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Charter Story of What Not To Do

IT'S THE SEASON TO START CLEANING

Collateral Damage

Last year in Virginia, there were 25 Deafblind students total enrolled in the state. That is .015% of the 163,500 special education children in the state, or .002% of the state’s total student population of 1,245,270. My point – very few Deafblind students are in Virginia. What else is few – people trained and/or experienced working with Deafblind students. What to do….what to do? Well the federal government came up with an idea – and it’s funded through the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). In Virginia, we have the Virginia Project for Children and Youth with Deaf-Blindness which supports parents and schools with information and strategies to help "every child, every day, whatever it takes."

Hampton City Schools has 0 teachers and/or staff trained to work with Deafblind students – ZERO. Lets you know just how important the Deafblind population really is to Hampton City Schools. Having trained professionals to go to for help and for information - would be awesome! Why would Hampton City Schools "ban" the Deaf Blind Project from coming to work in their schools? They would be able to offer suggestions or strategies with working with this population? Is it because it’s a low incidence population? Low incidence population equals less money the school system gets for that population of students. Is this a case of collateral damage.....don't think so......seems intentional to me.

Follow the Money

At the beginning of the 2011 school year, all special education students were sent back to their zoned schools and some put into inclusion classrooms. Why were these special education students deposited into inclusion classrooms? The law doesn’t say that inclusion is less restrictive; in fact, the law doesn’t talk about "inclusion" at all. The law says the placement needs to be the least restrictive environment and this needs to be determined by the IEP team and not a prearranged destination. Hampton has moved to this predetermined conclusion for special education students to be placed in the mainstream/inclusion classrooms – these students are not given the special education services they may require. Instead they are getting special education teachers coming in for an hour or two as "a push in" service(s). Regular education teachers are left feeling overwhelmed with this placement – and likewise, the special education teachers who were not prepared to address the special education needs of these children! Everyone is overwhelmed (Regular/special education teachers and students). (Daily Press article).

You also have the special education self-contained classrooms (Not a legal term). Here is what I think is happening inside these classrooms. You have self-contained classrooms which may contain students in kindergarten through grade 5 having various degrees of disabilities in each class. (Daily Press article). Some classrooms are overcrowded and understaffed. As with the inclusion classrooms, this placement may not be the least restrictive environment, LRE. And as with the inclusion classrooms, the teachers may only hold a provisional license. Our special education children are providing these teachers with the training and the "experiences" that these provisionally licensed teachers don’t have.

Hampton City Schools has reduced and/or blocked visitation for parents, grandparents, behaviorist, ABAs, Community Service Board case managers, and anyone that Hampton City Schools thinks may have the slightest bit of intelligence to determine that the environment is not conducive to learning.

What are we left with…..administrators, teachers, and staff overwhelmed and undertrained to work with our children as well as our children with special needs. Is that the best Hampton City Schools can do? Why not use all available resources from the state and federal government to come in and help? It’s ridiculous not to allow them access with all the grants that are available. All have an obligation to "every child, every day, whatever it takes."

"Not only were Settlegoode’s core First Amendment rights implicated, but her speech may have had important effects for the disabled students in the district and their parents. Teachers are uniquely situated to know whether students are receiving the type of attention and education that they deserve and, in this case, are federally entitled to. We have long recognized the importance of allowing teachers to speak out on school matters, teachers are, as a class, the members of a community most likely to have informed and definite opinions’ " on such matters, id. This is particularly so with respect to disabled children, who may not be able to communicate effectively that they lack appropriate facilities. Teachers may therefore be the only guardians of these children’s rights and interests during the school day. Whether or not Settlegoode’s assertions were accurate, or were communicated in the best manner possible, it is clear that the subject matter of her expression was of public importance.

At the same time, the school district presented very little evidence of disruption. Settlegoode’s method for conveying her dissatisfaction with the adapted physical education program included sending internal letters and discussing the issue with supervisors. She made her concerns known through proper channels, and made no public statements about the school conditions.

We are hard pressed to figure out what Settlegoode could have done that would have been more pleasing to the school district-except, of course, keep quiet."

PAMELLA E. SETTLEGOODE,
PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MULTNOMAH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.1;
SUSAN WINTHROP; ROBERT CREBO; LARRY WHITSON

DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER

in my opinion - Hampton City School has run amuck for too many years. To see how those at Hampton City Schools have treated parents and staff who have questioned them, or disagreed with them is loathsome, disgusting, and pathetic. Because they have gone unchecked - they have begun to believe that they are coated with Teflon; fortunately, Teflon scratches - exposing the weakness to its construction. Hampton, like the cheap pan with the scratches, the surface just keeps getting worst. There is no repair. But there are replacements. Really good replacements. This is what Hampton City Schools is in need of – replacements that don’t require Teflon.

When I started my website two years ago it was to provide data to parents of special needs children that would inform them and hopefully motivate them to act. But as I began to learn more about Hampton City Schools’ operations - red flags kept popping up.

Yes, they treat the Deaf population in the school system like second-class citizens, but it is not just this very - very - very small minority, it is the citizens of the city of Hampton.

I wasn’t entrusted with 200 million dollars and wrote and approved the Hampton City School budget that didn’t add-up from one page to the next. I didn’t override school policies in order to hire a lesser qualified superintendent. I didn’t fail to follow state law to provide actual pupil/teacher ratios. I didn’t testify at a due process hearing with testimony which was 180 degrees different than what was offered at the IEP meetings. I didn’t attempt to bribe a hearing officer to get the desired outcome to a due process hearing. I didn’t hide the fact that employees are making thousands more than approved in the budget. I didn’t tell teachers that they are getting yet another pay raise that now puts their salary less than what the steps were in 2008. But all these events provide the encouragement I need to keep-up the watch on the peeling Teflon so that citizens can make the most informed decisions when making the necessary replacements.

Replacements who create a budget in the best interest of the students to achieve the goals - on pages that total accurately. Replacements who create policies that are adhered to. Replacements who believe in transparency and accuracy in reporting information to the public. Replacements who view honesty as an asset to be preserved in the workplace. Replacements who don’t create mottos but actual goals for our students that Hampton will strive to achieve. Replacements who actively listen to the concerns of staff and parents so that issues can be resolved. Replacements who believe in accountability and apply it…..etc......REPLACEMENTS.....this is just my obtainable GOAL.