By:Jason Scheer
In August, Dr. Mark Lerner, a school psychologist in Baldwin for 16 years, claimed that the school district was engaging in the "unethical, unprofessional and illegal" activity of withholding information from parents. Psychologists evaluating students with special needs, he said, were to make recommendations for treatments on an internal form, known as a "green sheet." Lerner claimed that the form was never to be seen by parents or students and is suing the school district over this matter. Leaders of the Baldwin School District deny violating any laws or regualtions and says it has not withheld information from parents.
Now the New York State Education Department has ordered the district to disclose these documents to parents. The state found that the district's practice was not in line with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). "We made a determination that Baldwin has to change its practice," Tom Dunn, a spokesman for NYSED, said. "The IDEA says the parent is a partner in the process."
When asked why the change had to be made, Dunn replied "because it's the law."
Baldwin Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathy Weiss said that the sheets were always available to parents. "In consultation with a representative from the state Education Department, we made a modification in our procedures," she said. "The green sheet was always available to any committee member and parent who requested to see it."
Weiss said the school district will now include the green sheets in every committee member's packet.
Last week, Lerner's attorney, Thomas Liotti, issued a release that revealed to Baldwin parents that they have the right to see the green sheets.
Liotti added that the damage has already been done to those who were denied special-education services in the past. "The directive does not address the rights of students who, in the past, were denied special-education services," he said in the statement. "Today there are countless children in Baldwin whose parents were never informed of recommendations for special services made on hidden green cover sheets."
The release urged parents to contact Weiss to see their children's cover memos. And parents have responded.
Parents want to know
A number of parents have contacted the Herald, saying they have requested to see the green sheet documents. Though many have yet to see them, the perception is that the district has hurt their children.
"It's been years of smoke and mirrors and Teflon promises," said a parent of a Baldwin second-grader with special needs. She claims that she has had to spend upward of $5,000 on services for her child that should have been provided by the school.
Another parent, who has seen his fifth-grade daughter's green sheet, said that her reading ability has been on a sharp decline, despite his pleas to get her extra help. He said that he first came to the Committee on Special Education in 2001, when his daughter showed signs of a cognitive disability and he received neurodevelopmental evaluations from outside sources that found she needed additional help.
However, the committee found "insufficient evidence," to warrant additional help at that time. Yet, on the internal green sheet, obtained just months ago, a district employee clearly recommended extra help and resource room time.
The parent likened the situation to a doctor's diagnosing a patient with a disease but withholding the pill that could provide a cure. "Not seeing this, we only had technical information given to us, but not professional recommendations of what should be considered to help," he said.
Though his daughter is now getting additional help, the damage has already been done, her father says. "The district, very pointedly, kept the green sheet, with their own professional recommendations that then shaped the IEP [Individual Education Plan] for my child inadequately," he said. "They have done that for four years, to the point where she is three years behind and needs psychiatric counseling."
Leaders defend district
In the wake of the decision by the state Education Department and the letter from Liotti's office, members of the Baldwin School District responded to the green sheet issue.
Weiss called the idea that the green sheets are strictly internal documents "erroneous," and said that the information on them was always available to parents.
Dr. Waverlyn Peters, the Baldwin district's director of pupil services, also said that the green sheets were available to parents. The sheet, she explained, is nothing more than a cover memo to the CSE chairperson that summarizes data. It identifies what is being submitted, such as global scores from all assessments, and includes lists of services the child received in the past and factors for the CSE to consider in the future.
As for the suggestions issued by psychologists on the green sheets, Peters said they were just that: suggestions. "It does not mean that these are things that must happen, but [rather that these are] things that should be considered," she said.
Peters explained that the suggestions, in fact, couldn't be required, because they are made prior to the CSE's meeting with parents, during the initial consultation with a district psychologist. Services provided by the district, she said, have been adequate and have met state standards. She likened those services to the automobile industry. The district is required to provide a reliable vehicle for success, not a luxury model.
"Our standard is appropriate," Peters said. "The district is not required to give the child a Mercedes, but we are required to give them a Corolla. It works well, works safe and gets you where you want to go. We're required to give standard services - we're not required to provide optimal services."
Even so, Peters claimed, the district has gone above the threshold of state standards. She points to the participation of students with special needs in the recent production of "Ragtime" as an example. "To me, part of the success of the program is not just what's in their files ... but how well [the students are] integrated into the community," Peters said. "And I think "Ragtime" was a testament to the amount of integration."
Peters said that of nearly 600 parents of students with special needs, only three have asked to see the sheets since the issue first became public. Those three have come away satisfied with the procedure, she said.
Peters acknowledged, however, that there are unhappy parents in the school district. "The only parents that are upset are those that are associated with a particular person that is upset," she said. "I do believe that I have someone who is very disgruntled within the organization, and I believe that is the source of the problem."
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
