The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is investigating Johnston County Public Schools for its treatment of an autistic student. But the Department has stopped short of conducting a systemic investigation into the district, which the student's attorney sought.
This comes after the nonprofit law firm Disability Rights NC filed a complaint last week alleging that a high school took away his communication device and is routinely excluding him from class, rather than providing him with legally required educational support.
This is the fourth autistic student Disability Rights NC has represented this year from different schools within Johnston County Public Schools, with similar allegations that their instructional time was significantly reduced following behavior problems. The law firm is seeking district-wide solutions for students with autism and a systemic state investigation into the school system.
"Just based on the trends that we've seen with the four students that we've represented, tells us that there's something that needs to be looked into in terms of the system," said Glynnis Hagins, the attorney representing the student.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has declined to open a systemic investigation into the school district because the current complaint is for only one student.
"While individual findings of noncompliance may occur for students with the same disability, this alone does not establish a pattern indicative of a systemic violation," DPI said in a written statement in response to WUNC's request for comment.
Earlier this year, the Department conducted a systemic investigation into Johnston County Public Schools and found the district at fault for individual violations against two other autistic students represented by Disability Rights NC.
DPI acknowledged this past investigation in its statement:
"The findings in the individual cases did not yield a pattern of noncompliance that rose to the level of a systemic complaint. Nor could those individual findings of noncompliance be attributed to a policy, practice, or procedure applied across similarly situated students. DRNC’s recent allegation of systemic violations was limited to facts about a single student."
However, Hagins of Disability Rights NC argues the multiple cases point to a pattern.
"My impression of what's going on in Johnston County Schools is that it is a first resort to separate and exclude the kids before coming back to the table and talking about whether that's an appropriate decision or not," Hagins said.
"A systemic investigation would see if that is happening on a deeper level, so that we don't have to continue filing complaints for each individual child who has autism and is on a modified day placement," Hagins added.
Johnston County Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Complaint alleges school took away student's communication device and reduced his class time
The most recent complaint concerns a student referred to as "KS," a teenager who has a moderate intellectual disability and autism. He has limited verbal speech and uses a communication device. The complaint alleges that the school took away his communication device, and afterward he "experienced a rapid deterioration in behavior."
“Behavior is communication,” Hagins said in a press release. “It is not surprising KS struggled with behaviors and was unable to keep up with his schoolwork, as we know he wants to do, especially when the school took away his communication device and did not provide him with the supports he needed and was entitled to.”
The student, who was already on a modified school schedule so that he could receive therapy in the afternoon, had his class time reduced to less than four hours a week against his family's wishes. According to the complaint, the school also suspended him for a total of 40 days last school year.
"As a former teacher…I do know that it is hard to teach a classroom when you may have one or two rambunctious young ones who want everybody's attention," Hagins said. "For me, my number one thing as a teacher would be engagement. But as a lawyer, it would be following the processes outlined in the IDEA."
The IDEA, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, is a federal law that ensures the rights of students with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education in the least-restrictive environment possible.
The complaint alleges that the student is being deprived of his right to education and the ability to spend time at school learning, eating lunch, and taking elective classes like art and music alongside his disabled and non-disabled peers.
Disability Rights NC encourages any family at Johnston County Schools, or any other public school, who is concerned that their child's right to an education is being denied due to a disability to file a dispute with the Department of Public Instruction.
