Special needs education faces rural challenges Story Image (1) Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size 1 Campbell family Photo courtesy of Jane Smith The Campbell family, Marcus, Christy Cartwright and Harold Burch are struggling with rural special needs education programs for their son Marcus. Miller Waldrop 300x250 in-story box Posted: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 10:51 am Janie Smith The percentage of children in the United States that have special needs in education is approximately 14 percent. From statistics compiled by the Public Broadcasting Service in New Mexico, this translates into 45,000 New Mexico students. While there have been Federal laws passed to ensure that every child receives a free and appropriate education, notably The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA) in 1975 and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the actuality is that passing a law does not guarantee that the law will be implemented. There are many parents struggling to get the education for their special needs child that is guaranteed under Federal laws. A child, Marcus Campbell in Carrizozo, is one of those special needs children, and his parents have been struggling for years to receive the education that he needs. Marcus Campbell was born in Texas and at the age of 2 at the University of Texas Medical Branch was diagnosed with 6 disorders, including Autism, Developmental Delay and Petit Mal Seizures. At that time and until he was 5 years old he was under the care of a pediatric neurologist Dr. William Zinser. Then his family moved to New Mexico in 2004. The family moved to Carrizozo and since then his parents, Christy Cartwright and Harold Burch, state that Marcus has received sporadic medical, behavioral and educational care. While Marcus attended the first grade in Carrizozo, his parents had heard that Alamogordo had a better special needs education program and so the family moved to Alamogordo in 2005. They discovered that the school special needs program there was no better than that in Carrizozo. The family moved back to Carrizozo for Marcus to attend third grade. From third grade through seventh grade Christy attended school every day with Marcus to ensure that he was not being traumatized. When the Carrizozo school system still was not providing Marcus with the special needs education that he was entitled to under the Federal and State laws, his parents filed suit (ADR) against the Carrizozo Municipal Schools. The result of this was requested third party mediation. The Special Education Bureau of the New Mexico Public Education Department scheduled mediation for Aug. 30, 2012 and Oct. 1, 2012. This mediation was attended by Marcus parents, Ed Risser from Optum Health, the Carrizozo Municipal School Superintendent, Patti Nesbitt and the Director of Special Education for the Carrizozo Schools, Kevin Sheehan. The mediator, Marlene K. Schwalje found in favor of Marcus parents and on Oct. 1, 2012 an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) was established which was agreed upon by all parties. Thus in eighth grade, Marcus made more progress with his education than in any of his previous years. Now Marcus is 15 years old, and even though his father stated he can only read at a second grade level he is entering the ninth grade. At first Marcus’ parents were told he could not enter the ninth grade because there was no program yet in place for him, but the day before school started they were informed that he would be allowed to attend. The first day of ninth grade for Marcus consisted of his being alone in an empty room with an attendant person. Since then a young woman, Amber Vallejos, with a BA in Community Living has been working one on one with Marcus. Marcus is being engaged by working on the yearbook. The conclusion that Marcus father has is “the school is trying to follow the IEP but they have no resources.” When the new principal and superintendent. Rick Lindblad, was asked to comment on this issue, he said that the Carrizozo school was following the IDA State Program for Special Needs. He would not comment further. On Sept. 5 in the library of the Carrizozo school there will be a conference to try and determine an IEP for Marcus. Various representatives from State agencies will attend as will representatives of the Carrizozo School. Whether or not this conference enables the Carrizozo School to obtain the resources necessary to follow the Federal and State laws regarding Special Education remains to be seen. For Marcus and for his parents, the struggle for an appropriate education goes on.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 12:11:54 +0000
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