Special-Ed Paperwork Delinquent Plans Said To Be Weeks Behind, But Often Months, Years Late
Superintendent Gary Livingston described recent audit problems to the Spokane School Board on Wednesday, saying special-education paperwork was “two or three weeks out of date.”
State auditor’s records show a more serious problem: Some students went six, eight and nine months without current individualized education plans.
One student’s plan was 2-1/2 years overdue.
Federal law requires schools to annually update the plans, commonly called IEPs.
“There was no intent to minimize or misrepresent this to the board,” Livingston said later.
Livingston said he wanted to say “several weeks to several months” when he described the paperwork lag to the board. He called the problem serious and said it has been solved.
State auditors cited the problem in a report released Tuesday.
The auditors estimated the district received overpayments of $372,201 over five years by routinely gathering money for hundreds of students who weren’t strictly eligible because of late IEPs.
Auditors looked at detailed records at several schools in the district.
At Garfield Elementary, they found one-third of the special education students’ records had fallen behind at some point during a five-year period. The time lag ranged from a few weeks to 2-1/2 school years.
Parents are required to sign IEPs to show they participated in the process. Some parents are actively involved in planning their children’s education. Others aren’t.
Rebecca Marcilla, mother of a Grant Elementary fifth-grader with a neurological problem, described an IEP meeting.
“Last year it was a brief meeting toward the end of the year. It lasted about 15 minutes and they shoved all these papers at me. ‘We did these tests. Sign this.’ I signed it. It’s hard to think on your feet.
“I hate to sound like I’m bad-mouthing the school,” Marcilla added. “They do the best they can.”
Tammy Falkner, parent of a second-grader with Down syndrome at Woodridge Elementary, described herself as a “squeaky wheel.” She said her daughter’s IEPs have been productive and on time.
“But I have heard other parents say IEPs are more or less something you have to hurry up and get done,” Falkner said.
The district will assign an employee to double-check special education records, Livingston said.
“I am entirely certain they have fixed the problem,” said Jeff Snyder, the state auditor’s Spokane audit manager. “They were very responsible in getting it fixed.”
, DataTimes