DOE report criticizes Nahant special education program

NAHANT-A Department of Education report criticizes the Nahant School District for non-compliance in its special education programs.According to a recent DOE mid-cycle report by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the district has resolved some non-compliance issues since its last review but many problems have not been corrected.?Where the district has failed to implement its Coordinated Program Review Corrective Action Plan, the department views these findings to be serious,” the report states.According to the report, which was issued following an onsite review, the district failed to provide services outlined in individualized education plans (IEPs), changed services some students were receiving without conducting a complete evaluation and failed to provide proper documentation.?Student records and interviews indicate that several students have IEP services that are not being provided with the frequency and duration specified in the IEP,” the report reads.It goes on to cite an example of one student, who was supposed to receive 30 minutes of instruction per day from a resource room teacher, but the special education teacher providing the services works only two days a week.The district is required to submit a plan to the DOE by Sept. 5 explaining how it will provide services to students with the frequency and duration specified on each IEP.The DOE also noted issues with the way the district handled 504 plans for some students. According to the DOE, Section 504, as it is often called, is a civil rights law that covers the rights of individuals with disabilities and it prohibits disability discrimination by any program or activity that receives federal funds. A 504 Plan is for students with a physical or mental impairment who do not meet the more stringent requirements for special education services. The mid-cycle review stated a review of student records showed a student under a 504 Plan was transferred to special education without the required eligibility determination and a SPED student was removed from a special education program and placed on a 504 Plan without a complete evaluation. The DOE is requiring the district to review its records and provide the number of students whose eligibility was changed without a complete evaluation to the DOE by Dec. 15. The DOE is also requiring the district to provide documentation by Dec. 15 showing the district has proposed a complete evaluation for any student identified by the monitoring activities.Superintendent Joseph Lisi is on vacation and was unavailable for comment.School Committee member James Devereaux said he has seen the mid-cycle review and he readily admits there is room for improvement.?The report showed there are some things we need to do a better job,” he said. “There are some deficiencies in record keeping . We need to do a better job on record keeping and following up. Most of the items identified in the report are fairly easy to rectify.”Devereaux said the mid-cycle report also outlines steps that must be taken to rectify identified problems.?It is prescriptive,” he said. “We will be required to report back to the DOE in September.”