Parents, Clovis Unified tussle over special education

Published online on Tuesday, Jun. 16, 2009

Parents and Clovis Unified School District officials are butting heads over how to teach special-needs children -- and their disagreements are resulting in drawn-out, costly legal hearings.

Clovis Unified officials say the hearings are a last resort when parents don't agree with district plans for educating a special-needs child. Federal law requires free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities.

But some parents say the district is unwilling to bend to meet the needs of their children and too focused on minimizing the cost of additional services. They say the district forces them into hearings as a way to intimidate them and wear them down.

The disagreements usually stem from the district's individual education plan, a teaching guide that is designed for each child. The plan is based on district assessments that may include other professional opinions. When a parent won't accept what the district says it can provide, and mediation fails to find common ground, a hearing is the next step.

Records kept by the Office of Administrative Hearings in Sacramento, which assigns administrative law judges to hear special education disputes, show that there were 38 requests for hearings at Clovis Unified since September 2005 -- more than double the number filed for Fresno Unified, which is twice the size of the Clovis district. Clovis also had more hearing requests than other Valley school districts.

Kelly Avants, spokeswoman for Clovis Unified, said she's not surprised by the numbers.

She said the district cannot simply give in to every parent's request and is legally obligated to seek a hearing if the parties can't otherwise reach an agreement.

"When we believe that the services we are proposing for a student are appropriate and adequate to meet their educational needs, then we will hold firm on that stance," she said.

Clovis Unified spends $34 million a year on special education programs, she said -- about 6% of its overall budget.

Clovis is more willing to fight than other districts -- even when it means racking up more than $100,000 in costs for a case. Other districts may not be as determined to hold the line, she said.

She said the 38 requests for hearings represent 22 Clovis Unified families, some of whom have multiple disputes with the district. Seven of the 22 cases advanced to hearings, nine reached settlements with the district and the others were dismissed or withdrawn.

Avants said hearings are not the path the district prefers to take. "The ideal goal is we can work together," she said.

That's not always possible, said parent Ana Bustos-Ponce, who has faced the district in hearings because she refuses to accept educational plans prepared for her two boys, one of whom is autistic. The district filed seven separate requests for hearings against the family; they were later consolidated into three cases.

"There's no excuse for their [Clovis Unified's] lack of educational support," said Bustos-Ponce, a Fresno Unified school teacher.

Most cases involve autism

Parents at odds with the district and lawyers who represent them say Clovis is more likely to initiate hearings against parents, forcing them to miss work and lose wages to attend. For example, one hearing in Clovis lasted 19 days this year.

State records show that Clovis requests hearings more often than other districts its size.

Eleven of the 38 hearing requests -- nearly 30% -- were filed by the district, a higher percentage than other districts its size in California. Cases involving Clovis Unified students also are likelier to proceed to hearings.