Special Ed Parents Allege “Secret Deals”

By Ann Williams
Staff Writer

June 9 -- Santa Monica-Malibu’s head of special education was accused Thursday of cutting “secret deals” with parents who say they signed away their learning disabled children’s rights without realizing what they were doing.

Using time the School Board gave the Special Education District Advisory Committee (SEDAC) to present its annual report, members of the group lambasted Assistant Superintendent of Special Education Services Tim Walker’s practice of negotiating special education services with parents behind closed doors.

According to SEDAC, Walker’s negotiations circumvent the work of Individual Education Program (IEP) teams called for by Federal law, fail to leave a paper trail parents need to hold the district accountable and coerce parents into settling for less than their children are due.

“Mr. Walker negotiates with parents and offers what is now commonly referred to in the community as a ‘secret deal,’” SEDAC member Lee Jones told the board. “In these meetings with Mr. Walker, parents are routinely required to sign confidentiality clauses promising to not discuss the content of the agreement with anyone outside the room.

“Many of the parents who a year ago signed secret deals are now discovering how much they signed away and how much their children stand to lose as a result,” Jones said.

When Walker defended his practice of resolving disputes on what he called “the least contentious level,” Jones responded, “We can go on and on about the letter of the law, but this is not the spirit of the law.”

But not every member of SEDAC was as willing as Jones to allow for possible ambiguity in laws guaranteeing equal access to public education for disabled students.

“I am going to get legalistic,” said SEDAC member Claudia Landis. “The IEP is regulated by federal law, the law of the land.

“If you don’t like the law, you get it changed, but to create your own law is called vigilanteism,” Landis said.

Walker responded to SEDAC’s charges by describing a multi-tiered approach to dispute resolution that he said followed guidelines laid down by state law.

If a parent doesn’t agree to the district’s proposed special education services after an IEP team of teachers, specialists, administrators and a district representative have made their recommendations, the parent has the right to file for due process, Walker said.

But Walker first offers a resolution meeting – a meeting he says the State requires – in which the parents, often accompanied by their attorneys, and the district try to reach a compromise.

If that fails, the State can require mediation, and if the parties still can’t reach an agreement, the matter goes to a due process hearing, at which an administrative court makes the final ruling, Walker said. More than 95 percent of disputed agreements are resolved before they reach court, he added.

SEDAC representatives weren’t sold by Walker’s explanation. They said that Walker’s meetings were held to circumvent the IEP process and intimated that cost cutting was at the bottom of his plans.

“We contacted LAUSD, we contacted Missouri, we contacted Illinois, and we could not find an instance where one individual, an administrator, acts as an expert on autism, dyslexia, ADHD or any other disability that children face,” said Ken Haker, SEDAC chair and assistant principal at Paul Revere Middle School.

“This is not a team effort. This is not supported by the (IEP) team.” Haker said. “The team stops at a certain point,” and the process goes into “closed session.

“One man makes these decisions,” Haker said.

More than once, SEDAC representatives said Walker had been brought into the district to cut soaring Special Education costs.

The district has to pinch pennies at the same time advances in diagnostic testing mean more and more children are being identified as learning disabled, Haker pointed out, adding that the two interests can’t be reconciled.

And SEDAC representatives complained that, due to the secretive nature of the district agreements, which are not written into the students’ IEPs, teachers and others who work with the children won’t get information they need to best serve them. As a result, district accountability gets lost in the shuffle when the paper trail is broken.

Walker countered that the agreements are part of the district’s record, and that they are shared where necessary.

“We have these agreements within the district offices,” Walker said. “They get sent to components that have application at the site for implementation, are shared with the parties, and explained how they will be implemented throughout the year.

The board promised to respond to all of the DAC annual reports at its July 27 meeting.

Earlier in the meeting Walker was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services by a split board, a position he will hold while still serving as Assistant Superintendent of Special Education Services.

Walker will be replacing Donna Muncey, who is leaving the district.