From: Los Angeles Times – Inland Valley Edition

CHINO, CHINO HILLS
Parents fight takeover of special education programs
Chino Valley Unified official says full control of classes will benefit students.

By Joanna Corman / joanna.corman@latimes.com

Parents of disabled students in Chino and Chino Hills announced Monday they will oppose their public school district's takeover of all of their children's special education programs until they are allowed more input in the changes.

A group of parents calling themselves Special Children's Advocating Rights for Education called a news conference Monday at the Chino Valley Unified School District headquarters to criticize the district's plan to assume control of teaching all special education students who live in the district. Some special education students in the district now take classes offered by the San Bernardino County public school system while others are taught on the Chino Valley Unified campuses by the district's teachers.

"We're saying don't do this until we have all the information made available to us," parent Kumkum Mukherjee said. The news conference, which included a representative from the office of Assemblywoman Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino), was meant to draw attention to the concerns of parents who say they have not gotten much information about the changes scheduled to take place in the 2002-03 school year.

It's quickly becoming a controversial issue. School board member Bill Klein said he has received several phone calls from upset parents.

Klein sought, as did school administrators in charge of the changes, to reassure parents that they keep parents involved in discussions.

"We don't want people feeling out of the loop," Klein said. "We want all communications to be forthcoming and we want them involved. Clearly we all want what is best for the kids."

Two years ago, Chino Valley school board members decided that they wanted the district's teachers to run all of the special education classes, except in rare instances when the district could not offer the services a disabled child needed.

Chino Valley Unified runs some at district schools and others are run by the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools. Still other special education students attend classes outside the Chino Valley district.

Unless the current school board overturns the decision, Chino Valley will run the county classes on its campuses. And in two years, all of the district's students who attend special education classes outside the district will transfer to special education classes on district campuses.

Mukherjee, who is a founding member of the grass-roots group, said she and others are trying to inform as many parents as possible about the issue. She said she wants the district to write a letter to parents of special education students telling them about the proposed change.

"We are so desperate, we will do anything to try and not make this happen," Mukherjee said.

Several parents said they don't know whether they support the changes. They say they don't know enough to make a decision because they don't think district officials have done enough to keep them informed.

"The major concern of parents ... is this has been done behind everybody's back," parent Dan Goldsand said. "It wasn't done right. It's that simple."

Klein said he has been gathering information about the changes so he can form a better opinion about what the district should do to address the concerns of parents.

"I personally want more information on what's happening so that whatever we do serves all affected parties," Klein said.

Goldsand, whose 8-year-old son is mildly retarded, said he is concerned that the county teachers won't transfer over to Chino Valley. He claimed that the salary for experienced teachers is less at Chino Valley than for county teachers and that medical benefits aren't as good. This could not be verified with district officials.

Goldsand said he's worried that under-qualified teachers will be hired.

"The bottom line is, all we want to make sure is our children are not ignored," Goldsand said. "They have rights."

Ellen Hinkle, director of special education for Chino Valley Unified School District, said there will be few changes to the special education programs. Being in charge of all of the special education programs will increase the number of resources in the district for disabled kids, she said.

"It's an opportunity for those of us here ... to have local control over the programming," Hinkle said of the change. "We don't have to send our children an hour away on a bus to go to school. We're doing it so all of our students can go to school with their brothers and sisters and neighbors."

Money to pay for the education of disabled Chino and Chino Hills students in the county program comes from a fund in what's called the West End Special Education Local Planning Area. That area is composed of 10 school districts from Chino Hills north to Mt. Baldy and east to the Fontana border. It was formed to help smaller school districts pay for special education programs. The districts pool their money and resources. Consequently, Chino Valley is subsidizing the education of students outside its district, Hinkle said.

Now that Chino Valley has 31,000 students, it is large enough by state standards to run its special education programs, Hinkle said. That independence will bring in $1 million more a year, all of which will be spent on special education programs, Hinkle said.

The district has 3,150 special education students. About 400 of those are in county programs. In the first year, the district will take over county programs on its own campuses, affecting about 200 students. In the second year, the rest of the students -- in programs outside the district -- will attend classes on Chino Valley campuses. The school district will also build classrooms to accommodate the new students, but that number has not been determined yet, Hinkle said. The district will buy eight or nine school buses.

Any change to a child's schooling, Hinkle said, is ultimately determined by his or her individual education plan, a legal document developed by parents, teachers and administrators, which outlines the special education services a disabled child will receive.

There will be few noticeable changes on campuses the first year, Hinkle said. County students in programs on Chino Valley campuses are divided by disability. That won't change, Hinkle said. Some parents said they feared students would be mixed, no matter what disabilities they have.

Some parents said they were told that door-to-door bus service for their kids would be changed so that children would have to walk home from a designated stop.

"If a student needs door-to-door transportation, that's what they will get," Hinkle said.

Class size won't change, Hinkle said, adding: "In fact, they may get smaller."

Hinkle understands that some county teachers and parents are upset.

"Change is difficult for everyone," she said, adding that though she could have done a better job advertising a recent meeting about the change, she's not trying to keep information from parents.

Mukherjee, who has a 5-year-old autistic son, said the lack of information from the school district has generated mistrust among the parents.

"Don't let our kids be guinea pigs," she said.

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