LYNN – The Lynn Public Schools Special Education Department faced criticism in a recent district review conducted by the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, primarily for placing special needs students in small, secluded classrooms.The Coordinated Program Review, conducted over two weeks in May and June of 2008, indicated that the SPED department met the state’s standards in many areas, but failed to provide proper learning space for students.According to the report, documentation, interviews and school visits indicate that some schools have secluded special education and alternative programs in such areas as basements, kitchen areas, the end of hallways and large closets.Examples include resource rooms in the Drewicz School basement, SPED classes located in the basement at Marshall Middle School, Ingalls Elementary School and Pickering Middle School, a speech and language class in the projection room at Ford Elementary School and closets used by school adjustment counselors at the Callahan and Lynn Woods elementary schools.The report also criticized SPED classes at Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute, which are held in a separate part of the school than traditional classes.According to the report, the facilities “compromise the quality of services” and could “be stigmatizing to students with disabilities unless regular education classes are located in the same area.”Most of the schools listed are simply victims of older, aging facilities – something the School Department is slowly looking to rectify by exploring grants and seeking federal funds to improve school facilities, an effort that is yet to bear fruit.Since the review was completed in early June, the district has changed many of its special education facilities, including moving many students to the former Washington Community School, which provides a larger space for SPED programs.The completion of first-floor construction at Classical High School this fall should also help create more space for SPED students, as some alternative programs were forced out of the school when the structural restoration project began last year.The report also had some criticism for the way the department handled Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for SPED students.The review details several issues including some instances of confusion regarding whether a student would be acting on his or her own behalf rather than a parent, and some cases of IEP statements being taken directly from regulation language, rather than being written to reflect the personal needs of each student.Concerns were also raised about student discipline codes, as the district does not have a procedure in place to discipline special needs students.The SPED department was commended by the DOE for its efforts in getting parents involved, reaching out to parents to ensure participation in meetings and making special arrangements to meet families’ needs when meetings or interviews were scheduled.The annual review is designed to assess the school department’s success in many areas, and Superintendent Catherine Latham says the department takes all feedback from the DOE seriously.Administrators have already responded to the issues brought up in the review, which they received over the summer, and are in the process of implementing goals and programs to alleviate the issues brought up in the report.The state DOE conducts Coordinated Program Reviews on a semi-annual basis in every district in the state, touring each school and conducting interviews with faculty, staff, parents and students touching on a multitude of topics. Copies of the report were given to School Committee members this week, and the review is included on tonight’s School Committee meeting agenda.