MDUSD Special Education Update

By Theresa Harrington
Friday, August 24th, 2012 at 7:59 pm in Education, Mt. Diablo school district,special education.

Mt. Diablo special education administrator Carolyn Patton has posted a special education update on the CAC blog, reiterating the district’s previous commitment to hold parent meetings in September to discuss transportation changes. However, the update still does not list any times, dates or locations for these meetings.

The post also links to updated Frequently Asked Questions at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1jYYWk0faJA6qqtaws10PqRSLZ3igqUS7IQvJYiptBxZRv5vZu8RBIx7rz2D0/edit?pli=1#

Here is the first question and answer regarding the FCMAT transportation report:

Q: “When will the final report be available?”
A: “We have received and released the draft report. We do not have a final report, but it will be released when received.”

This is very interesting, since the district has not publicly presented the draft report to the CAC or board. In fact, Trustee Cheryl Hansen said she has not received it. Although Superintendent Steven Lawrence inadvertently sent it to me, he has not mentioned it to trustees during board meetings since then. Neither has Patton. So, it’s unclear what is meant by: “We have received and released the draft report.”

Read more of Theresa Harrington's On Assignment article HERE.

MDUSD appears to misrepresent some information in letter to parents about special education transportation changes

By Theresa Harrington
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 at 6:31 pm in Education, Mt. Diablo school district.

Although a June 20 letter to some Mt. Diablo district parents appears to attribute details about upcoming transportation changes to an outside agency, I have found that the district actually generated some of the information itself.

The letter includes drastic changes in special education busing procedures, including one that is being implemented “immediately,” one that will go into effect Aug. 26 and one set to begin Jan. 7.

According to the letter, the changes were based on a “Financial Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) study to assist with identifying more effective and efficient means to provide special education transportation.”

Yet, the district didn’t receive FCMAT’s draft transportation report until July 18 — nearly one month after the letter was written. The district had, however, received a June 5 letter from FCMAT outlining some of its preliminary findings and recommendations.

The June 20 letter to parents states: “The study revealed that we are significantly overidentifying transportation as a related service for special education students. For example, the district currently provides transportation to 26 percent of our students with an IEP (Individualized Education Programs); however, in most districts reviewed by FCMAT the average was approximately 10 percent. The FCMAT team found that the district has an inordinately high number of parents who receive reimbursement in lieu of transportation services. One similarly sized district has only two parents who are paid in lieu while we reimburse 144 parents. In response to the FCMAT findings and recommendations, the district is modifying special education transportation services as follows.”

First, the letter states that parents will only be reimbursed for transporting students if the district is unable to do it.

Second, it states that special education students who attend their neighborhood schools will no longer receive transportation unless they have unique needs.

Third, it says some students will be picked up and dropped off at nearby schools, instead of at their homes, beginning Jan. 7. According to this “cluster model,” students would then be transported to and from schools that are farther away, the letter states.

But when I read FCMAT’s June 5 letter and July 18 draft report, I didn’t see any mention of the “similar sized district” referenced in the Mt. Diablo letter. So, I sent an email to Bill Gillaspie, chief administrative officer for FCMAT, pointing out that the information did not appear in its letter or draft report and asking which district it was using as a comparison, how many special education students it served and what percentage of them were transported to and from school.

Here is his emailed answer, which I received this morning:

“In response to your question, we did not give the district the ‘similarly’ sized district. We don’t know what district they are referring to, so I can’t tell you how many students with IEPs there are or how many are being transported. You are correct. We make no reference about this in the draft report. The district must have that information that they are referring to in their letter to parents.”

I also noticed that the draft report attributed the “cluster” idea to an analysis the district received “from a third party expert in special education law, compliance with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and best practices.”

“As a result,” the draft report states, “Mt. Diablo Unified is working towards clustering special education students at group stops where appropriate and training special education staff members in the IEP process and in determining whether transportation should be a related service. That same expert has developed a checklist that can be used in IEP meetings to help appropriately direct the provision of service.”

Read more of Theresa Harrington's On Assignment article HERE.

Update to Previous Transportation Post by Theresa Harrington

(Read Theresa Harrington's entire On Assignment post HERE.)

JULY 28 UPDATE: I sent Superintendent Steven Lawrence an email Wednesday, which included the following statement and question:

“…the report you mistakenly sent me was dated the day before you sent that email. Also Bill (Gillaspie) confirmed that FCMAT sent you the report in a July 18 email. Therefore, you had in fact received a draft report from FCMAT when you stated that you had not and when you stated that to your knowledge no one at the district had received it. Why did you make those false statements?”

Here is Lawrence’s response, which he sent in a Thursday email:

“I responded prior to receiving anything from FCMAT.”

In order to verify that FCMAT had sent Lawrence the document the day before he denied having it, I asked Gillaspie for a copy of the email sent by FCMAT.

Here is the copy Gillaspie sent:

“From: Leonel Martinez
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 1:44 PM
To: lawrences@mdusd.org
Cc: Bill Gillaspie
Subject: FCMAT draft report

Steven Lawrence, Ph.D., Superintendent

Mt. Diablo Unified School District
1936 Carlotta Drive
Concord, CA 94519

Dear Superintendent Lawrence:

Attached is a digital copy of the draft transportation report developed by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Please review this draft document and contact us with any corrections or suggested changes. After we receive this information, we will proceed to finalize the report.

Sincerely,

Leonel Martinez
FCMAT Technical Writer
(661) 636-4387

G: William P. Gillaspie, Ed.D., FCMAT Administrative Officer”

The above email shows that the draft report was sent to Lawrence at 1:44 p.m. July 18 — the day BEFORE he claimed he did not have it and said that no one else at the district did either.

The email included the same draft report attachment that Lawrence accidentally sent to me. Although some blog commenters have questioned the fact that the font with the July 18 date on the cover and cover letter is different from the rest of the document, the pdf from FCMAT includes the same dates. So, it appears that is the way the district received the report.

Now that Lawrence’s veracity has been called into question regarding the FCMAT report, I have requested copies of all emails and correspondence between the district and FCMAT from April to the present.

JULY 29 UPDATE: I have received an email from CAC Chairperson Lorrie Davis, who has informed me that the CAC executive board met with some district staff members to discuss the June 20 letter that would be sent to parents. Davis also said the district shared the June 5 FCMAT letter with the committee.

Here’s what Davis wrote today in an email:

“In regards to special ed. transportation, the CAC executive committee met with Mildred Browne, Greg Rolen and Carolyn Patton before the letter was sent out to parents explaining the new procedures. I appreciated them discussing the new procedures with us and listening to our concerns. In regards to ‘clustering’ our non-severe students, our biggest concerns are supervision and congestion at school sites. Parents I have spoken with have stated they are willing to cluster if it helps to save money and services provided for their children at school. We were amazed at how much money is being paid to parents for mileage reimbursement and agree that this practice needs to be controlled.”

MDUSD transportation plans revealed

By Theresa Harrington

After raising questions about the Mt. Diablo school district’s plans for special education and transportation, I received two documents today — one from a parent and one from Superintendent Steven Lawrence.

Here is a letter sent to many special education parents regarding transportation plans:

“June 20, 2012

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Please read this entire letter as it contains important information regarding changes for students who are eligible for transportation as a related service as part oftheir Individual Education Plan {lEP). All changes will commence during the 2012/2013 school year. The Mt. Diablo Unified School District (“District”) strives to provide quality educational programs in challenging fiscal times. As such, the District recently participated in a Financial Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) study to assist with identifying more effective and efficient means to proVide special education transportation.

The study revealed that we are significantly overidentifying transportation as a related service for special education students. For example, the District currently provides transportation to 26% of our students with an IEP; however, in most districts reviewed by FCMAT the average was approximately 10%. The FCMAT team found that the District has an inordinately high number of parents who receive reimbursement in lieu of transpol1ation services. One similarly sized district has only two (2) parents who are paid in lieu whlle we reimburse one hundred forty-four (144) parents. In response to the FCMAT findings and recommendations, the District is modifying speciial education transportation services as follows.

Parent Reimbursements. Effective immediately transportation reimbursements will only be offered when the District is unable to transport the student. Current parent reimbursement arrangements will be honored through extended school year 2012. Any new reimbursement requests require priorapproval from Angie Goakey, Transportation Supervisor.

Home School. Beginning August 26, 2012, students who receive special education services at their home school will not receive transportation unless the IEP team determines that a student’s unique needs require transportation

.

Cluster Model. Beginning on Monday, January 7, 2013, the District will transition to a School to School (Cluster) Transportation mode. Unless otherwise noted in a student’s IEP, all transportation for students with IEPs will be from school of residence to school of placement. High school students who live in the Bay Point area will have a cluster point (bus pick-up/drop-off location) at Riverview Middle School. Middle school students who reside in the former Glenbrook Middle School attendance area will have a cluster point at the Glenbrook site.
Transportation as a related service will be reviewed with you prior to January 2013. Any specialized transportation needs will be determined by the students IEP team and documented in an IEP. Students who are medically fragile or pose significant safety concerns to themselves or others will continue to be eligible for door to door transportation. Transportation services will be reviewed at your student’s annuallEP meeting, or earlier, if needed.

We understand these changes impact your child. It is our desire to work with families during this transition. To help with the transition and answer questions the district will be offering the following:

o Parent informational meeting(s) in September 2012 (dates and location to be announced)

o Website with information regarding transportation changes and frequently asked questions

o An email address available for sending specific questions regarding transportation

For assistance during the summer break please contact: Carolyn Patton, Administrator, Special Education, (925) 682-8000, Ext. 4187; or Angie Goakey, Transportation Supervisor, (925) 682-8000, Ext. 3709.

Sincerely,

Mildred D. Browne, Ed. D., Assistant Superintendent of Pupil Services and Special Ed-ucation
Greg Rolen, General Counsel”


The above document appears to be the letter referenced by Carolyn Patton on June 25 when she told the board about the FCMAT findings:http://youtu.be/LV93z1d7wIk
However, Patton said the draft letter was from herself and Rolen. Instead, the final letter sent out was signed by Mildred Browne and Rolen.

I also received the following email from Lawrence:
“Theresa,
I needed to check with Carolyn and I believe this is the letter you are referring to. It is a (sic) exit letter of the FCMAT audit.”

But the attachment he sent was not a letter. Instead, it was a draft Transportation Review from FCMAT (Fiscal Crisis & Management Team):http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=124831160

This report is dated July 18. That is one day BEFORE Lawrence sent me the email below, dated June 19, in response to my email asking for the FCMAT report and letter mentioned at the board meeting:
“That’s interesting because I have not received a draft or final report from FCMAT. I will have to check with Board members to determine where the reports they have received came from because to my knowledge no one at the district has received copies of the draft or final reports.”

So, it appears that Lawrence may have inadvertently attached the report that he previously claimed no one had received. It’s still unclear what document Patton was referencing when she told the board in June: “In response to the FCMAT report, we have already seen the preliminary findings….” She also said, “As I think you have all seen, the FCMAT study identified….”

Read more of Theresa Harrington's On Assignment article HERE.

Why Mt. Diablo chose to transform low-achieving schools

By Theresa Harrington from On Assignment - ContraCostaTimes.com

This is a follow-up to my last post, giving information included in the Mt. Diablo school district’s School Improvement Grant (SIG) application that explains why officials decided to “tranform” the lowest-achieving schools instead of close them:

“Selection of Intervention Model

Based on the findings of the needs analysis, completed by district leadership, staff, teachers and parents, Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) has identified the following rationale for selecting the ‘Transformation’ intervention model for each of the four participating schools. District leadership, staff, teachers and parents have selected the transformation model because:
The model provided greater flexibility to intensify current practices which have shown positive student achievement results over the past year.

Read the complete article HERE.