Mainstreaming Special Needs Students Takes on a New Meaning in Kansas District

An interesting blog today from Education Week's Christina Samuels touched on an innovative new program being implemented in Wichita, Kan., that changes the way traditional area "alternative" schools for special education students are run. Principal Jackie Hultman tells the Wichita Eagle that only 10 percent of students ever transfer out of the school's concentrated special-education environment, so to meet federal guidelines, more special ed kids are moving out and about 20 regular-education kids, many of whom have been previously expelled or suspended, are moving in.

The article states:

School board members said Guthrie and district officials have answered their concerns that dangerous students would be placed with mentally ill students.

"We're not wanting to place any (students at Sowers) involved in gang activity or aggressive behavior," Guthrie said.

See, it seems many of these students were guilty of "unintentional battery of school employees but have a second chance at graduating." Really. Hence the "alternative" moniker rather than the previous names of special education centers. But it's not like these bad apples will be running amok and terrorizing those special ed students who remain, as the new transferred-in students will be using their own bathrooms, at least so says the school.

It's interesting to see another form of "mainstreaming" at work. From the school transportation perspective, it has been a trend for the less severely disabled students to be incorporated onto regular route school buses to save schools money, as special needs transportation can be 10 times more expensive. But now we see the reversing happening, where regular education kids albeit with some very real temper problems are being introduced into the special needs population that needs patience and understanding.

And, like on the transportation side, it's being done to potentially save money, or, more aptly put, save the school from shutting down. he district faces cutting at least $21 million from its budget of more than $600 million. It likely will have to cut more, as Gov. Mark Parkinson last week announced deeper cuts to state aid for public education.

The program is championed by Alexa E. Posny, the commissioner of the State Department of Education and the former director of the U.S. Department of Ed's Office of Special Education Programs. The same woman President Obama recently tabbed to be the next assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. She says special education kids learn better when they're regular education classroom peers push them to succeed.

Breathe Easy, Ye Who Rely on Medicaid Reimbursements

So said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius when she rescinded a final rule that would have taken the . As governor of Kansas, keeping Medicaid alive was one of Sebelius' major platforms, according to OntheIssues.org.

Sebelius warned that neither Congress nor the Bush administration planned to extend a one-time increase in Medicaid funding. If the emergency aid is not renewed, Kansas will be forced to cut its Medicaid budget. Sebelius also complained that federal officials have slowed payments to the states in the wake of Medicare and Medicaid reform efforts. If states are forced to cut Medicaid budgets, numbers of uninsured are sure to increase.

The issue was raised back in September of 2007 when then HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt proposed schools be stripped of federal and state reimbursements of Medicaid-eligible reimbursement costs, such as transporting some students to and from therapy sessions and doctor visits, after the Government Accoutability Office discovered some $3.5 billion in fraudulent claims over the previous five years.

Fraud might be the correct term to use in some cases, but certainly not all, as many cases, some involving schools turned out to be paperwork errors. Still, $3.5 billion is $3.5 billion. As for some the alleged perpetrators, Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that 53 people were indicted for schemes to submit more than $50 million in false Medicare claims.

But penalizing schools didn't sit well with Sebelius. In May, HHS and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule to rescind the transportation rule as well as other that would limit the ability of states to issue reimbursements to agencies and medical services.

Back to the Basics

By Peggy A. Burns

In the last 10 days, I’ve become aware of decisions and deliberations that have important implications. These newsworthy items provoked considerable thought on my part – I knew they were important...but were they important to school transportation professionals?

One, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Safford U.S.D. v. Redding, concerned a strip search of a then-13-year old girl who was suspected of possession of over-the-counter medication in violation of school district policy. A second, another U.S. Supreme Court opinion – this, in the case of Forest Grove School District v. TA – held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act authorizes reimbursement for private special-education services when a public school fails to provide FAPE and the private-school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special-education services throught the public school. The third item was the testimony of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. concerning proposed legistation – the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 – that would, among other things, create a new Federal criminal hate crimes statute. The bill would strengthen and broaden Federal hate crimes legislation, to cover hate crimes committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Currently, such victims can recover money damages under a number of federal and state statutes, and state, local, and tribal criminal laws address widely such crimes.

These are important issues to be sure, and, as informed citizens, school transportation professionals should be aware of them. But, if you’re like me, the more issues that demand your attention – especially in ways that suggest, whether subtly or otherwise – that you should take steps to address them in your professional context – the more Maalox moments you have.

So, I want to challenge my colleagues to focus, still, on “the basics,” the situations which pose regular threats to student safety, which distract you from your other duties, and which compromise your already dwindling budgets. These are the situations that are reflected, day-in and day-out in the headlines and on court dockets: such issues as fighting among students on the school bus; student-to-student harassment and bullying; appropriate choice and use of equipment, services, and trained staff in the transportation of students with and without disabilities; recruiting, maintaining, assessing and training of a competent, productive and competent workforce; effective routing and scheduling. . .and it goes on, and on. My theme is that you need to know a lot, balance and juggle even more, and identify and take necessary measures in a whole host of concerns that demand your daily attention. Be aware of these highly significant and national issues, but don’t let them pose serious distractions for you – at least not until you’ve got all the others well under control.

Peggy Burns is an attorney/consultant with Education Compliance Group, Inc. Peggy can be reached at (888) 604-6141, and by email to ecginc@qwestoffice.net.

H1N1 and its Effect on Children with Disabilities

The panic surrounding the “swine flu” that went global in late April and early May has subsided, but health officials have warned that a new strain could emerge this fall in time for fall. Back to school always elicits extra care by school officials in dealing with infectious diseases, as once again children and their germs mingle in the classroom, on the playground and in the yellow school bus. Now, a report released earlier this month indicates that children with special needs must be especially cautious.

We’ve known that the H1N1 virus can be fatal to anyone with underlying conditions, with most severe cases occuring in people over 65 or under 18. New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene puts into context why those with underlying medical conditions should take extra precautions to avoid the flu and should contact their doctor as soon as possible if they are found to have flu-like symptoms.

The department’s preliminary analysis of 152 patients who were hospitalized for swine flu showed that 82 percent had an underlying condition, specifically:
• 41 percent of patients hospitalized for swine flu had asthma
• 18 percent were less than 2 years old
• 13 percent had a compromised immune system
• 12 percent had heart disease
• Other factors include being pregnant; other chronic lung problems, such as emphysema; chronic heart, kidney, liver or blood disorders; neurological disorders that cause breathing problems; diabetes; and being under 18 years old and on long-term aspirin therapy.

Is your school team taking special or additional precautions to protect special needs passengers? Does pre-service training differ this year when it comes to dealing with infectious diseases on the school bus?

Talking (and Checking) Out Loud During the Post-Trip Inspection

By Peggy Burns

It’s said that some people dream in Technicolor; I think in “yellow.” The result is that I get inspiration about school transportation from strange places.

In the July 2008 “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine, an article entitled “Steer Them Straight” recommends ways to “teach seeing” to teenagers who are new drivers, learning to focus. The article references Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski’s recommendation in The Sacred Flight of the Teenager to have teenagers, “Say out loud what you see as you drive, and articulate what you do to drive safely.”

Why not adapt this excellent idea for school bus drivers as they do their post-trip inspections, looking for students who might otherwise be left behind? Tell them to say out loud such observations as “I’m passing row one and see no one on or under the seats. Now I’m passing row two. I’ve searched low under the seats in that row.” And so on.

Yes, it’s more tedious than the ever-changing landscape of the road. But I believe driver trainers and bus drivers can find creative ways to describe row by row, seat by seat explorations, as they search for precious cargo who might otherwise remain hidden.

Peggy Burns is an attorney/consultant with Education Compliance Group, Inc. Peggy can be reached at (888) 604-6141 and by email.

Protests and Pleas Aside, Employee Concessions Are What Saved Jobs: Report

For the last week, the Salem News reported on developments in the Salem (Mass.) School District’s plans to privatize in-district special needs transportation at a cost savings of approximately $450,000.

Drivers, attendants, other union members, parents and children all took part in large-scale picketing and also provided emotional testimony at board meetings to protest the plan. Many cited their years of experience and the consistent, familiar and personalized service that they claimed only they could provide for their students with disabilities.

It turns out the privatization plans were dropped late last week, but only after the unionized special needs drivers and attendants agreed to major contract givebacks. They include cutting back their hours from 40 to 25 hours per week and adopting a new health plan that will increase doctor visit co-payments from $5 to $15.

"I hope it serves as an example some of our other bargaining units would look forward to," Mayor Kim Driscoll said about the concessions.

School districts as well as companies across the country have resorted to wage cuts or freezes and to health insurance reductions or restructuring as ways to respond to economic pressures. What are your experiences?

How Student Injuries Suffered on the Bus Affect Private Contracts?

By Ryan Gray

An administrative ruling last fall in Chicago found that Illinois school districts aren't mandated to change private bus providers in the event a student suffers an on-board injury. The case, Chicago Sch. Dist. 299, 51 IDELR 145 (SEA IL 2008), arose when a teen student with multiple disabilities suffered minor indjures as a result of not being properly secured on the school bus. The hearing officer ruled that the school district was not required to use a different private company to transport the student in the future, but the district was ordered to provide one day of compensatory education to make up for the services the student missed while he was receiving medical treatment. The fact that a student with multiple disabilities suffered minor injuries after being improperly secured on the school bus did not require an Illinois district to contract with a different bus company. However, a hearing officer ordered the district to provide one day of compensatory education to make up for the services the student missed while he obtained medical treatment.