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Mother gets a lawyer, claims Columbus City Schools causing special needs daughter to fail


{p}FILE - Undated photo of the Columbus City Schools logo. (WSYX/WTTE){/p}

FILE - Undated photo of the Columbus City Schools logo. (WSYX/WTTE)

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Parents of special needs students are coming forward saying this pandemic is sparking a battle between them and their schools.

“It was very infuriating for me as a parent to know we understand your daughter is failing, we know she’s behind, you’re not probably getting all the work that you need for her but we just really need to focus on the attendance,” mom Melissa Reed explains as a synopsis of her conversations with Columbus City Schools regarding her daughter’s remote learning year. “Katie needs a little bit more direction or redirection than other kids do.”

CCS started the school year in full remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. Reed says her daughter Katie has an individual education plan with the district due to her ADHD and lack of hearing. While usually given an aide inside the classroom, Reed said her daughter cannot focus in front of a laptop and will not attend her virtual classes.

Reed told ABC6 On Your Side Investigates that her daughter had been on the honor roll for Eastmoor Academy but is now failing.

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In October, CCS then offered its special education students a chance to return to the classroom in a hybrid model to reintroduce in-person instruction. More than 900 families signed up for the hybrid learning and Reed planned to send Katie four days a week. However days before the special ed transition, CCS rescinded the offer. Reed received notice that Katie’s remote learning would continue into January.

“It broke me,” Reed said through tears. “As a parent, it broke me because I know what she’s missing and they don’t care.”

CCS started the 2020-2021 school year with a 65% attendance rate for all of its students. That number climbed to 71% by the end of October. Reed said she was not going to help her daughter log in to online classes as she received no benefit from the instruction. Instead of addressing accommodations on her daughter’s IEP not being met, Reed said CCS referred her daughter to Franklin County Children Services for truancy.

ABC6 On Your Side Investigates contacted CCS about this case. The district indicated it must take attendance by law. Reed said she was instructed by the FCCS caseworker to provide a doctor’s note indicating her daughter cannot engage in online instruction.

“There is nothing anywhere that says we can just not serve kids with disabilities and get away with it,” said attorney Kristin Hildebrant with Disability Rights Ohio. “If a school district doesn’t know how to do that for a particular child it’s because they have not had those individual discussions through the IEP team process.”

Hildebrant told ABC6 On Your Side Investigates that districts must fulfill IEPs even in a full remote learning year. This could include the district paying for an aide or tutor to come to the home. Also, parents should take notes to make sure lost education hours are made up.

“If they pay attention for five minutes out of the day, document that,” she said. “That’s the information you’re going to need later to get compensatory and recovery services.”

Reed said she’s filed a complaint with the state and is talking to her own attorney. If all else fails, she wants to ensure a quality education for her daughter through the court.

“I think that they do need to be held accountable,” she said. “The only thing they cared about was the attendance.”

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