PEABODY — It’s safe to say that the challenges faced by parents when it came to remote learning were monumental at times. Between ensuring that children were keeping up with their studies while parents tried to hold onto jobs during a home quarantine, there was plenty of added stress and anxiety to say the least.
But all that pales in comparison to the struggles that parents of special-needs children are facing now that school’s out for the summer.
Two such families shared their personal stories recently at a Peabody School Committee meeting, saying the district was not meeting their childrens’ needs.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala said he welcomed their message and offered assurances that relief is on the way.
“It’s frustrating for families when they don’t know what’s going on, but all they’re doing is advocating for their children and speaking for other families who cannot speak for themselves,” he said. “The parents who spoke were very accurate in their presentations. Our goal is to provide the services they need.”
Vadala said getting guidance from the state has been a slow process and that remote learning cannot replace being in the classroom. But with the release of final guidelines on July 1, “now we have a much stronger plan than we had last week with significantly more ability to have face-to-face learning, which is so important.”
Stacy Caterina, mother of a Higgins Middle School student, was one of the people who commented during public participation.
“I am utterly disappointed with the Peabody schools special education system,” she said. “This school district is doing my son a major injustice. His needs are not being met. This pandemic does not absolve you from the responsibilities of providing my son with a free appropriate public education.”
Jennifer Lawlor said she and husband Jim are parents of a seventh-grader at Higgins. Jennifer said that not attending school is, “taking an emotional toll on kids, on our mentally fragile children.
“The city is completely shutting these kids out and leaving them behind,” she said. “Our child is not an online learner. Asking the special-needs parents to attempt the impossible, especially while other children can be accommodated in person, is just tone deaf at best.”
Many of the children referred to by Lawlor are participating in the For Kids Only (FKO) summer program at Higgins. The full-day program runs five days a week, offering activities, field trips and other learning opportunities.
Both mothers expressed their frustration over the fact that FKO is not a viable option for their children.
“It seems quite discriminatory that you are opening three of your schools, one of them being my son’s school, to an FKO program, with 10 kids per class and two teachers,” said Caterina. “But my son can’t be in a class with three kids and one teacher four days a week for four hours?”
Vadala said the reason is due to conflicting guidelines issued by separate agencies.
“FKO was following the summer camps guidelines and we had to follow the (Extended School Year) guidelines, so that accounts for the difference,” he said.
Pamela Milman is a senior attorney and founder of Education Consulting, Advocacy & Legal Services, a firm that provides representation in administrative and legal proceedings involving education, special education and other matters.
She said that the problems many families with special needs children are facing due to the pandemic goes far beyond education.
“It’s survival skills, it’s life, and the intensity and impact these families face is not being heard,”she said. “Children with intensive special needs need routines and structure just to make their day manageable, even without COVID.”
Now that final guidelines have been released, Vadala said he expects that the school’s revamped summer program will be in effect starting July 27 following training sessions on July 20.
“We have touched base with one of the persons who spoke at the meeting and had a great conversation,” he said. “Our special education director (Carla Chioda) digested the guidelines and she is reaching out to families. We all want the same thing, as much face-to-face contact as possible, but it’s a slow process as every day things are changing.”
