Ohio Department of Education Investigation of Warren County Educational Services Center Reveals Special Education Providers Didn’t Provide Adequate Individualized Education and Extracurricular Activities and Didn’t Appropriately Assess Students with Suspected Disabilities became.
In Ohio, an Educational Services Center is a state school district that provides professional development, technical, administrative, and special education services to other school districts. There are 51 ESCs statewide.
The Warren County ESC operates nine programs throughout the county for students with special needs. It serves a total of 43 school districts, including Cincinnati.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed in 2021 by advocacy group Disability Rights Ohio on behalf of two students enrolled in the Warren County ESC by a public school district.
Christine Hildebrandt, senior disability rights Ohio attorney, said the group’s investigation found serious violations of state law. An investigation by the Ohio Department of Education revealed that he had at least one offense in all 43 school districts sending students to the Warren County ESC.
According to Hildebrandt, the most notable violations were the center’s failure to implement adequate individualized education programs (IEPs) and the lack of positive behavioral interventions.
“We identified a number of issues where IEPs were not written properly and did not contain appropriate information for children,” said Hildebrant. “Many of these children have behavioral problems, which is the main reason why children are sent to ESC, but they did not receive adequate behavioral support.”
The ODE investigation also revealed that the center did not adequately assess students with suspected disabilities before they were placed in the program, and lacked access to extracurricular and extracurricular activities. became.
Disability Rights Ohio says more than half of the students surveyed by the Department of Education were unable to receive instruction to meet their individual needs. At least 53 students had no good reason to be placed in ESC.
Warren County ESC Superintendent Tom Isaacs declined to be interviewed, but said in a statement, “The Warren County Center for Educational Services (“ESC”) Steering Committee has released its findings on special education and the Ohio Department of Education. said it was aware of the corrective action issued by Educating more than 40 school districts that utilize our professional programs. It is important to emphasize that no student abuse or neglect was found. Processing issues are included. The ESC and the school district dispute most of the findings. Those that we do not dispute will be promptly rectified. We hope to work with state education leaders to resolve the matter without litigation.The ESC has no further comment on the matter until it is resolved. ”
While the Warren County ESC is investigating, each of the 43 school districts that work with the ESC have ultimate responsibility for their students’ education. As part of the state’s corrective action plan, the Department of Education mandates all school districts to participate in a professional development program for IEPs and a program known as “Free Appropriate Public Education.” Ninety-one students receive an average of 57 hours of compensatory education to make up for her IEP services that she did not receive initially.
As a result of the investigation, the Ohio Department of Education will work with the Warren County ESC and local school districts to achieve ODE’s corrective action plan and assist and monitor the district in meeting standards.
Originally, the ESC and local school districts had until December 1st of this year to fully address these issues. However, in a message sent to each school superintendent on January 30, the ODE said all deadlines have been suspended indefinitely and will be updated at a later date.
