Dec. 7 – Portland Public Schools has filed a federal lawsuit against a group of parents after being ordered to reimburse them more than $120,000 to send their child to a private school that specializes in learning disabilities.
The case, filed Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court of Maine, asks a judge to overturn an administrative order from the Maine Department of Education that required the school district to reimburse parents, who claimed that their child did not receive appropriate special education in Portland. schools.
The parents’ names are sealed in court and state records. Their attorney, Richard O’Meara, said in an email that they were surprised by the district’s decision to spend taxpayer money challenging the state’s decision.
“They intend to vigorously defend the lawsuit filed against them as the state’s decision in their favor was carefully crafted and reached the appropriate decision,” O’Meara wrote.
Portland Superintendent Ryan Scallon said he could not provide details on why the district decided to appeal the case, but said, “There is an application of the law that differs from our view of it that could have significant consequences. “
The student enrolled at Lyseth Elementary School for kindergarten in 2017 and participated in a Spanish immersion program, in which all classes are taught in Spanish and parents are tasked with teaching English skills at home, according to state records. After two years, the parents asked if their child could be placed in a regular classroom, where he scored low on the English literacy assessment and began reading intervention.
According to the state’s findings, teachers discussed student declines in reading in 2021, but parents never heard of those concerns. In 2022, after learning that their child had been placed in the 4th percentile in reading, the parents sought outside testing and guidance, ultimately requesting a meeting with the school to create an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). set.
The student qualified for special education in June 2022 and received individualized phonics instruction and other specialized instruction the following school year. But at the end of the year, parents were still unhappy with the progress.
They took their child out of Lyseth to enroll in the Aucocisco School and Learning Center, a nonprofit organization in Freeport for students with learning disabilities who were struggling in a different environment. It is a state-approved private special purpose school, where annual tuition is $52,500.
But just this year, the parents requested a hearing with the state under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, or IDEA, arguing that for years the school failed to assess their child’s learning disability, despite knowing he was struggling had with reading.
At the state hearing in June, Independent Hearing Officer Sheila Mayberry ruled that the district was responsible for failing to properly evaluate the student for special education and ordered it to pay the family $121,168. That includes two years of tuition at Aucocisco, as well as the costs of evaluations and travel.
The school district is now appealing this decision, claiming that the hearing officer violated a two-year statute of limitations on requests for hearings on IDEA violations and failed to consider disruptions to the student’s educational progress, such as the Spanish immersion class and the pandemic.
It also accuses the parents of conspiring with their attorney to demand reimbursement, and says the hearing officer failed to account for this obstruction of the process. The lawsuit points to a message sent before the 2022 IEP meeting in which the parents said they planned to remain “passive” during the meeting and hoped the student would not qualify for services, so “at that way we can just take it to (Aucocisco) and sue them for a refund.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the student’s reading skills have declined over the past two years at Aucocisco. “Simply put, this was a failed placement,” it reads.
Scallon said when a student has an IEP, decisions about their education are made by a team, including parents, teachers and other service providers. If that team cannot agree on the plan for the student’s education, they can file a complaint and proceed to mediation. But if mediation fails, the case can be heard by a state auditor.
The Maine Department of Education allows parents to request a state investigation or hearing if they believe a public school has violated IDEA, the federal law that governs the education of students with disabilities. The state publishes the outcomes of those complaints: in 2023 there were two due process hearings, and in both 2022 and 2021 there were none. There is only one so far this year.
Sarah Warren, Portland’s Senior Executive Director of Strategy, said nine cases were filed by Portland Public Schools families last year, and only three made it past the mediation stage.
Scallon and Warren also described reimbursement situations as rare.
When a school district is unable to meet a student’s special needs, they may arrange for the student to attend an out-of-district program, a non-district school with specialized services such as the Margaret Murphy Center for Children in Saco, Woodfords. “School in Westbrook or Aucocisco.
Warren said Portland Public Schools is currently paying 41 students for out-of-district placement, and 19 are actively awaiting placement. But that directive usually comes from the district, which chooses to pay for the installation itself. State-mandated refunds are “incredibly rare,” Warren said; the district will only pay for two this year.
Warren said there is no question that issues like staffing impact the ability to provide special education services. But she said overall the district is able to meet students’ needs, and said Portland schools are working with outside consultants on an assessment it will use to inform its approach to special education.
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