During the school year just ended, the Fulton City School District moved closer to its goal of keeping in the district all of its students with disabilities.
There were 514 students with disabilities living in the district in the 2008-2009 school year, according to Katherine Adams, Director of Special Instructional Programs and Pupil Services for the district.
Of that number, 470 attended classes either in the school they would have attended based on where they live, or in another building in the district. That’s up 12% from the year before.
Another 33 students attended classes within the district that were run by BOCES and 20 others attended school at BOCES in Mexico. One student was homeschooled.
District officials believe that students with disabilities benefit by staying in the school closest to their home. It also saves the district the expense of paying BOCES for that student’s education.
“I firmly believe all of our students should be educated within the district,” said Board of Education member Rae Howard.
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In our school district we have about 1400 special needs children. Of that number only 1 student is not currently enrolled in our district and that is because of a parent placement of the child in a facility in Tennessee because she is so severly autistic that even with respite care she could not be cared for in the home. Until the parent placed her in that facility she was attending our schools.
I find it hard to believe that at this point in time, Fulton cannot, will not, educate all special needs children within the local school district. The federal law, IDEA requires that students be educated with their typical peers in the least restrictive environment. Sounds like Fulton is not being a good steward of the federal funds they receive for special needs children.
Parents need to become more knowledgable of their rights and the rights of their students when it comes to educating their special needs child.
I think the above person should not judge our district without knowing the facts behind each student. If you read the article carefully it states Fulton is moving towards serving the needs of all the children. It does not state they will not meet those needs. Read more carefully.