Hanover school officials are moving to radically alter a 12-year-old
student's education plan, which the parents are alleging is in
violation of federal disability laws.
In interviews and a formal complaint to the state Department of
Education, Karl and Linda Peterson allege that Hanover school officials
are seeking to deny future payment for their son's current private
schooling.
They also argue that the school system undertook the change without
meeting with them, a basic tenet of laws that set the ground rules for
individual education plans for special-education students.
"It's like we're fighting the same fight over and over again," said
Linda Peterson, whose son James has been the center of ongoing legal
disputes with the school system since May 2003.
The Petersons learned of Hanover's refusal to pay just days after
they won a decision in late August from U.S. District Judge Robert E.
Payne that pointedly criticized the school system's past
special-education efforts for James. Payne said the school system is
obligated to pay James' past educational costs and legal fees.
Now the family is caught in a new battle. The school system decided
that this year it will pay for James' private schooling, but not at the
Dominion School for Autism that Payne and the Petersons say surpasses
Hanover's efforts.
Instead, the school system wants to send James to the Faison School,
which also specializes in care for autistic children. The decision was
reached by a team of school officials who met Aug. 31 while the
Petersons were out-of-town.
After a tour of Faison school last week, Linda Peterson said she
believes it is an inappropriate place for her son. She and her husband
said they will keep James at Dominion, where he was last year. The
educational system there would be smaller and less disorienting for her
son, they said, and they've instructed the school to bill the county.
Under federal law, a school system must either provide adequate
schooling for children with disabilities within the public schools, or
pay for private schooling.
"I can't understand why Hanover is willing to pay more than twice
the costs to send James to Faison, when Dominion already has been shown
in months of litigation to be doing exactly what our son needs," Linda
Peterson said.
She said that Hanover officials and teachers have no current
familiarity with James' condition and have never sought records from
Dominion that would show his most current progress.
Faison generally handles more severely disabled children. Costs can
reach as much as $66,000 a year, although scholarships and tuition
assistance can reduce expenses for some families. Linda Peterson said
Dominion has children with milder problems. It has a smaller population
of students, and costs can be only half those of Faison.
Autism is a cognitive disorder with symptoms that range from
self-abuse to processing problems that impede speech, comprehension and
focusing. The frequency of its diagnosis has increased dramatically in
the past decade, and its causes are not known.
Philip Carter Strother, a Richmond lawyer who represents the
Petersons and won the decision from Payne, said the school system's
decision flouts the careful reasoning of Payne's decision and
needlessly adds to the school system's financial burden.
Dominion's charges exceed special-education costs for James in
Hanover schools by only $4,000 a year, Strother said, citing court
testimony. Strother last week filed legal fees of $250,000 in the
Petersons' federal court case.
In his 82-page opinion, Payne picked apart the school system's
evidence and witnesses, at one point calling some testimony unreliable,
and concluded that the Petersons were within their rights to move their
son out of the school system to a private school. Grades employed by
the school system to measure James' progress were "conclusory by nature
and are of little utility for that reason." Payne found.
The judge must still hear arguments on how much Hanover will pay for
James' private education at Dominion for the 2005-2006 school year and
on the amount of legal fees. The Petersons removed their son from
Hanover public schools in September 2005.
Payne's decision stemmed from the family's appeal of a hearing
officer's decision that Hanover efforts to teach James had been
adequate. Payne concluded that James had regressed at county public
schools.
Hanover school officials said they cannot comment about individual
students because of privacy concerns. They have not decided whether to
appeal Payne's ruling.
In a letter to the Petersons, however, the school system said it has
agreed to meet with the couple this month. School officials also said
they were obligated to develop an educational plan before the school
year began and that Payne's analysis did not deal with James' future
educational needs.
Hanover has almost 3,000 special-education students, of which 41 are
attending private schools. In 2005, Hanover spent $21.3 million for
special education and related services, of which $14.4 million was from
county funds.
The Petersons say they will keep James at Dominion by relying on a
provision of federal law known as a stay put provision, which basically
requires continuance of the status quo until disputes over services or
placement are resolved.
"The saddest part of all this is that all the Petersons wanted for
their son was what the federal law requires -- an appropriate education
in the least restrictive environment," Strother said.
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