My apologies for the paywall, but I've included screenshots of the article. Felt this was too important not to share.
Here we have a KCS student at Gibbs Middle who had an insufficient IEP, and one that wasn't, implemented with hundreds of restraints per month. The family successfully files a due process claim and wins, including securing assessments from outside providers to see how to meet this child's needs. Then KCS is found out by the evaluator that they over burden their teachers and give them little to no support, and many are poorly trained or incompetent, and that the environment is completely not appropriate with almost NO instruction during the eval period.
Because they didn't like being shown themselves in a mirror by a seasoned expert in the field, instead of paying for the agreed upon evaluator fees, the Knox County Law Department goes to fight the payment, making what would have been confidential now a matter of public record. Those screenshots of the filing are also attached.
This is one of HUNDREDS of experiences of families in KCS special education, and that's just the parents who have knowledge, resources, and the fight. At some point, we have to raise the alarm and never back down and demand our school system follow federal law, support its students, support its staff and educators, and quit being adversarial to everyone.
