Jennifer L. Henn  |  November 25, 2020

Category: Covid-19

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Remote learning impacts special needs students.

A group of parents has filed a federal class action lawsuit against New York city and state education officials over alleged shortcomings in remote learning for the city’s special needs students.

Since the pandemic began, the city’s schools have not provided special needs students with the services – including speech therapy, language assistance, in-person support and, in some cases, technology and equipment – that their individualized education plans, or IEPs, call for, the parents say. The students are falling perilously behind, according to the class action lawsuit, and the city and state must fix the “pervasive failure,” quickly.

Dissatisfied with the results of their own individual efforts to effect change, the parents of seven special needs students in the New York City school district and the guardian of another filed the class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Nov. 23.

Named as defendants in the case are the New York City and New York State departments of education, the New York City Board of Education, Chancellor of the New York City School District Richard Carranza and New York State Board of Regents and Interim Commissioner of Education Betty A. Rosa.

“From the onset of remote learning necessitated by the pandemic, defendants have failed to meet their obligations to students with disabilities under federal and state education laws,” the class action lawsuit says. “At the most basic level, [they] have failed to provide these students with the programs and services required by their IEPs.”

Individualized education programs are legal documents developed by educators, specialists, administrators and parents working in collaboration to set a plan for students who need special education. The education blueprints are usually reviewed each year and evolve to meet the student’s changing needs.

In addition to setting out which classes and courses the student will have, IEPs often call for related services such as occupational, physical and speech therapies, behavior counseling, paraprofessional support and other services.

U.S. Department of Education regulations say services prescribed by IEPs are expected to continue during periods of remote learning, lawyers for the parents who are suing say.

“Students who do not receive these programs and services can, and often do, regress,” the class action lawsuit states, and since the schools have gone to remote learning, that is exactly what has happened to many.

“While the pandemic may have made it harder to provide services, this does not discharge defendants of their legal obligations to ensure those services are provided or to remedy the educational losses suffered by students with disabilities,” the parents’ complaint goes on to say. “Defendants have failed to meet those obligations and have demonstrated no mechanism or plan to rectify those failures.”

Remote learning impacts special needs students.Because the IEPs are legal documents, parents can challenge them, or challenge schools or educators they think are not abiding by them, through an established hearing process.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say that option is not adequate to deal with the pandemic-related remote learning issues. That’s due, in part, to the fact that, as of February, before the crisis began in earnest, the city’s Department of Education was already juggling 10,000 open complaints, the class action lawsuit alleges.

The parents and guardian who are serving as lead plaintiffs in the case want to represent a Class of all parents or guardians of students with special needs who are not getting the services – or compensatory services – required by their IEPs. According to the class action, there are tens of thousands of special education students enrolled in New York City schools.

They are asking the court to order the education departments and administrators to come up with a plan “which will promptly afford these students the education to which they are legally entitled—before they fall any further behind.”

Do you have a child who requires special education and has an IEP in the school system? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

The plaintiffs and the proposed Class Members are represented by Joshua Kipnees, George A. LoBiondo and Danielle C. Quinn of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyle LLP and Rebecca C. Shore of Advocates for Children of New York Inc.

The Remote Learning Class Action Lawsuit is Z.Q., by his parent, G.J., et al. v. New York City Department of Education, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-09866, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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101 thoughts onParents of Special Needs Students Bring Class Action Lawsuit Over Remote Learning

  1. Darla Williams says:

    Started to go right past this and stopped like 3 times. But I’m so tired of the taste of blood in my mouth from keeping my mouth shut. So not to make waves and cause my daughter even more trouble at school. She’s a junior this year and struggle I mean to tell you. She’s never loved school. But she was always included in everything. Ive done everything I knew to do and then some. From after school programs to private one on one tudoring. Teachers and Principal always said ” it’s just a hard year it’s hard for all of them”. So ok I’m trying to help my daughter who by this time likes school even less…. Boom COVID hits… It’s Virtual Learning for her because of my health COPD and Oxygen dependant 24/7. Total disaster School wasn’t prepared for being overrun by all new students. First semester ended with only one the the teachers she started with. One class had 3 different teachers and second semester wasn’t much better. Next year back to only school shed ever attended but in High School… But I’ve still got high hopes it’s all gonna be ok. Not…struggle…then I’m hearing IEP ending 10th grade year. I’m dumbfounded why now I’m biting my tongue. Go through all that shit because finally shes gonna get help. What a joke they haven’t followed any of the guidelines stated in IEP. Meeting this year and always do Parent-Teacher Conferences. Then spoke with Principal due to him what I consider to be bullying my daughter. He and another male teacher bullying her. Saying well Jadin I’m about to give up on you. Know why I should’ve kept going this just to hard. I keep telling her “hang in there” ” your gonna get their help”. They still haven’t aren’t going to and what do you tell your kid when she asked “but Mom, why does he hate me”? Sorry so long good luck to all of you…..ITS NOT FAIR

  2. Laura Witt says:

    I hold Educational Decision Making Authority of my grandson. Distance learning during pandemic in California has left much to be desired. He was issued chromebook to work from; he had no knowledge of how to use a chromebook. Without his aides and multi modality instruction (factor of his IEP), he became frustrated and broke chromebook after chromebook. He has found the tasks required so daunting, that his morale is gone and he has, literally, given up. Forcing him to utilize technology that is unfamiliar to him caused obstacle to learning anything. He used to participate in his program but has grown to hate “school” and acts out violently when pushed to try again. It was destined for failure. He is autistic, intellectually disabled, has audio processing disorder, major memory issues, ADHD in addition to asthma, allergies, anaphylaxis, gastro-intestinal disorder, sleep disorder and genetic anomalies. They did a crappy job of providing his supports and accomadations prior to pandemic. With distance learning, his entire education went out the window. Assisting technologies were not taught and integrated, multi modality instruction non-existent and the device used as the backbone for this instruction completely unfamiliar to him. He has regressed and become violent, depressed and exhibits violent tendencies, very angry at the school for dropping him, not advocating him. Prior to pandemic, we’d worked out plan with school and regional center to share cost of wonderful pst secondary program specialing in students with autism. As a result of his regression and inability, this is no longer “on the table”. $80,000 a year…out tge window. We do not know how to catch up for this time. Now he’s 21 and floundering without direction. He spends his time in bed and has started “eating” his feeling becoming quite obese. Spiraling downhill with no salvation in sight. Poor kid, had enough troubles without their version of an education. If I had the means, I would sue.

  3. Keshia Williams says:

    I have special need children and my son autistic nonverbal and got exposed from going to school and got exposed to COVID 19 almost sparred his life and family member that stays in same house because staff member insisted to see him back knowing months prior that he would not wear a MASK due to multiple intellectual disorder conditions I know I’m scared for all special need children safety at this point. PLEASE HELP US PARENTS OF SPECIAL NEED CHILDREN.

  4. Jessica Obey says:

    I have two autistic children who could not do remote learning whatsoever it just made them more frustrated and more upset trying to interact with something they didn’t understand. They have suffered tremendously and the school district has kick them out of school because they wouldn’t pardoned man for the absences that they missed because they just couldn’t do online schooling. I still haven’t been able to put them back into regular school I can’t even get ahold of anyone to do that callbacks range from now to never and it’s ridiculous my children are suffering and they cannot understand what is going on which makes it even more frustrating for me.

  5. K Gordon says:

    My daughter is hearing impaired with IEP and has suffered tremendously. I’m in Alabama. Is there anyone that can help? I’m sure I’m not the only one.

  6. Kimberly Platt says:

    My son does have a 504. Bone of his needs were met the way they should have been. He had to go to summer school because of the defiant teacher that refused to recognize that my son has a developmental disability. He threatened my son. He got another student to make fun of him in front of the class. Every time I called to report his behavior, the administrators were shut down and asked not to talk about him. I even went as fast as requesting a CSE meeting to try and step it up to an IEP even though he doesn’t qualify for that. My son even has an IQ of 122 according to his evaluation testing. His problem was with that teacher. I reached out to that teacher. I did everything and fought him all school year. My son can’t write more than a sentence without his hand shutting down. It is al over his 504 and that teacher gave him zeros for assignments that should have been marked incomplete to not make his grade worse. He continued. Even so much so that I called the superintendent twice and got a principal that was also silenced and tried to intimidate me to drop the subject. I did not. He was able to bully over 10 administrators within the school and he is already threatening to all students that have him again this year that he will basically not teach anyone that is unvaccinated. My son can’t get the vaccine due to medical reasons. I am in Greece, NY. A town of Rochester. This school district has been combative since preK. I’ve had enough. They don’t care that my son isn’t visibly disabled, so it doesn’t matter. They also told me that my disability doesn’t matter when I am the one that makes sure he gets to school and whatnot. The transportation team lost my son on a bus and sent us driving all over to try and find him for 2.5 hours. I am fed up completely with this district. Greece central school district. I have even told them my next step would be the department of education if they chose to not comply with a legal binding document.

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