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Back to school plans, remote learning create challenges for special needs families

The Patriot Ledger - 8/23/2020

NORWELL -- Lucy and Kenny Silva knew the transition to high school could have its challenges for their 15-year-old son, Luke, as he left the familiarity of Norwell Middle School to attend South Shore Vocational Technical High School this fall.

But the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting back-to-school plans have created another layer of complexity for Luke, who has mild autism and anxiety, and an Individualized Education Program for special education services. Now, the Silvas are facing the reality that at least some of the school week will be spent at home, as school districts rely on remote learning to ensure social distancing and keep students, teachers and staff safe during the ongoing pandemic.

While the family understands the need for some remote learning, they're still apprehensive about how it will go, especially at a new school with unfamiliar teachers and staff.

"With kids like Luke who need structure and organization, virtual learning is virtually impossible," Lucy Silva said. "We have to force him to sit in front of the computer. He doesn't have face-to-face instruction with his special education instructor, so he can turn camera off and not be paying attention to what is going on."

As most parents grapple with having their children learn from home at least part-time this fall, those of children with special needs anticipate heightened obstacles. Families of children receiving special education services -- about 170,000 statewide -- say hybrid and remote learning could exasperate the loss of skills that has occurred since school abruptly closed in mid-March.

Want news like this sent straight to your inbox? Head over to PatriotLedger.com to sign up for alerts and make sure you never miss a thing. You pick the news you want, we deliver.These parents say they expect this fall to be full of challenges, from keeping their kids on task without the consistent help of an in-person aide, to trying to continue services like speech therapy and counseling that are usually offered on a regular basis at school.

The Silvas expect Luke will go to school for the vocational shops portion of the curriculum, and rely on remote learning for academic-focused classes.

"Part of Luke's IEP is not doing homework at home, so remote learning is confusing to him because he's been told he isn't supposed to do the work at home," Lucy Silva said. "It can be OK, but it can also go completely off the rails, and the frustration grows and grows."

"We haven't seen a kid more anxious, and he's not even currently in school," Kenny Silva added.

In a memo issued last month to districts across the state, State Director of Special Education Russell Johnston said students with disabilities, particularly preschool-age students and those with significant and complex needs, should be prioritized for receiving as much in-person instruction as possible.

"Even if schools or districts are operating in a hybrid or remote model, educators and administrators must make every effort to continue to provide up to full-time in-person instruction to such students," Johnston wrote. "If in-person instruction cannot be provided and students with disabilities must receive instruction remotely in full, or in part, through a hybrid model, they must receive special education instruction and related services necessary to provide (Free Appropriate Public Education)."

Districts are encouraged to provide as many in-person services as possible, such as having students come into school for social skills groups or therapies. In-person services may also be provided in home or other community settings if school buildings aren't feasible.

"In sum, schools and districts must make their best efforts to take all necessary steps to ensure that students with disabilities, particularly preschool-aged students and those with complex or significant needs, receive as many services as possible in-person, whether full-time, part-time or in a student's home or community-based setting," the memo reads.

Many districts plan to provide some level of in-person services for special needs students. In Quincy, for instance, special needs students will be going back full time this fall, while other students will be phased back into the classroom.

But some remote learning is part of the plan for many districts, and even the guidelines for in-person learning will have an impact on the learning experience. Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday at a press conference at the State House that 30 percent of districts plan for remote-only learning this fall.

Kevin Murray, executive director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a child advocacy and education reform organization, said parents of children with disabilities are stuck between a rock and a hard place as they weigh safety and the best learning environment for their kids.

"Remote education was the least effective for those kids, but no one has any real data or has gone out and asked in strategic, systematic way what did and didn't work for them," he said. "We can't generalize about everybody. Some kids did quite well, but we would conclude that it was a minority."

Districts were abruptly thrust into remote learning in the spring, but Murray said there haven't been any big innovations in the method that will make it more effective for high-need students this year.

"Whether hybrid or remote, in person services need to be taken into account for children with disabilities, and there is no indication remote will work any better for those (high-need) students," he said.

Murray said two-thirds of parents surveyed by Massachusetts Advocates for Children feel that their children have regressed, and will require compensatory services when they return to in-person schooling.

"How much further back are they going to go?" Murray said. "It's a very complicated situation."

Jessica Spencer, of Weymouth, said her daughter Maci's special education teacher did a great job with remote learning last school year, given the fact that it was implemented on an emergency basis. Maci, who has epilepsy and a sensory processing disorder and is on the autism spectrum, will be in third grade in the life skills program at Nash School.

In Weymouth, special education students in kindergarten through grade 12 will return to the classroom two days a week beginning Sept. 21. The students will be taught remotely on the remaining three days of the school week. In-person classroom instruction will increase to four days a week beginning Oct. 13 if the coronavirus pandemic eases.

Spencer said her family suffered several losses last spring, and Maci was only participating in group sessions, rather than one-on-one sessions with adjustment counselors and psychologists.

"With remote learning, there was no real support for that. The teacher tried, but she's not a trained psychologist," she said. "If school was in person, she would have been pulled out with an adjustment counselor."

Spencer said she still has many questions about how exactly remote learning will work, and the logistics around having students back in the school physically for services like speech therapy.

"I don't understand how they will fit all the services into two days," Spencer said, adding that Maci is also supposed to join a general education class for things like physical education.

Spencer also questions how the special education students will do wearing a face covering all day. She said many students with special needs are also immunocompromised, including Maci.

"I have her wear it for as much as she can bear, but she won't keep them on all the time," Spencer said.

Despite the existing unknowns, Spencer said she is glad that special education students will be prioritized for in-person learning.

I know at the end of the day, I can't home school her, and she has definitely regressed," Spencer said.

Kate Boudreau has twin 11-year-old sons who are on Individualized Education Programs, one of whom attends Norwell Public Schools. She said communication has been challenging regarding the plans for the fall and all of the logistics, especially for parents with children in different schools, since information is often shared in back-to-back video meetings.

Boudreau said so many specifics of the back-to-school plan are still unclear, and she's afraid special education will be an afterthought.

"(Special education) is already lost in the shuffle, and it's going to be lost even more," said she.

Boudreau said her son in public school will go two or three days per week, while the other twin, who attends private school, will go to school all five days. While the hybrid model will allow some in-person classroom time, she knows the at-home days will be hard for the kids who need extra support.

She said, if nothing else, the pandemic will show the shortcomings in special education and hopefully force districts to offer more support to high-need students.

"The gap between these students isn't going to close otherwise," she said.

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