Glen Ellyn Dist. 41 seeking input from parents of kids with special needs
A group of parents with kids with special needs has a long list of concerns about services in Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41.
But when the parents meet for a third time later this month, members of a special education collaborative will focus on three areas at the top of the list: programming, inclusion and training for teachers.
Parents will break into small groups with principals and assistant principals to discuss how to put some of their suggestions into place during the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Hadley Junior High.
"It's really intended to be a very collaborative process with our parents," Superintendent Paul Gordon said.
Previous sessions held over the summer sparked frank discussions about the special education services the district provides for 12 percent of its roughly 3,500 students. Those programs and their staffing could fall under scrutiny if the school board agrees Tuesday to hire consultants to do a $20,000 audit.
Derek Ladgenski, a father of a student with cerebral palsy, called on the district to develop a "comprehensive" master plan with input from parents, instead of "picking and choosing goals that they want to address in a piecemeal fashion over the year." Though he praised the new principal and a new teacher at his son's elementary school, Ladgenski expressed frustration that "the wheels move so slowly sometimes" districtwide.
The collaborative formed last June in the wake of complaints raised by parents in surveys and during school board meetings.
In written comments included in one of the surveys last April, some parents criticized the district's communication and for having "limited input" in their child's individualized education plan and not enough progress reports about how their kids are doing in school.
Others said teachers need more training to better understand their children's specific disabilities.
"Disabled students do not misbehave on purpose, but are being treated like it is purposeful behavior," one parent wrote. "I can't even count how many times my child has spent in the office getting a lecture or getting suspended for behaviors that are clearly disability driven."
During the next collaborative meeting, parents also will get an update on accessibility improvements the district completed over the summer in schools. And Michelle Gallo, director of student services, will share what training special education teachers received before the start of the school year.
For instance, special education aides - the district added 10 this school year - received training from a district behavioral specialist about de-escalation and classroom management.
With an eye toward inclusion, Gallo says she's also looking into bringing a program "very similar" to Special Buddies to the district's elementary schools. Hadley Junior High currently offers Special Buddies activities after-school that Gallo said fosters "meaningful interactions" between students with special needs and those without.