“A classroom is a constant stress environment because not only are you trying to behave, follow the rules and understand all the things you are being taught, but you are also dealing with classmates who often think you are strange. There’s no time to breathe.”
That’s quite a statement from a 14-year-old, and I admit that when I read Allison Kervin’s words on Sunday’s front page, my heart ached for her.
School can be difficult in itself. Add to that dealing with learning, peer pressure, and just being a teenager while having a disability, especially when you don’t feel understood or supported, and I understand why a classroom can feel stifling.
Education reporter Finch Walker wanted to dig deeper into what disabled students and their families are experiencing in Brevard Public Schools: what support is available — and what’s missing. It’s an important topic and I admit I didn’t realize how important until I read the statistics in Finch’s story: 18,541 students or more than 25% of Brevard’s student population were part of Exceptional Student Education this past school year program, according to the state Department of Education.
Exceptional Student Teaching is for students who have some type of disability that affects their learning (it’s worth noting, as this could explain some of the numbers, that gifted students are also taught under this umbrella ).
That a quarter of Brevard students are taught under this umbrella is worth its own story, and it’s something Finch will look into. And it certainly illustrates why this topic matters.
When is the next launch: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule from SpaceX, NASA and ULA in Florida
I especially like how Finch told this story from the perspective of the families and students. I asked Finch if it was difficult to gain the trust of these families.
“They were very open from the start. My perception was that families have had to fight for their children regardless of whether they had a good or bad outcome, and they are used to talking about the issues their children face,” Finch said.
But there was something else that was difficult: access.
While reporting this story, Finch also spoke with a teacher who focused primarily on disabled children. The teacher was happy to talk about her experiences (not all positive) and agreed to be photographed alone in her classroom for our story. But when our photographer showed up, he was denied access to the school, and when we subsequently appealed to the district spokesperson at the time, we were told no.
I wouldn’t mention that hiccup (Finch did the interview and we photographed the teacher at her home), except that last week we also saw the school district get removed from the school board agenda and then back on, a rather significant and controversial policy change: the adoption of the Guardian program that allows staff (not teachers) in schools to be armed.
Finch, like many, was surprised to see the topic come up for approval at Tuesday’s school board meeting. It was on the agenda but was removed, and when Finch inquired about it less than 24 hours before the meeting, a senior official said: “It will be moved to a future board meeting for consideration. The district is working to ensure we provide our community with adequate time to review planned agenda items.”
But instead, it came back on the agenda halfway through the meeting, surprising even some school board members.
The program was approved and the public missed the opportunity to be present on voting day to express their views for or against.
Access denied. Misleading information. These things make our jobs and our journalism more difficult, but they don’t deter us, as evidenced by Finch’s stories and another story on our front page today by investigative journalist Eric Rogers.
Eric delved into the sudden rise of write-in candidates in two high-profile races that close out the primaries. It’s a legal loophole, but the idea of someone entering a race with no real intention of winning that office, but instead narrowing the pool of voters, raises all kinds of ethical questions. There’s a name for this – ‘ghost candidates’ – and in this case Eric documents the connections these two entries have to their opponents, leaving open the possibility that this is an election ploy. Read for yourself what Eric discovered and draw your own conclusions.
With qualifying for many races ending on Friday, we now have a better idea of who is running for which office. Many of the names are familiar, as you’ll see in a series of stories appearing today and over the next week.
Thank you, as always, for subscribing and supporting local journalism.
Contact editor-in-chief Mara Bellaby at mbellaby@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Inside FLORIDA TODAY: Disabled students’ experiences, election maneuvers
