Advocate Resigns Special Ed Panel,

Cites Frustration With Superintendent

By John Voket

Suzanne Lang, who formed a private advocacy group to support parents of local special education students and who chaired a special education advisory board formed by School Superintendent Janet Robinson, has resigned from that post.

Ms Lang told The Bee that while she listed “personal reasons” as the reason for her resignation, she shares the frustration and anger of several dozen parents who, over the course of two meetings with Dr Robinson in late 2009 and early 2010, described a litany of concerns, procedural issues and specific complaints about the way they were treated by district special education staff during meetings about their children.

Ms Lang said she and a number of other parents she corresponds with were upset after the superintendent initially informed the Board of Education under questioning, after two local lawmakers requested a state audit of special education practices, that she had no specific knowledge of any issues related to the district’s special education staff or practices.

During a June 7 school board meeting, Dr Robinson said that neither she or district Director of Pupil Services Mike Regan, who oversees special education locally, received any specific information from parents about any concerns.

“We still don’t know anything specific about this.” Dr Robinson said on June 7, adding that no specific cases were brought to the district’s attention formally.

During a May 16 meeting with Representative DebraLee Hovey, who along with Representative Chris Lyddy have filed the request for an investigation, Mr Hart said he heard no specific complaints either. The school board chairman also said he was not informed of how many complaints were made to either Rep Hovey or Rep Lyddy until the numbers were reported by The Bee.

Mr Hart said he decided not to tell the board about his initial meeting with Rep Hovey. But Mr Hart later said he was negligent in not reporting the meeting to the board, and he did not because of the informal nature of that meeting with the local lawmaker.

Ms Lang said in October 2009, Dr Robinson sat in the first of two meetings with member parents of the Newtown PAC (Parents Advocating for their Children) group, where she heard case specific complaints from as many as 25 or 26 parents. And a follow-up meeting in the spring of 2010, just before the district launched its own special education advisory board, Dr Robinson heard specific issues from as many as another 18 attendees.

Robinson Attended Meetings

After being questioned about the discrepancy between Ms Lang’s observations and her initial statements to the school board, Dr Robinson acknowledged she had attended the meetings and heard specific complaints from parents. She also said that she advised Mr Hart on the issue.

“I attended a meeting of parents in 2009 and again in 2010 at which I would guess around a dozen parents attended each. Some were probably the same parents at both meetings,” Dr Robinson said in an e-mail response after The Bee requested clarification on her statements to the school board.

Dr Robinson said she attended those meetings “because I truly wanted to hear any concerns and open that communication.”

“I heard how parents felt uncomfortable at PPT meetings and did not understand the identification process,” Dr Robinson continued. “I brought those concerns back to my staff and we discussed ways to make that legal process more comfortable and welcoming to parents. I intend to continue to work to make this friendlier and more comfortable. We want our kids to be successful and parents are a big part of that process.”

When asked why she initially chose to not discuss these meetings or the complaints received about the special education process with the school board, Dr Robinson stated: “I informed the chair of the BOE of my meetings.”

At that time the school board was headed by Lillian Bittman who resigned that post August 10, 2010, while retaining her seat on the board.

During the two PAC meetings attended by Dr Robinson, Ms Lang said many of the parents in attendance “registered complaints specific to their [children].”

“It was an open and honest conversation,” Ms Lang said. “We all felt listened to and thought some good would come from it.”

Ms Lang said one of the resulting actions was the formation of the district’s advisory board, which she was asked to chair. But from the onset, Ms Lang said the board was restricted from ever discussing specific cases or complaints from parents, and that her attempts to correspond with district officials including the superintendent were stymied because “e-mails were never responded to — and it was the same complaint we kept hearing from parents who complained to the PAC.”

‘Frustrated And Angry’

But Ms Lang said when she then heard the superintendent denied hearing any complaints when asked by the school board, it was time for her to assess whether she wanted to continue to be part of a group representing the school district.

“It bothered me that Janet said that to the Board of Education after hearing all these people who were so frustrated and angry,” Ms Lang said. “To say she didn’t ever hear anything specific, to not respond to e-mails, and then to report to the board like all these complaints never happened — as the person in charge, wouldn’t you think she would feel responsible to them?”

Rep Hovey reminded any parents with current or past concerns about the handling of their special education cases should contact the liaison from the Bureau of Special Education for Newtown, Margery Stahl at 860-713-6925 or Margery.stahl@ct.gov. She also suggested reiterating any concerns if possible to Mary Jean Schierberl at 860-713-6943 or maryjean.schierberl@ct.gov.

“While she isn’t the liaison to Newtown [she is for other districts], she is the coordinator of the complaint system, an attorney, and she would eventually be instrumental in determining how the bureau/department will proceed,” Rep Hovey said.

Speaking to the broader issue, Rep Hovey said many parents move to Newtown not only for its special community activities like the Main Street Halloween celebration and the Labor Day Parade, but also because “people believe Newtown has an exemplary school system.”

But she said that notion has fallen away unless parents “do what the district tells you to do.””When you become a problem, the school district becomes hostile,” Rep Hovey said. “These people feel slapped in the face by the education system.”

The lawmaker also said she believes current and past Newtown school administrators have “attended workshops on the taxpayers dime to learn how to manage PPTs [Planning and Placement Team meetings] to maximize the state and federal dollars coming into the special education system.”

Rep Hovey said she believes these workshops are hosted or led on occasion by attorneys who are successful in representing school districts against parents of special education students who are requesting, and who have been denied services, prompting intervention by the state.