Appeals bureau rules Concord Public Schools failed autistic student

May 7—A Concord family will receive financial reimbursement from Concord Public Schools after a hearing officer concluded the district failed to provide the family's child a "free, appropriate public education."

According to a document from the Special Education Law database, the student in the case is an 11-year-old sixth-grader with disabilities who has attended the Willow Hill School in Sudbury since August 2020. The parents filed a hearing request with the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) in which they alleged that Concord Public Schools failed to offer the student a free, appropriate public education for the 2020-2021 school year.

The parents sought an order from the BSEA directing Concord to place the student at the Willow Hill School for the 2020-2021 school year. The parents ultimately placed the student at Willow Hill and requested reimbursement for the costs of the placement from Concord.

The student was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS (PDD/NOS) at the age of 2, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 4. The student's ASD is categorized as "high functioning autism" or "high cognitive autism."

"With respect to the 2020-2021 school year, upon presentation by parents of satisfactory documentation of expenditures, Concord is directed to reimburse parents for the cost of the Willow Hill placement for that time period," hearing officer Sara Berman wrote on May 3. "Concord is further directed to issue an IEP designating the Willow Hill School in Sudbury, MA as tudent's placement for the 2021-2022 school year and to fund said placement, including transportation, for that period."

Superintendent Laurie Hunter called the district's IEP plans exceptional.

"Concord Public Schools offer an exceptional and sophisticated range of programs and support for students who have individualized educational plans," she said in a statement to the Concord Journal. "The State's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently completed a comprehensive review of the District's special education efforts and did not have a single recommendation for improvement or change in practice."

Berman also ruled that Concord demonstrated its commitment to the student by devoting substantial expertise, creativity and resources to educating him within the inclusion setting.

"On rare occasions, the schools and parents do not agree on the best path forward for a student and the state has a specific process that is followed in those cases," Hunter said. "These special education hearings are not a win and lose situation but simply a method to determine next steps. It is important to note that the hearing officer in this case stated that our district demonstrated its commitment to the student by devoting substantial expertise, creativity and resources to educating him/her and that Concord staff members who participated in the matter were forthright, candid, sophisticated, and obviously invested in the student."

Berman applauded Concord staff members who testified, calling them forthright, candid, sophisticated and invested in the student.

"This simply is a case where the supported inclusion model was no longer appropriately serving Student, who needed and needs a more specialized setting at this point in his educational career," Berman wrote.

___

(c)2021 Wicked Local Northwest, Concord, Mass.

Visit Wicked Local Northwest, Concord, Mass. at http://concord.wickedlocal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.