LOCAL

Lawmkers grapple with future of special needs students

Matt Dixon

TALLAHASSEE - Students with special needs are required to have a personalized education blueprint laying out their needs and a customized leaning plan.

In many cases, school districts tasked with helping craft a special needs students' so-called "Individual Education Plan" offer parents great influence in the decision making process, but other don't.

Under a bill filed by Sens. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, and Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, that would change. The measure requires that parents have input into their special needs child's education plan.

It "simply gives parents more rights to really involve themselves," Thrasher, whose grandson has Down syndrome, said Wednesday.

The learning plans are crafted by district teams that assess a student's specific needs. The bill also requires that a district allow a parent to bring a private learning expert - like a psychologist or speech therapist - into meetings.

"You have heard stories of families that fear of going into the IEP process … walking into the room with 17 administrators," said Gardiner, whose son has Down syndrome.

During the bill's first committee stop last week, members of the Senate Education Committee heard testimony from a Broward County mother that said her child's learning plan was changed by the school district without her consent.

The district "purposely dumbed down my daughter's quality IEP goals and redid her entire document," said Nancy Harris, who started a statewide support group for parents with Down Syndrome children.

The bill has received two unanimous votes and a dose of bipartisan support during its stop Wednesday in front of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

"What you both have done here will touch the lives of many, many families now and in the future," said Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach.

The bill also codifies in law that a public school district must offer services to special-needs students who were home-schooled but want to attend a public school to receive "exceptional student education-related services."

Senate staff estimates that could add 9,400 special needs students to the public school rolls.

"The bill ensures students with unique abilities have access to the resources they need," he said.

Three similar pieces of legislation in the House are in various parts of the committee process.