Mother, school reach deal over autistic son's schooling

ROCHESTER — An autistic Rochester teen will receive full educational services for the first time in at least a year, thanks to a short-term deal reportedly struck Wednesday between his mother and the Rochester School Department.

Following a two-hour individualized education program (IEP) meeting with the district, Samantha Battis said her son, Ben, 13, will be allowed to return to his district-funded placement at Hopeful Journeys, a specialized school in Beverly, Mass., up to five days a week for the next three months.

During that three-month period, the district will also pay for Ben’s transportation to Hopeful Journeys, conduct his first functional behavioral assessment in years, and provide full occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and counseling services, according to Battis.

Battis expressed both relief and frustration Wednesday while discussing the agreement and the IEP meeting.

“These things are all in his IEP, and they’re services he’s not had access to, which is in direction violation of the law,” she said. “A functional behavioral assessment is standard for a child with autism. It’s the road map for how he can be successful educationally.”

Battis invited Foster’s Daily Democrat to attend Wednesday morning’s IEP meeting, although the Rochester School Department asked the paper not to be present in the room.

Superintendent Mike Hopkins cited concerns related to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), adding that the district couldn’t disclose information about Ben’s IEP or education in front of the newspaper even if Battis authorized the waiver of Ben’s FERPA protections.

“I don’t think I can disclose when the last services were provided because that’s really the heart of the issue,” said Hopkins.

The three-month agreement is temporary. Come the first week of December, the sides will sit down again to assess Ben’s progress, “collaborating as a team to see if this is working” and whether he’s meeting certain goals and benchmarks, according to Battis.

Battis has filed a claim with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against the district due the management of Ben’s education.

She alleges that over the past eight years, Ben has had long periods without education or district evaluations, ever-changing out-of-district placements, and countless instances of physical abuse. She also alleges another special needs student sexually abused Ben in a Rochester-run program in 2010.

The OCR is actively investigating Battis’s claims, but has said it cannot disclose information about an open case.

While Battis is hopeful Ben can make strides at Hopeful Journeys thanks to the restored services, she’s not sure whether Ben will actually be able to reach every benchmark in three months, let alone attend the school five days a week.

Up until Hopeful Journeys suspended Ben’s placement early last week, citing financial obligation issues involving the district, Ben attended the school only for an hour or two once or twice a week, and never inside the actual building. Battis has said that’s because Ben’s instances of abuse have led him to develop a phobia of schools and classrooms.

“The (Hopeful Journeys) program is phenomenal,” said Battis. “If he had it back when he was 5, we wouldn’t be where we are at all. He’s going to have to dig deep and just try to get the services put before us.”

It was unknown Wednesday what will happen should Ben not meet the district’s benchmarks.

Battis said the district outlined to her that Ben’s IEP would default to a one-on-one tutoring program, although she claimed the district emphasized multiple times during Wednesday’s meeting that they still recommend Ben be placed in a residential facility because, she claimed, “nothing’s working.”

Hopkins said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on that alleged recommendation.

“Hopefully people realize we want him in a successful program as much as his mom does,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to get him into.”

It was also unknown Wednesday if there will be any legal ramifications as a result of Hopeful Journeys’ temporary suspension of Ben’s placement.

Battis said such a suspension is illegal. Hopkins said he couldn’t comment on the legality, although he said the suspension was due to a payment disagreement between the district and Hopeful Journeys.

“There’s a lot that has to get ironed out,” said Hopkins. “The disagreement is that we want to pay when services are provided. That’s about as far as I can go.”

Hopeful Journeys hasn’t returned requests for comment.

Battis said Ben’s story has garnered substantial attention in recent weeks, and has led to a number of community-driven acts of kindness for Ben, who loves the water.

New Hampshire-based band Recycled Percussion organized and funded a day of wake-surfing on Lake Winnipesaukee last week with three-time world champion wake-surfer Ashley Kidd. Before that, community members contributed to a GoFundMe.com fundraiser to send Ben on a therapeutic surfing trip to Virginia Beach.

Battis credited the added attention, as well of the presence of an attorney she hired for the IEP meeting using leftover money from the GoFundMe efforts, as the reason why she and the district could agree on a temporary plan for Ben.

“The attention has definitely shifted this game tenfold,” she said. “Everyone was very respectful (Wednesday). It’s heartbreaking this is what it took to change the dynamic of the conversation.”