Bentonville school shuffle vexes parents of special-needs pupils

BENTONVILLE -- Some parents worry about how their special-needs children will be affected if they must change schools because of the Bentonville School District's new attendance zones that take effect this fall.

Several parents said their children struggle so much to adapt to new routines, new people and new environments that they should be granted the chance to stay at their current schools.

The School Board in February adopted new attendance zones for the 2016-17 school year. Hundreds of students will be switching schools because of the new zones.

District officials said they carefully consider all requests for exemptions to attendance-zone requirements. If a student's needs cannot be met at his zoned school, he will not be sent there, they said.

Velva Rowe's daughter, Claire, has sensory and auditory processing disorders, receptive and expressive language disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Claire, 9, will be a fourth-grader this fall. She has attended Sugar Creek Elementary School the past three years, but the new zones have her going to neighboring Thomas Jefferson Elementary School this fall.

"With her not being able to express herself effectively, she acts out when things are different for her," Rowe said. "So I anticipate a rough start. I anticipate outbursts of frustration. We are going to see her frustration level at her highest because her world is going to change."

Claire will have to change buildings again for the 2017-18 school year, when she advances to middle school.

Rowe said that Claire won't be able to dedicate herself fully to her education until she feels comfortable in her new environment and that it's uncertain how long that will take.

Rowe said she has expressed her concerns to administrators and board members. Most have told her that they must do what is best for the district as a whole, she said.

Rowe said she supported the administration's rezoning proposal but that she doesn't like how it affects her child.

"I don't understand why you would take the most fragile kids in your district and rock their world when you don't have to," Rowe said.

Christina Kitterman's twin sons, Logan and Luke, both 16, have cerebral palsy. Logan Kitterman's condition is more severe than his brother's.

Both attended Bentonville High School in the past school year, but the family is zoned for West High School, which opens in Centerton this fall. Christina Kitterman said she is concerned about how Logan, in particular, will adjust to the new surroundings.

"The teachers at Bentonville High School know how he connects and how he runs," she said. "They know what they need to do to get him to do those things. So when we switch schools, the teachers will have to relearn how Logan learns."

Administrators reviewed Logan's individual education plan and decided he could get the same services at West High School that he received at Bentonville High, Kitterman said.

"I told the superintendent that's not what our issue was. It's his well-being and where he's comfortable so he's not starting all over again," Kitterman said.

Kitterman has resolved to home-school her sons unless they are allowed to go to Bentonville High School, she said.

Tanya Sharp, the district's director of student services, said that when a parent appeals a zoning decision, administrators offer to sit down with the parents and examine their children's needs.

"We look at what the child is receiving as far as their programming within their [individualized education program] to make sure it can be provided to them in their new school," Sharp said.

Sharp estimated that 20 families made appeals based on zoning this year. The district granted one appeal, she said, and there are cases that haven't been settled yet.

"It's a process," said interim Superintendent Debbie Jones. "We ask that as part of the process they visit the new zoned school. We pull together the team of people they will be working with, and some do not want to participate in that process. They refuse to visit the next level, meet new people, but we meet face to face with every one of those people who has appealed. That's senior leadership is doing that."

Jones emphasized that the process requires a parent to make direct contact with administrators. The district doesn't respond to complaints made in social media.

"There's no way we can monitor all the conversation that goes on in social media. It's not productive to respond to any of that, even when it's incorrect," Jones said. "We know sometimes it takes time, but that's what we ask they do, and participate in the steps we ask them to participate in."

Jones joined the district in February as deputy superintendent. She previously was the Arkansas Department of Education's assistant commissioner for learning services.

She is serving as interim superintendent with the departure of Superintendent Michael Poore, who was hired to lead the Little Rock School District.

Jones said she's looked at services provided to students across the state. Bentonville's level of service exceeds any she's seen, she said.

"Those services will continue regardless of which building students are zoned for," Jones said.

Peggy Schaefer-Whitby, an associate professor of special education at the University of Arkansas, said special-needs students -- particularly those with autism or intellectual disabilities -- have difficulty with social relationships. They often struggle with the transition to a new school, she said.

"I do think if a child has been in an environment for several years, that schools should accommodate those children by allowing them to stay in that school" in situations not involving an advancement to the next building level, Schaefer-Whitby said.

She said she wasn't aware of any research on how building changes affect special-needs students.

Christina Wahlig's daughter, Charlotte, just finished the first grade at R.E. Baker Elementary School. The new zones will send Charlotte, 7, to Apple Glen Elementary School this fall. Charlotte has "comprehensive special learning needs," Wahlig said.

Wahlig, like Rowe and Kitterman, said she worries about how the change will affect her child. Charlotte has made substantial academic gains in the past seven months, Wahlig said.

"It has taken a team at Baker some time to find the right classroom setting, the right learning tools, the right approach to Charlotte," she said. "It is trial and error. It is not a matter of taking what works for one child and applying it to Charlotte or any other special-needs students."

Wahlig estimated she's spent 15 to 20 hours on meetings, phone calls and email exchanges with administrators in an unsuccessful effort to persuade them to keep Charlotte at Baker.

"I've chosen to partner with the district in spite of what we can all agree is a less than ideal situation," Wahlig said. "I believe the district wants to learn from this process, and I believe it will be managed with far more consideration and planning should there be future rezoning events."

Wahlig admitted that she hates what's happening, but added: "I'm not a perfect parent. No school district is going to make perfect decisions. If we work together, we'll make the best of it."

Metro on 06/06/2016

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