Worthington School District Faces Review

April 5, 2010

More complaints from parents have prompted the state to aga in scrutinize the Worthington schooldistrict’s treatment of disabled students.

The Ohio Department of Education reviewed the district’s special-education practices last schoolyear. After that visit, the state ordered Worthington to make changes and train teachers.

This time, the department will examine how often disabled students are learning alongside peerswho do not have disabilities. It also will probe how well Worthington writes and follows disabledstudents’ federally required learning plans, which was a problem raised last time.

The district said it welcomes the review. "We really believe we have a quality program," saidShirley Hamilton, who oversees special education in the district. "We have quality staff, dedicatedstaff. We think we’re on the right track and are moving forward."

What the state describes as a "selective review" will include a public meeting on April 13 andthree days of staff interviews and reviews of records. The state has conducted four other selectivereviews since the process was begun in late 2008.

"The complaints that were filed were filed by an extremely small minority of parents inWorthington City. We hope to hear from a broader scope of parents," said Ann Guinan, assistantdirector of the state department’s Office for Exceptional Children.

A group of about 40 parents of special-needs students called "Many Parents, One Voice" remainscritical of the district. Some parents say Worthington hasn’t done enough and is moving tooslowly.

Since 2006, 23 complaints have been made about Worthington, which has about 9,500 students.Those complaints are more than were made about the Columbus school system, the state’s largest,with more than 51,000 students.

Th e state investigated 13 complaints about Worthington last school year. Four more have beenmade since fall.

About 1,300 Worthington students are considered disabled.

A flood of complaints doesn’t necessarily mean the district is mistreating disabled students,Guinan said.

"I’m not saying Worthington doesn’t have issues," she said. "Are they a terrible district? No.Do they have issues that need to be addressed? Yes. And that’s what we’re assisting them to do."Some of Worthington’s deficiencies are common among school districts, Guinan said.

Parents acknowledge that the district has responded to some concerns. "I’ve definitely seen awillingness and almost an urgency" to change, said Brenda Louisin, a special-education advocate whohelps lead the parents group. "It’s happening, but very slowly."

Last school year, the state visited the district and found that Worthington had violated severalfederal and state laws. Federal law requires schools to write individualized education plans forstudents with special needs that set specific goals and detail what services they need to help themlearn. In Worthington, those plans often either weren’t followed or weren’t well-written, the statesaid.

Worthington was ordered to train staff members right away. That training happened in January.The district brought in a couple of regular-education teachers from each school for trainingbecause the cost to pay 200 teachers to attend and substitute teachers to fill in for them was toogreat. The teachers who received the training were to train others in their buildings.

The training and changes came too late, some parents say.

Beth Hill’s son, DJ Hicks, who is autistic, deaf, blind in one eye and developmentally delayed,i s a senior this year at Worthington Kilbourne High School. For years, the 19-year-old has receivedonce-a-week therapy at school to help him learn to get around, as in crossing streets safely andnavigating unfamiliar places.

He never left the school grounds for the training until Hill filed a formal complaint with thestate, she said.

"Had he had the opportunity to receive that training in a real-world situation, things couldhave turned out so differently. They’re really doing an injustice to these kids," Hill said.

Hamilton said the district trained staff members on working with students who have autism orAsperger’s syndrome this school year. Special-education teachers are meeting quarterly for trainingand discussion, and the district is meeting with parents monthly, she said.

"We do have an active parent group, and they have some issues from the past, and I think it’sgoing to take time to change perceptions," she said.