At a time when local property taxes are soaring and District 200 (OPRF High School) has announced another tax levy hike, the Dist, 200 school board should be re-examining its own financial management practices to stem taxpayer costs. In particular, the board should conduct an audit of taxpayer funds expended for special education legal fees. While the district cries poormouth, the OPRF Special Education Division continues to run up thousands of dollars in taxpayer costs for its $350-an-hour lawyer for purposes that seem questionable at best.
These include legal fees that have been incurred:
To bring the school district’s attorney to special ed IEP meetings with unrepresented parents (an intimidation tactic that appears aimed at quelling parent dissent and perpetuating the personal animosities of special ed administrators). OPRF Special Ed persists in this practice even though federal regulations strongly warn against the use of school district lawyers at IEP meetings.
To respond to informal complaints of noncompliance filed under the State Board of Education’s complaint resolution system (even though Congress designed this informal system to eliminate the need for lawyers). OPRF Special Ed could resolve these complaints for nothing, merely by correcting problems brought to its attention, not fighting tooth and nail to deny them.
To deny homework accommodations to a learning-disabled student with a “gifted” IQ, though the federal Office of Special Education Programming has published guidance declaring that a high IQ does not render a student ineligible for special education accommodations. Cost to taxpayers of fighting this simple, reasonable accommodation (which the district ultimately agreed to provide): Thousands in legal fees, at $350 per hour. Cost of accommodating the learning disabled child as required by law: $0.
To defend honors class teachers who didn’t cooperate in asking a student to take notes and assignments in a “carbon notebook” so that copies can be given to a special ed student in the class. OPRF could have avoided these legal fees merely by requiring faculty to comply with this simple, legally-mandated classroom accommodation. Cost of compliance: $4 per carbon notebook. Cost of defending against claims of noncompliance: Thousands in legal fees, at $350 per hour.
To investigate allegations that an administrator engaged in phone harassment of a parent who complained to the board that their child’s special ed program was not implemented. Cost of legal advice associated with this “investigation”: Thousands in unnecessary legal fees, at $350 per hour.
Compliance is just so much cheaper. Indeed, it would seem economical for Dist. 200 to pay $350 per hour to its lawyer to conduct education seminars for its teachers and staff on how to comply with the laws and meet their obligations to disabled students. Special ed parents even have asked Dist. 200 to take advantage of free, or nearly free, on-site seminars offered by local disability rights agencies to educate teachers and staff on their legal obligations to students with disabilities.
But to date, the district has refused and the board continues to look the other way while OPRF Special Ed runs up the taxpayers’ bill for these questionable legal fee expenditures.
This should not be. School boards are required to exercise prudence in the expenditure of public funds, and to oversee the actions of vendors providing services to a school district, including paid legal advisors. I urge the board to conduct an audit of these legal fee expenditures by OPRF Special Education.
Cost of eliminating these unnecessary legal costs so that special ed tax dollars are spent to maximize the potential of special needs students? Priceless.