilizing special education is a goal they want to achieve.

No easy solution

However, a solution is complicated. The root of the issue lies deep in the framework of the Oshkosh Area School District. Nearly every facet of the district’s makeup – from building placement to specific programming – contributes to the problem.

Topping the list of frustrations is the fact that students in special education don’t always follow their peers into middle or high school. For example, a student in the program for severe cognitive delays at Jacob Shapiro Elementary would attend middle school at Perry Tipler while the rest of his or her classmates move into South Park. As a freshman, that same student would go to North High School for services while everyone else from Tipler moved to West High.

Entire special education programs are also sometimes moved to new buildings due to enrollment changes. During years when fewer students require a special service, that program may shift to make room for regular education students. When more students require a special service, the program must move again to a building with adequate space.

In the case of Ben DeLap, schools kept moving him while trying to find a program to best serve his needs. After attending three different schools without success, the district mo ved him back to his first school, where he is finally experiencing academic and social progress.

"The feelings we took away from those experiences as a family were that these schools didn’t want us. They didn’t want to deal with Ben … So that’s emotional baggage we’re carrying with us each and every move, and I still have those old tapes playing in my head every time a current issue comes up with Ben – if there’s a problem here, they’re going to want to shift him out," said Pam DeLap.

She admits those fears may not reflect reality, but "because we’ve (moved) so many times, we’ve built up that defense."

The social consequences of frequent moving are severe. Students with special needs struggle to form relationships, and with every move they must start the process over.

"It’s hard to point to a child and try to explain to them and their siblings that just because they’re born different they have to go to a different school without any of their neighbors," said Kathryn Hauck, mother of a fourth grader with autism who has already attended four different elementary schools.

Tracking consequences difficult

Educational consequences are harder to track. Both North and West high schools missed goals for improvement in special education under the federal No Child Left Behind law last year. However, no data can link the low achievement to disruption caused by moving students.

Thirty-five percent of students with disabilities at West scored proficient or advanced in reading on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam and the Wisconsin Alternative Assessment for Students with Disabilities administered to sophomores last November. That’s a four percent decline from last school year and a 10 percent decline in two years.

At North, 32 percent of students with disabilities scored proficient or advanced in reading, a 1 percent drop over last year but a 9 percent increase since 2006-07.

District administrators have been trying unsuccessfully to address the problem. The district’s current 10-year plan was finished at the beginning of 2008 and intended to establish stability for special education programs. But the plan’s $70 million price tag anchored any progress. A referendum to build a new school on the north side of Oshkosh, a staple part of the plan, was killed by voters in April 2009.

Administrators have brought forward a new possibility that would actually save money. Since special education services are spread thin across the district, administrators believe they can alleviate much of the movement by condensing Oshkosh’s five middle schools into three or four buildings. The change would create a linear path for all students with special needs to follow their typical peers. Larger schools would also reduce the need to relocate services due to building capacities.

"Larger schools can be more efficient with delivering services and the more we’ll be able to keep children with peers throughout their education," said Bob Geigle, the district’s director of pupil services. "It’s a long-term solution."

Seeking stability

Many in the community, however, strongly oppose this option because middle school enrollments could jump as high 800 children in one building. Others say eliminated middle schools on the east and southwest sides of Oshkosh could cause transportation issues for many families.

Interim Superintendent Bette Lang said she believes program stability – for both special and regular education – outweighs the luxury of small schools.

"I understand why people want sm all, neighborhood schools, but they are maybe not the best solution for all students," she said.

Most parents of children with special needs have remained neutral through the debate, asking only for the school board to capitalize on looming facility changes to update the long-range plan for special education. They say creating linear paths allowing children with special needs to stay with their peers is only one step, and the district must also look into hiring more teachers holding multiple licenses to instruct an array of students with different disabilities.

"We want to work with the district to find constructive solutions that will benefit not only children with disabilities but all children," said Shannon Walter, parent of three children with special needs. Her children have attended a combination of seven different elementary schools.

So far, board members have been receptive. Four of seven members attended a recent meeting earlier this month of a newly formed Special Needs Parent Coalition to ask questions about how they can help. The issue is likely to come up again on January 29 when the board holds a retreat to update the 10-year facilities plan.

"I think our biggest point now is we’re not just looking for solutions for our children, but solutions for everyone. Regular education is very important for our kids, too," said Walter.