Former Fayette school board member asks state to mediate with district over son’s education

A former Fayette County Schools board member has asked for a state mediator to hear her dispute with the local school district over special education services for her son.

Christy Morris resigned from the school board in November 2022 after serving for three years as the First District representative. She said at the time her family needed more of her.

Morris told the Herald-Leader Monday she left the school board, in part, because she had struggled with the district for years over her son’s special education plan.

She says her son, who is in the fifth grade at Rosa Parks Elementary, has not been offered the appropriate help for his dyslexia, a learning disability that involves difficulty reading.

Morris is asking for the Kentucky Department of Education to intervene in her son’s Individualized Education Plan, created by Fayette County Public Schools, to sufficiently address her son’s needs and provide transparency around tracking his progress.

District spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith declined to comment Tuesday.

A school district employee reportedly told Morris that her son would not be eligible for protections under the American Disabilities Act-Section 504 if she declined special education services. The provision requires a school district to provide a free, appropriate education to each qualified student with a disability.

Morris later confirmed with the state this was not accurate, she said. She started declining services on January 26.

“Can you imagine feeling forced to accept special education services that weren’t a good fit for your child?” said Morris.

What is Morris requesting from Fayette County schools?

Morris said her child can’t succeed without accommodations “because he can’t read and write anywhere close to grade level because of his disabilities.”

The district’s current draft of her son’s Individualized Education Plan “has the potential to do more harm than good,” she said.

She said she can’t monitor his progress because the district isn’t being transparent in the methods they are using to measure his progress.

Her child’s evaluation indicates significant deficits in areas that include grade-level word recognition, spelling and reading fluency. However, the school has focused on monitoring for comprehension, she said, “when there is zero evidence that my child struggles in this area.”

School officials are refusing to define progress monitoring methods so they can have “flexibility,” Morris said.

“If I don’t know what assessment or monitoring method they are using or what they are measuring, how can I be assured we are making data-informed decisions?” said Morris.

“I want (district officials) to define their progress monitoring methods that should be based on the results of the evaluation. I want professional development and training for teachers who work with dyslexic kids or a more appropriate provider, such as a reading interventionist,” Morris said.

What happens next?

In a March 8 request to the state for mediation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Morris asked that learning goals be set based on data from her son’s school evaluation.

The request to the state said Morris wants to know which measurements the district is using so she can clearly monitor her son’s progress.

She also has asked the state what a school’s obligations are to provide a teacher with training and educational materials specific to dyslexia.

Tina Drury, with the Kentucky Department of Education, responded to Morris on March 8, according to a copy of the email Morris provided to the Herald-Leader.

“Hi Christy - the district will not agree to mediation at this time. Since mediation must be agreed to by both parties, we are unable to assign a mediator,” Drury said in the email. “You may file a state complaint or request a due process hearing without the districts’ consent.”

When contacted by the Herald-Leader about Morris’ concerns, Joe Ragusa, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education, said the office couldn’t comment on individual student issues.

Morris told the Herald-Leader she had not decided how to proceed.

“We will weigh our options carefully and do what we think is best for our son,” she said.

In the 2022-23 school year, Fayette County had 5,809 students under an IEP out of its population of 40,494 students, according to the state school report card.

Morris said every year she has had to fight for appropriate services for her son. She said her concerns heightened in early January about teacher training and she had been trying to find a solution.

“There were problems before that,” Morris said, “but that’s when we decided that enough was enough.”

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