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10:35 p.m. EDT, September 26, 2011

HAMPTON — Before school began earlier this month, Sadie Boone stopped by Langley Elementary to visit her son's classroom.  She was shocked that her 8-year-old, who has autism, was in a classroom with students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Boone is one of at least three Hampton parents who have filed complaints with the state's education department. They are decrying the district's decision to place children with special needs in classrooms spanning six grade levels without parent notification or input. Boone says the range of children in a single classroom could lead to accidents and to students regressing in behavior and academics by mimicking younger peers.

"My son is 8 inches taller and twice the size of a young boy in his class," Boone said. "If my son accidentally bumped into this young man, (the younger child) could very easily hit the floor."  Regina Johnson, a special education advocate who filed the complaints with the state, says her 8-year-old son has vision loss, hearing loss, and intellectual disabilities. He is in a K-5 class for about half of the school day for math and language instruction.

Last year, Johnson said, Hampton's students with special needs were in classrooms with a maximum grade span of K-2 or 3-5. That is the norm in most local districts, she added. It is unclear whether budget cuts, scientific-based research or other factors led Hampton to place students with disabilities in K-5 classrooms this year.

Deputy Superintendent Patricia Johnson said Hampton's special education classes could include students from multiple grade levels, and that classes with no more than a three- to four-year grade span are preferable.  Johnson would not elaborate and declined to answer Daily Press questions, including if K-5 classrooms existed before, how many there are now, and if teachers received special training to lead them.  She wrote in an email that a response "may in some way" lead to identification of individual students, a reference to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. In a later email, Superintendent Linda Shifflette said the questions can't be answered because they "track the issues raised in the complaint" filed by a parent. The Daily Press questions did not refer to Regina Johnson or any complaints.
Few local districts place students with disabilities in classrooms with peers ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.  Newport News' special education classrooms span K-2 and 3-5, said spokeswoman Michelle Price, and are typically for students with intellectual disabilities or autism.  York County has four self-contained special education classrooms, each ranging from K-2 or 3-5, according to spokeswoman Betsy Overkamp-Smith. Poquoson has one elementary class with students in grades 3-5, said special education director Doris Feltman.

There are two classrooms spanning grades K-5 in Williamsburg-James City County, according to David Gaston, the district's director of special education. Studentare are placed in them only after approval by an "Individual Education Plan" team that includes the child's parents and school staff, he said.

Teachers in K-5 classrooms are trained to meet specific student needs, he said, and give individual or small-group attention to each child's functional, academic, and developmental needs. Most students with disabilities are served in mainstream classrooms, Gaston said. Otherwise they are in self-contained K-2 or grade 3-5 classes for children with developmental delays, cross-categorical disabilities, emotional disabilities, or autism spectrum disorder. The K-5 model allows for a longer and more consistent relationship with the child's teachers, parents and service providers, Gaston said.

It also saves money for the district, since related services can be provided in one classroom with the individual student or the group.

Regina Johnson said Hampton officials have told her they don't have to notify parents if the age groups in a student's class changes, because that is not a "change in placement" under the law.  Johnson points to a caveat that "remarkable" change in a child's classroom setting from one year to the next requires notice. Moving students to a classroom that spans six grade levels fits that bill, she says. Last year, her son was in a K-1 class.

Attorney Miriam Freedman, who runs the website "School Law Pro," agrees with administrators that changing the age range of students in a class doesn't constitute a change in placement. Schools don't have to tell parents about it, just as they don't need permission to promote a child from second to third grade. "Administrators are allowed to run their schools as long as children's individual needs are met," Freedman said. "If parents want to dispute the placement, they would have to show that their own child's needs cannot be met there."

Johnson said her son, who is in second grade, must take the state's standardized exams in math and language based on instruction in his K-5 classroom. It's not feasible to successfully teach those subjects across six grade levels at once, she says.She's also concerned that her son is picking up inappropriate language and behaviors from older peers.

Civil rights
Within a week of filing a complaint with the state on her son's behalf, Regina Johnson said she received a call from Hampton officials saying her son's class would be split into K-2 and 3-5 classes.  She's not done fighting, though. The complaint she filed with the state also alleges that Hampton violated students' civil rights and discriminated against them in creating the K-5 classes only for students with disabilities.  Their same-age peers without disabilities are not forced into that setting, she said. The district also did not use scientific-based evidence before creating the mixed-grade program, she wrote.  The district has denied that K-5 classrooms were created because of budget cuts, Johnson told the Daily Press, but she believes budget woes led to the change this year.  Boone, whose son spends all day in a K-5 classroom, said a main issue is that parents simply weren't notified or allowed to participate in the decision process.  "A lot of us parents weren't notified of what (Hampton City Schools officials) intended to do, and a lot of parents still don't know what they've done," she said.

According to a letter Johnson received from the state's education department, Hampton City Schools has until Oct. 18 to file a response to her complaint.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/education/dp-nws-k-5-special-education-20110926,0,3213633.story?page=2