From the The Villager
Disabled student, parents vie with H-D, Department of Education to keep him at Crotched Mountain
by Michael Pon
The Hillsboro-Deering school board voted three to two on Monday against ruling on the decision by Superintendent Dr. Baker and her personnel to have special needs student, Joel Durham, attend school in the district. He is now 17, confined to a stroller, has epileptic seizures daily, has been attending school at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center since he was ten years old and his parents want to keep him there.
Joel was scheduled to begin at H-D high school this Monday, but because his parents filed for due process again with the Department of Education (DOE), Joel will be staying at Crotched Mountain until the issue is decided. The Durhams previously filed for due process with DOE in regards to the placement, but lost. This new due process is about the transition part of the placement, which demands a split schedule for Joel, as well as a staff that would change in several weeks to a summer staff, then another staff in September when he would finally attend full time. According to his doctor, consistency is a big factor in giving Joel quality care.
“All they are looking for is a big check from the State,” said Joel’s father, Joel Sr., after leaving the meeting, accusing the district of trying to cash in on the 80 percent reimbursement they would get from the state for the cost of supporting Joel in the high school, rather than at Crotched Mountain. “I’ll tell you right now from my standpoint, and everybody else can pound sand, I will make this about money. And the lawsuit that will incur on this town will be incredible. And I will make every bit of it about money, and I will hold the school, the school board, and the residents of the two towns liable for his health.”
Joel’s parents, the chairman of the Coalition of NH Taxpayers (CNHT) Ed Naile and one of his directors, Johnna Grzywacz, attended the meeting to ask the school board to overturn the decision, after having provided board members with documentation on Joel’s case several weeks ago. But when the issue came up on the agenda, school board chairman Babette Haley told them the board would not consider the issue.
“There is a due process procedure for families who have a disagreement with IEPs and placements for special education children, and the board is not involved in that process at all,” Haley said. “From the first meeting or evaluation right up to . . . the Supreme Court, there is no mention of the school or provision for the school board to be involved in this process at all.”
Haley went on to tell the parents that she believes “it is inappropriate for you to be asking the board to take any action on behalf of or for a specific student. And I also want you to know we do not discuss in public as a board or an administration specifics of students in public, so I want you to keep your comments general.”
Board member John Segedy made a motion to overrule Haley. His motion was seconded by board member Paul Plater. Haley and board members Kathy Pepper and Pam Butler voted not to overrule Haley.
In reaction, CNHT chairman Naile informed the board that they weren’t interested in a discussion.
“I asked for a vote. A decision not to vote on this, I consider it a no vote, so end of discussion,” said Naile, who then led the parents and Grzywacz out of the meeting.
Later Naile pointed out that the parents had signed a notarized document allowing the board to use Joel’s name in public discussion, and had asked that discussion by the board over the issue be held in public.
“We were asked to sign notarized statements that we were allowing the school to use his name. And the first thing they did at the beginning of this meeting was to hold a nonpublic session,” Naile, who decided to have the CNHT represent the Durhams, explained. “If that nonpublic session was about Joel, that’s not a lawful nonpublic session. We’ve tried to do this logically, and with the state statutes and the way the school board is supposed to work. They have chosen not to do this. . . . They tried not to have a vote and that will cost them. I’ll be back.”
Grzywacz appreciated the “stellar” quality of the care at Crotched Mountain.
“I had the opportunity to observe for two hours his care at Crotched Mountain as he moved from classroom to classroom and he was familiar with his caretakers and their professionalism,” Grzywacz said. “And I had a chance to observe where his surroundings would be at Hillsborough and I was astounded. It’s a kitchen, it’s an alcove, it’s a window he can’t see beyond. The bathroom is inches away. It’s not an environment that is suitable for his condition, and his physician specifically stated that it is not recommended that he move or transition to Hillsborough.”
“Once they get Joel into the school, and that’s what their plan is, they can ask for all kinds of things,” Joel’s mother, Cynthia pointed out. “And he’s not a guinea pig. He’s not a lab experiment. He’s not somebody so that they can get training, because they haven’t had any training. I asked the [occupational therapist] why she was in a hurry to have Joel start now, and not wait. And she said because she was so excited to work with him and she doesn’t work in the summer, and she didn’t want to wait all the way till the beginning of the next school year to work with Joel.”
“So she would find it better to put him in danger, working with him for two weeks, and then changing personnel, so she could have the experience for when she takes the summer off,” Joel Sr. pointed out.
Grzywacz was present at the transition meeting on May 2.
“Ten minutes into the meeting there was a very serious problem with a seizure and the I.V. had to be hung,” she recalled, describing the scene. “You’ve got the ambulance coming in. You don’t have any medical people on site that are equipped. There had to be at least 25 minutes that went by before anybody came to attend to a student that has serious medical conditions. In my belief it is going to cost the taxpayers more money to move him and keep him in Hillsborough than to keep him at Crotched Mountain. It’s not only about the money, it’s about the quality, it’s about the medical attention he needs when these situations arise.”
“If you are looking at a student who has a severe medical problem, Joel is it,” Naile said. “Joel can’t defend himself. He can’t speak. He would be subject to being placed with other [special education] students. We don’t know anything about the other students because we aren’t allowed to. . . . I would think it would be logical to leave him where he is unless you can prove you can do this. They have shown no proof whatsoever.”
The previous decision made by the DOE was based on FAPE. The decision was in regards to placing Joel. Although the Durhams lost that case, the argument the Durhams are involved with now is based on how to transition Joel. FAPE is Free Appropriate Public Education. By pursuing due process for transition issues, the Durhams can keep Joel out of the high school until that issue is decided.
“At no time… was the [first] decision based on his health. It was based on FAPE,” Joel Sr. said bluntly of the DOE hearing officer’s decision. “FAPE does not apply to a seventeen year old boy who is mentally three. They were going to teach him how to count, finances, to count quarters. He eats them. I’ve seen him do it. Took him in for X-rays, waited for him to poop them out. That’s not how we count quarters. . . . I’ve played it everybody else’s way and I’m telling you right now, we are playing it my way.”
Naile intends to make a public relations political move towards keeping Joel at Crotched Mountain.
“As a taxpayers group, we normally would be saying let’s save money and keep these kids in the district,” said Naile. “Our board of directors, several members were at some of these meetings. I was at the first meeting on April 9 and I saw how this team operates, and I was appalled. And it’s gotten worse at every single juncture and now the school board is trying to negate its responsibilities. Since we have gotten no help from this transition team, we went to the next logical group, which is the school board. These are elected officials in this town and that’s who’ll answer to the taxpayers group and the public relations event that will unfold after this will be on their shoulders. So I’ll be coming back in a couple of school board meetings from now and asking them again to override the decisions of this life skills team.”
Naile believes the board has authority over the Student Support Services group that made the decision to have Joel in the high school.
“They said that they reviewed some court cases, that they have no authority over this,” Naile said.
The Director of Student Support Services reports directly to Superintendent Dr. Barbara Baker.
“They oversee the budget and welfare of children with the school,” Naile added. “This is a medical issue regarding the safety of a student. I think the school board has authority over that.”
Related Links:
Rules for Education of Children with Disabilities
DOE Cases
IDEA Law
Case Law
FAPE Law
More on IDEA Law