Back to Basics - Tuition Reimbursement

When we began this blog back in the summer of 2009, we wrote a number of posts about the basics of special education law and how families could navigate the laws that would provide services and support for their children. We addressed all sorts of topics -- How to get your district to pay for an evaluation, How federal disability laws differ from each other , What are Related Services? and many others. 

Parents sometimes have questions about these or other subjects related to special education and we often find that the best way to answer their query is to share our blog(s) on the subject. But, as you might imagine, our readership has grown and changed over the past 12 years and parents' questions have made us realize that it might be time to address some old and new topics that are fundamental to understanding students' rights in special education. 

One question that has cropped up recently is whether a Committee on Special Education (CSE), the team that creates the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with disabilities under the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) can place a student in a non-approved school and order payment for the tuition at such school. Parents have heard about getting their tuition paid at a private school and some assumed that this was how the process worked. Nope, it's much more complex than that. Let's look at the process, understanding that it can differ a bit from state to state.

First, parents can always place their child in a private school, whether a specialized school or one that offers a general curriculum and no significant supports. This discussion is about whether payment for a private school will be made by the public district.

The first step in that process is for a school district to be unwilling or unable to offer a child who is classified under the IDEA an appropriate IEP -- school setting, services, accommodations. This can be in the child's regular school or a non-public school that is "approved" by the state (a subject for another discussion). But here we are assuming that the parents do not find the proposed setting appropriate. 

The CSE, even if it finds that the school that the parents want is an excellent setting, does not have the authority to pay tuition at such school. The parents have to give the district notice that they are unilaterally placing their child in the private school, and then file for a hearing before a state hearing officer, who will look at several criteria, including whether the IEP was really not appropriate and whether the placement the parents have selected is, indeed, an appropriate setting. At a minimum, the parent's choice must offer the special education services the child needs (so not just any private school will do).

The process takes months to complete and in almost all cases requires the parents to pay the tuition to the school and then get reimbursed if they are successful at a hearing. And the process must be repeated for each school year. 

Many parents are successful and have worked out a system so that their child can attend a specialized private school offering special educational services. But it is not a simple process and success is not guaranteed. We recommend working with a special education attorney to make sure all the 'i's' are dotted and the 't's' are crossed. 

 

 

 

Gillen Brewer School

Your blogger had the opportunity to attend a professional open house last week at Gillen Brewer School, a special education school for young children located in Manhattan's Upper East Side. The school serves children from just under three years of age through age 10, in ungraded preschool and elementary classes. The staff and the school itself were most impressive and the education and support offered to the students clearly met each child at his or her own level and worked to make them more independent and to help them learn.

Gillen Brewer was founded to serve children with challenges with speech and language, gross and fine motor skills, learning, and sensory and social-emotional development. As the Head of School, Donna Kennedy explained to our visiting group, the children at Gillen Brewer "need adult support around functional use of skills." In addition, the school believes in the importance of partnering with parents and families and offers workshops and events through its School-Home Partnership Program.

The school provides that support for its students with numerous speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and doctoral level psychologists (five of each profession, for a student body of less than 100 children), as well as special subject teachers. Students come to Gillen Brewer (named for the grandmothers of the founders) with a variety of challenges and functional levels and the school offers two class models for its elementary students. Those students with more significant impairments, including those who lack functional communication and who need augmented communication devices, are served in a class of not more than six students, with one head teacher and two assistant teachers. Those students who have functional language and need adult support to communicate not more than around 30 percent of the time are served in a slightly larger class of up to 10 students, with one head teacher and two assistant teachers.

The school takes advantage of its New York City location with athletic activities at Asphalt Green, workshops with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and field trips to numerous city locations.

Among the students Gillen Brewer serves are those with medical issues (the school has three nurses on staff, to enable them to serve students who are nurse dependent) and those with mild to moderate autism, although Ms. Kennedy noted that the school does not utilize the ABA approach with its students with autism and that those students they will serve best will have mostly speech and language deficits. The school cannot serve students who are explosive or whose issues include aggression, wandering, or “running away.”

Such intensive support and remediation does not come cheap and the school is seeking to add a legal parent advocate position to assist its families and their attorneys with obtaining reimbursement from public school districts via Carter funding. In addition, the school will endeavor to offer Connors funding where parents are unable to lay out tuition while they await reimbursement, something they believe is important to their mission to maintain a diverse student body. Gillen Brewer no longer accepts referrals directly from school districts as an approved nonpublic school, although students who were enrolled by their districts are still "grandfathered in" to this status. The issue, one faced by most private approved schools, is that the difference between what New York State will pay them and their actual costs is significant and cannot be sustained by the school long term.

One good way to get a sense of how Gillen Brewer advances its mission is to view some of the videos on its YouTube channel. They showcase a school and staff dedicated to improving the life of students with significant challenges.

No School for the Fall? No Need to Panic

Most students know where they will be in school this fall. They may be continuing in the same school they have attended, only one grade higher. Or they may be moving to another school, either from an elementary to a middle school, or from middle to high school. Many have even visited their new classrooms and met their new teachers during a "moving up" day at the end of the school year. Even students whose families have relocated to another school district -- nearby or across the country -- generally know where they will be starting school in August or September.

 

But not all students have a place for the coming year. Public schools in some areas, including New York City, may have a shortage of places in desirable schools and place some students on waiting lists, so that while a student will have a place somewhere, he or she may not know exactly where at this point in the summer. 

Other students are new to the city, and have not yet been enrolled. For these students, the NYC Department of Education has information available on their New Student Page., which includes information on what documentation is needed for enrollment. They also offer in-person assistance at Family Welcome Centers, which are located in every borough.

For private school students, the situation is a bit different. While public schools must provide a place for every student (although sometimes, due to  over-enrollment in some schools, this doesn't happen by the first day of school), private schools of all kinds have no such requirement. They can generally determine their admissions criteria and often set up their classes months in advance. Many families apply to these schools almost a full year before their student would actually start classes. And that situation can be even more so for private schools for students with special learning needs. 

However, even for students with special learning needs facing limited spots in schools that can offer them the support they require, all is not lost. First, keep in mind that a school that might be full in June can have openings by August, as families move or change their plans. Stay in touch with the admissions office of the school(s) you are interested in and let them know you would enroll if a spot opens up. Also, despite what parents may hear (and schools don't want to advertise this fact), but especially in times of economic uncertainty or downturn, not all of these schools fill their spots. Private school is very expensive, and whether families pay completely on their own, or are seeking reimbursement for special education tuition, some parents find these schools beyond their means.  It never hurts to inquire about last minute openings. There is also the possibility of mid-year openings, as schools or families realize that the "fit" between a particular school and student is not a good one. Again, stay in touch with admissions officers to learn of these places. 

Parents of students who require special education and were contemplating private school should keep in mind that the public system not only is required to accept their child, but to provide him or her with a free, appropriate education (FAPE) under an IEP. There are many reasons why this solution may not be acceptable for some parents, including class size and the rigor of special education supports (although some public schools do provide strong special education programs) but it can offer an alternative while parents seek a private setting they may prefer. 

Photo by Pete Bellis on Unsplash

The Nuts and Bolts of Tuition Reimbursement

Based upon questions we have been fielding from parents recently, it may be time to revisit a subject that we first addressed in 2011 - how families can get reimbursed for private school tuition for their children who qualify for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

A good place to start this discussion is with understanding that parents have the right to enroll their child in any school they choose. Whether their child is a typical learner or a student with challenges, it is completely up to the parents to decide where and how they obtain their education (so long as they are, in fact, being educated, since attendance at a school or participation in an authorized home school program is mandatory). The issue in these situations is who will pay for this education.

It is also important to understand that states have a list of "approved private special education programs". The fact that these schools are "approved" means only that these programs meet certain criteria and follow certain rules - things like curriculum, school calendar, and participation in state testing. Local school districts that cannot meet the needs of a particular child may agree to place a student in one of these approved schools. The local district takes responsibility for the student's application and arranges to pay the tuition at this private approved school. [The state reimburses the local district for much of this tuition]. There is no cost to the family. Once the student is accepted into the approved private school, it  becomes the placement set forth in the student's IEP. 

Frequently, however, the local school district does not agree with the parents' contention that a particular student requires a private school in order to meet his or her needs. They offer an IEP that provides for the student to be educated in a public school, perhaps in a special class or with special supports. When that occurs and the parents believe that their child is not being provided with an appropriate public education - something universally referred to as FAPE (free, appropriate, public education), the parents may decide to enroll their child in a non-approved school that they believe will meet their child's needs. They may then file for a hearing before a state hearing officer to seek to have their tuition payments at the private school reimbursed to them. We recommend that the parents work with an attorney who is experienced in handling special education matters to represent them in the hearing.  Note that local school districts cannot and will not place a student in a non-approved private school, even if they think it would be helpful for the child. 

Under the IDEA, there is a three prong test, called the Burlington/Carter test, after two U.S. Supreme Court cases: Florence County. School. District. Four v. Carter and School Committee of Town of Burlington v. Department of Education of Massachusetts . 

1. First, the local school district has the burden of establishing that their IEP, including the school setting, is appropriate. If they succeed in demonstrating this, then they will prevail at the hearing. 
2. IF the district fails to establish that its IEP is appropriate, then the hearing officer will look to see whether the school in which the parents have enrolled their child is, indeed, an appropriate setting in light of the student's needs. Generally, a private special education school that works with students like the one at hand will be deemed appropriate. In contrast, a private general education program with little experience with students with disabilities will likely not be appropriate.
3. Finally, the hearing officer will look at the equities, meaning that it will examine whether the parents have dealt fairly with the district by looking at the programs that the district suggested and not having signed a binding contract with a private school in advance of examining the programs the district recommends. Note, however, that the parents’ preference for a private school is not a bar to reimbursement.

Even parents who are successful at a hearing still must lay out the tuition and await reimbursement which can come more than a year after the fact, given the time involved in scheduling hearings (even without an appeal from the hearing decision by the district). And the hearing process needs to reoccur each year, unless the parties reach a settlement. There can be no guaranty that parents will be awarded reimbursement, although an experienced attorney looking at all the facts in a particular case can be helpful in weighing the likelihood of success. 

ADA Accommodations for Good Students

Almost exactly two years ago, in September 2015, we wrote a post about new guidelines from the U.S. Department of Justice, which were a response to questions about testing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Justice Department guidelines were very clear and set out the basic principles of the ADA and how they should be applied to testing and accommodations.

 

Still, we recently had a conversation with a private school parent where the question was raised as to whether a student who was doing well -- keeping up with class work and getting good grades -- would be entitled to testing accommodations under the ADA. So, let's look again at what the law requires, quoting directly from the Justice Department guidelines:

• "Under the ADA, an individual with a disability is a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (such as seeing, hearing, learning, reading, concentrating, or thinking) or a major bodily function... 

• "To be 'substantially limited' in a major life activity does not require that the person be unable to perform the activity. In determining whether an individual is substantially limited in a major life activity, it may be useful to consider, when compared to most people in the general population, the conditions under which the individual performs the activity or the manner in which the activity is performed. It may also be useful to consider the length of time an individual can perform a major life activity or the length of time it takes an individual to perform a major life activity, as compared to most people in the general population. 

• "A person with a history of academic success may still be a person with a disability who is entitled to testing accommodations under the ADA. A history of academic success does not mean that a person does not have a disability that requires testing accommodations. For example, someone with a learning disability may achieve a high level of academic success, but may nevertheless be substantially limited in one or more of the major life activities of reading, writing, speaking, or learning, because of the additional time or effort he or she must spend to read, write, speak, or learn compared to most people in the general population."

Keep in mind that the ADA is the primary disability law covering most private K-12 schools, although religious schools are exempt from the ADA. A good explanation as to how disability laws apply to private schools was prepared by the National Association of Independent Schools. 

Private School Admissions: An Early Start

Finally, even the last schools to start the year -- those in New York City -- are opening their doors to students tomorrow. Parents everywhere can take a deep breath and know that their children are settled in to their school and class until late next spring.

Unless, of course, your child is moving to a new school level after this year. Or you are thinking about moving him to different school. Or it is time to consider a private special education setting. For these families, there is no respite come the fall. For many private schools, especially those that are well regarded for their academics or general reputation, or those that do a good job helping students with learning or other challenges to succeed, the early fall is the time to begin the admissions process for the following school year.

Parents who go to a private school's website will see that there are open house dates scheduled for as early as the beginning of September. Application deadlines vary, but tend to align with those for college admissions. Many schools have rolling admissions, filling spots as qualified applicants apply and closing the application process once their classes are filled. Other schools have a fixed deadline and will then look at the body of applicants to make sure their classes are balanced in terms of things like academic abilities, gender, and special needs.

So, parents who are thinking ahead and considering a different school for their child for next year should not delay in launching their investigation. Not sure where to begin? The guidance counselors in your child's current school may be a good starting point. If your current school is not a good fit, or if your child is aging out, they should be able to point you to places to consider and can sometimes help shortcut the admission process. You can also look at some of the local and national websites that list schools and often have features that allow you to search for specific attributes and locations.

Most schools have colorful websites, filled with photos of happy students and statistics about enrollment and achievements. Still, the school website is the best place to begin your investigation. Look at information about curriculum, special learning supports, and important numbers, such as class size and tuition. Sign up for an open house or small group tour, the earlier in the term the better. An open house with presentations and tours of empty classrooms may yield some sense of a school's atmosphere. More helpful is a tour that occurs during the school day and gives parents a glimpse of what goes on in classrooms.

If possible, look at the classroom for your child's current grade.  These students will likely be his or her classmates. Can you see your child fitting in with this group? Is the classroom a calm and welcoming place? Is there individual attention to students' needs, especially important in a special education setting? Then, if possible, visit the classroom for the grade your child will be in when he or she enrolls.This will give a sense of what is being taught, a possible teacher at that level, and what the classroom for that grade looks like. Can you see your child fitting into this setting?

And what about those families who children need to make a school switch at the last minute, or in the middle of the school year? These could be children with newly diagnosed learning challenges or who are just not fitting in to their current school. Or a family may have to relocate mid year for work or other reasons. Are they just out of luck? Fortunately, many good schools, both for typical learners and for students with special learning needs, have last minute or mid-year spots available. Choices may be more limited, but parents should reach out to schools and inquire. And parents should keep in mind that public schools must enroll every child who lives in their district.

The Jury is Out on New NYC Special Education Rules

Parents who place their children in private special education schools in New York City and seek to have their tuition payments either made directly by the public school system (Connors funding) or reimbursed to them (Carter funding), have long come up against a NYC Department of Education which has put up extensive procedural barriers to avoid making these payments. Even the Mayor's office noted, in a press release, "The special education placement process has been fraught with contention and litigation in recent years."

    

Now, in the face of a bill pending in the New York State legislature which would make it easier and quicker for families to receive public funding, the City has decided to remove the most onerous barriers faced by families seeking school funding and, according to a statement by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, is "...turning the page, making changes that will ease the burden on these parents [by] ... cutting red tape, speeding up the process, and reaching outcomes that do right by families.”  A 2012 bill which would have permitted funding in religious schools was vetoed by the Governor, but the current bill (which has been put on hold in light of this action by New York City) did not include this provision.


The specifics of the new policy are scheduled to be put in place by September of this year and include:

• Expedited Decisions: The City will now seek to reach a settlement with parents (in cases where settlement is appropriate) within 15 days of receiving notice from the parent of their intention to place their child in a private special education school.
• Ending Unnecessary Litigation: The City will no longer litigate cases which were settled or decided in prior years, or where the Department of Education fails to offer a school placement, except where there is a change in the kind of educational setting the student requires.
• Less Paperwork: Parents will no longer need to submit full documentation every year. The new requirement will be for documentation every three years.
• Quicker Payments: The City will make monthly payments where required by a school and give parents a payment schedule for other payments. 
• Payments Pending Appeals: Where parents have won a claim for tuition reimbursement which the City seeks to appeal, the City will pay the tuition while the appeal is pending.

Attorneys practicing in the area of special education are hopeful that these new policies mark an end to the very difficult relationship between the City and it's Department of Education and parents. Still, the devil is always in the details and families and the attorneys representing them are reserving judgement until they see how this new approach works in practice. 

Searching Far Afield for Schools

We live in a mobile society; the U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 2010, 6.7 million people moved from one state to another. When families with school age children are involved, moving becomes especially complicated. How can parents learn about schools and school systems that are far away from their home town?

There are several websites that can be helpful in this process, and can be at least a starting point for gathering information. One is the site Great Schools, a national nonprofit whose website notes that it has "profiles of more than 200,000 PreK-12 schools and more than 1,000,000 parent and community ratings and reviews of schools." Parents can search for reviews of schools by location and schools are rated based upon their general performance and such specific areas as test scores. Great Schools also has information on topics of general interest, including a guide for families who are moving and need to consider a new school.

For parents interested in private schools, the National Association of Independent Schools has a good deal of information on its website, as well as a "school search" feature that allows for selecting such desired features as specific sports programs (from archery to wrestling and just about every sport in between) and the level of support available for students who learn differently -- "focused on learning differences" or "supports learning differences".

For parents looking for information about public schools, a number of cities have websites dedicated to providing information and reviews. In Philadelphia, the Notebook, a nonprofit website that also publishes a print edition, describes itself as "an independent voice for parents, educators, students, and friends of the Philadelphia Public Schools," and has search features for schools on every level. Here in New York City, parents turn to a website we have often mentioned, InsideSchools, for well-respected school reviews and general information about the New York City Public Schools.

Of course, these sites should only be starting points. Additional research, school visits, and conversations with anyone who might be knowledgeable about the educational landscape in your new community are all vital. But when you need a place to begin, these sites might just point you in the right direction.

Photo Credit: John Benson via flickr

A Visit to The Gateway Schools

Last Friday your blogger and Dr. Yellin paid a visit to The Gateway Schools, where the lower school (for ages 5-9) and middle school (ages 10-14) work with students who struggle with language-based learning disabilities.

We had the opportunity to meet with Ellen Grayson, the Director of Admissions, who took us on a tour of the terrific school building, the top two floors of  a former parking garage on West 61st Street in Manhattan, near Lincoln Center, which is now a LEED certified  and welcoming environment, with lots of light, a spacious feel, and which features a full gym, an open atrium for meetings and performances, and quiet niches for one-on-one instruction, in addition to classroom space and rooms devoted to the arts and technology.

We visited a variety of classes, most with lessons in progress, and had the chance to observe students of all levels at work. We spoke about the profile of the students at Gateway, which Ms. Grayson noted includes students with difficulties in processing language or attention, who struggle in a mainstream classroom despite the fact that they have average or above-average intellectual abilities. She noted that the admissions process is designed not just to determine whether a particular student fits the Gateway "profile", but also to look at whether the Gateway Schools have a good classroom fit for that student, something that varies from grade to grade and from year to year. She did note that Gateway does not accept students with diagnoses of Developmental Delay, PPD, Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, or Autism Spectrum Disorders.

We then had a chance to sit down and speak at some length with Carolyn Salzman, Head of School at The Gateway Schools. Her pride in her faculty and students was evident throughout our conversation, which covered such subjects as how to best help particularly challenging students, how Gateway students do once they move on to high school (quite well, she noted), and the features that make Gateway an excellent program for students who need language-based academic supports - small classes, lots of opportunities for working with the arts and building skills in executive function and social interaction, and a faculty with both the academic credentials and the personal skills to help the students achieve. We look forward to continuing our conversation with Ms. Salzman and her staff.

School Visit: The Forman School

Yesterday was one of those perfect fall days we in the Northeast seem to spend all summer waiting for. Luckily for me, I got to spend it driving to and exploring The Forman School, a co-educational boarding and day school in Connecticut. Forman serves students with learning differences in grades 9-12+. 

The Forman campus is intentionally designed to resemble a small New England town, and there is a real sense of community among the students I had the chance to meet. They clearly thrive on the rich esprit de corps on campus; students have a dress code, actively participate in sports, and have a rich extracurricular life on campus.

I had the opportunity to meet with Head of School Adam Man and Associate Head of School Helen Waldron, along with Kelly Caldwell Miller, the school's psychologist. We discussed how Forman was actively connected to the field of Mind, Brain, and Education in that they were constantly seeking new ways to integrate evolving knowledge with academic experience. They noted that the Forman leadership has made it their mission to focus primarily on college-bound students with language based learning differences and ADHD.

My tour of the campus included a new, state-of-the-art science building. The student dorms all have resident faculty members and most of the faculty live on campus. The goal is to create a community in which students can build their independence with the care and supervision of adults.

Images courtesy The Forman School

A highlight of my visit was a lunch with students, all of whom spoke frankly to me about their learning differences. They were reflective, self-aware, and had strong self-esteem, and were mindful of both their challenges and their strengths. A newer student pointed out that although he had not been at Forman very long, he felt totally included in every aspect of the school.

Adam Man described a rich transition program for students preparing for college, focusing not just on academics, but on building the skills students will need in college and the wider world. This transition curriculum includes such skills as how to self-advocate, how to manage in large lectures (a big difference for students who have had the benefit of classes averaging eight students while at Forman), and how to obtain accommodations in college. Man noted that although Forman has a one-year post-graduate program, most of the students who attend are from other schools, where they did not get the kind of preparation for college that Forman provides its own students.

NYC Private Schools to End Use of Controversial Admissions Test

We were very pleased to see the announcement in today's New York Times that most private schools in New York City will soon phase out the admissions test many of the City's elite private schools have administered since the 1960's to applicants as young as four years old.

Kevin Jarrett

The Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY) advised its approximately 130 members by a letter dated on September 18th that a review of admissions practices for kindergarten and first grade concluded that the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), which is administered by the nonprofit Educational Records Bureau and is universally referred to by New York parents as the "ERB", indicated that, "high-stakes testing of young children (under 8 years old) provides only a narrow assessment of their cognitive abilities and may not be predictive of future academic success." The group went on to note that, "due to the increased prevalence of test prepping, the results of the WPPSI are tainted and their credibility is in question due to coaching."

Dr. Yellin stated that he was heartened by this announcement and commented, "Today's announcement that private schools are likely to abandon the ERB is a positive development and a change for which we have advocated for some time. The reason stated is that the results have been compromised by widespread coaching and test preparation. The truth, as many educators have expressed to us, is that the system was misguided and flawed from the start. ERB's use portions of IQ tests that were never intended for this purpose. We strongly recommend Dr. Carol Dweck's wonderful book Mindset to provide perspective on this important issue." 

School Visit: Bay Ridge Preparatory School

Last week your blogger had the opportunity to visit Bay Ridge Prep, a unique learning environment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and to speak with Wendy Freeburn, the Admissions Coordinator, and with Dr. Charles Fasano, the Head of the Lower School.

Bay Ridge Prep is an independent, college preparatory school founded in 1998, serving approximately 400 students in grades K-12. The Lower School (through Grade 8) is located in a spacious former parochial school and the high school is in a newer location several blocks away. Both programs were founded by psychologists, who brought an awareness of individual learning styles and differentiated instruction to the school they created. The result is an unusual integration of academic challenge with support for those who learn differently.

We were particularly interested in learning about two programs at Bay Ridge Prep that were created for students with learning and related difficulties. The Achieve Program is designed for students who need academic support in areas such as organization, reading, and writing, and provides such support -- along with academic accommodations such as extended time on tests -- through a combination of small group work and regular support in the mainstream classroom. The Bridge Program, available at the middle and high school levels for students with more significant learning challenges, has separate classes within the setting of this mainstream school. Both programs will implement IEP's for students who have been classified as needing special education services by the New York City Department of Education.

As we toured the school and had the chance to visit classrooms, it was clear that this is a school where creativity, the arts, and hands-on learning experiences enrich the learning environment. Sports are an important part of the school culture and the school sponsors interscholastic teams in most major sports.

We have visited many schools throughout the Metropolitan area, but the mix of academic challenge, support for those who learn differently, creative learning, and a wide range of student activities make Bay Ridge Prep something special indeed.

The Scoop on Schools: Resources for School Selection

Some families, especially those who are well settled in suburban school districts, don't give much thought to school selection. But for others, including families in large cities with numerous school options, or those who are considering moving or enrolling their child in a private school, solid information on schools is of critical importance.

For New York City families who can have choices of public schools available at every level, an excellent starting point is the school search feature on the website InsideSchools. Located on the home page of the site, this feature allows you to search by school name, number, or geographic location. The individual reports on each school are generally the results of visits to the school by members of the InsideSchools staff, sometimes multiple visits over a period of time. In addition, comments by parents and others often highlight issues that can be important to families trying to decide if a particular school would be a good fit for their child. The site also includes news and information on the often complex process of applying to New York City public schools.

Outside of New York City, an excellent option for researching schools is Great Schools, a national nonprofit whose funders include the Gates, Walton, and Robertson foundations. The site lists over 200,000 schools and allows families to search using a variety of parameters. This site includes all kinds of schools -- public, private, and charter. There is guidance on how to choose a school, including such issues as how to choose a school when moving from a distance. The site also has sections for homework help and parenting issues.

For families who want a private school setting, the website of the National Association of Independent Schools has a Parents' Guide that includes a school search feature that allows searches by such parameters as specialized sports programs (equestrian and crew among several dozen others) and schools that offer International Baccalaureate programs.

Support Services and Accommodations in Private Schools

An article in our most recent newsletter discussed how and when students are entitled to a publicly funded education in a private school. Even students enrolled in a private school by their parents have rights to special education services if they have an IEP under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the public school district. Parents seeking such an IEP need to contact the public school district in which the private school is located. These services are funded from a different source than is available to public schools, but once a student has an IEP he or she can get at least some special education services, no matter where he or she attends school.

But not all students who need supports or accommodations (such as extended time on tests) have "disabilities" as defined by the IDEA. Sometimes students have learning or other issues that do not require special education services, but still need some additional support or more time to take their examinations. In a public school these students would receive such supports or accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), the federal law that applies to individuals with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities (including learning, thinking, etc.). The problem for students in private schools is that Section 504 does not apply to private schools -- only to schools that receive federal funding (as do essentially all public schools, directly or indirectly).

So, what are the options for such students, who have real learning or other issues but who don't qualify for an IEP and can't get help from Section 504? For most of these students, the answer lies in the Americans with Disabilities Act. We don't hear much about this law for school age students, since most services and accommodations are provided by the IDEA or Section 504 for this age group. However, it most definitely applies to everyone, regardless of age, and requires that all aspects of a student's education be made accessible so long as the accommodations needed to do this are not an undue burden on the school. What does accessible mean here? It means that students who need extra time to complete their exams, or who need specialized software (such as voice-to-text or text-to-voice), or who need a scribe, or audiobooks,  should be provided with these items. It does not, however, mean that students are entitled to the kinds of services that even Section 504 provides for students in public schools. There is a discussion of the ADA and Section 504 on the website of the U.S. Department of Education.

One important consideration for students in religious schools is that all religious institutions, including religious schools, are exempt from the ADA. Since Section 504 does not apply to these schools either, students who do not have an IEP may not be entitled to accommodations unless the school elects to make them available.

Photo: Renato Ganoza/Flickr Creative Commons

High (School) Anxiety

Your blogger has had the opportunity recently to visit two local private high schools whose missions are to educate students with learning and related difficulties. Both The Churchill School in Manhattan and the Community School in Teaneck, New Jersey had invited me to speak to parents about the issues addressed in my book Life After High School.

In both schools, parents shared a very palpable concern about how their children would manage the transition from a specialized, supportive high school to post secondary education -- college or another kind of program -- and eventually to adulthood. These parents had all been through the special education process with their children, having emerged with spots in coveted, state approved (and publicly funded) schools where their children are taught in small classes by teachers with expertise in remediating learning difficulties. Many of these parents had provided their children with significant levels of support with tasks like organization, advocacy, and academics, beyond that customary for more typical learners.

The parents that I met at these presentations are far from unique in their concerns. Parenting any child is a complex process, but parenting a child who struggles in school is even more so. So what can parents of teens do now, while their child is still at home, to help foster independence beyond high school? Some helpful steps include:

Help your child understand how he or she learns. By really understanding their strengths and weaknesses and knowing what learning strategies work for them, students will be better able to arrange their academic accomodations and supports and to ask for the right kind of help.

Foster Affinties. Studies have shown that children who build on their interests and who pursue special skills, tend to be more resilient as adults. Students who may struggle with academics can have many areas where they are successful and should have opportunities to pursue their interests -- sports, hobbies, or the arts.

Build Self Advocacy Skill. By the time a student graduates from high school he or she should have attended one or more of the meetings where their IEP is developed, and certainly should have an understanding of the services they receive in school and why they receive them. It is not easy to get a teenager to deal with this aspect of their lives, but it is important to enable them to work towards independence.

Funding Private Special Education

Children who are receiving special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are entitled by law to receive an appropriate education at public expense. This right is often referred to as "FAPE" -- Free, Appropriate, Public, Education. But what is a parent to do when the public school which their child attends can't or won't provide an appropriate education?

Sometimes, a child has complex learning or other issues which make it difficult for a public school to put together an appropriate program. Some schools claim to be providing an appropriate education but are not doing so, so that the student is failing to make progress in his current setting. There are many excellent public school programs for children with learning or other difficulties, but there are also many programs that don't do a good job serving the children for whom they were designed.

Whatever the reason, parents may seek to remove their child from the public school program and place her in a private school that they believe can provide a better education for their child. Of course, the practicality of this depends on the private options available. In some areas of the country, such as here in New York City, there are numerous private alternatives to the public school system. In other regions, private schools that can work with students with learning differences simply don't exist.

For parents who are seeking to have their child educated in a private school at public expense, there are some basic concepts that need to be understood. The first is that public schools can only place children in schools that have been approved by their state to enroll children with specific categories of "disability." This is one of the ways in which the use of labels to provide services to children comes into play. So, for example, if your child is labeled "other health impaired," a category often used for children with significant attention difficulties, he may not be eligible to attend a private special education school that is only for students with "learning disabilities," even though he also has learning problems. Parents may need to have their child's IEP team consider whether he can be re-classified to make him eligible for a particular school.

Another consideration is whether a school appears on the state "approved" list. Here in New York, as in other states, there are lists of private programs that meet criteria for curriculum, calendar, and other factors. Many excellent private schools choose not to limit themselves to state curriculum or to give state tests, for example, and therefore do not seek to be placed on this "approved" list. Also, schools on the list agree to charge fees set by the state at a rate which is lower than the tuition they would otherwise charge. Parents whose public school district agrees to place their child at an "approved" private school do not pay tuition; the cost of this private education is paid by the public school and the state.

Public schools can recommend a private school for a student who needs one, but only if the school is on the "approved" list. If a school is not on the list, parents will need to bring their case before a State Hearing Officer who will order the school district to reimburse parents for private school tuition only if:

• The public school failed to provide an appropriate educational program for the student; and
• The private school is an appropriate setting for this student; and
• The parents cooperated with the public school in looking at alternatives and generally exercised good faith during the process

Since private special education schools can be very expensive, it can be a real burden on parents to have to front the tuition costs and wait for reimbursement a year or more later. Because the rules for bringing a case to a hearing are complicated we generally suggest that parents work with an attorney with experience in handling these kinds of cases.

In very rare instances, some private schools will accept a student without payment up front and await payment from the public school district. This kind of arrangement is called "Connors funding" after a federal court case in New York that noted, "...when a parent does not have the financial means to front the cost of a non-approved private school...without external support, the child would have no chance at what has already been determined to be his or her opportunity to receive an appropriate education..."

Whatever parents decide to do, they need to be armed with information and to consider their options.

What Is the Best Approach to Early Reading Instruction in Schools?

Should your three-year old be reading Steinbeck? Will your child's I.Q. score be adversely affected if their school takes a deliberate approach to teaching reading skills?

The New York Times’ recent article on approaches to early literacy instruction in New York City private schools (“Reading at Some Private Schools is Delayed,” February 14, 2011) has touched off much conversation about different schools’ approaches. Parents often seek our guidance in determining which schools would make the best fit for their child, as well as assistance in understanding what kinds of outside support would be most beneficial, so we are deeply interested in the different teaching approaches to reading – and also to ensuring the development of well-rounded children with an awareness and appreciation of how their individual minds work.

Dr. Yellin, the Director of The Yellin Center and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, believes that there is not a simple right-or-wrong answer to the question of which approach works best. “The take home lesson here is that there is no one-size that fits every child.  Different schools have different philosophies, approaches, cultures, and environments. Each child has his or her own needs – needs which will likely change over time. As parents and clinicians, we must continuously assess each child’s needs and use available information to make choices that, in our best judgment, best meet that child’s needs at that particular point in time. The key is to begin from the perspective of understanding the child — and then finding the best fit.”