At a July 16 Buffalo City School District Board of Education meeting, parents, students and community advocates urged the board to address what they described as inequitable special-education placement practices and reductions in services at higher-performing schools.

The concerns centered on Discovery School (School 67), which several speakers said had previously agreed to seats for students who qualify for special-education services but later told families there was "no room." Melina Fisher, a parent, told the board that after an independent evaluation her son was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder, other language impairment and dyslexia and that "now that he is diagnosed, there's no more room for him at 67." She said the classroom exists but families are being told there is no space and that the district’s assignment process denies many students access to higher-performing schools.

The board heard multiple student statements about the same situation. A student who identified himself as Alejandro said he was upset that his brother would be forced to change schools even though "Discovery School has the room my brother needs, but they don't want to make room for him in the classroom." Another student, Antonio, told the board: "If Discovery had an extra chair, I would take it. This is extremely not fair for me and my brothers." Marco Seggiola described past trauma and said separating him from his twin, who also has dyslexia, would harm their progress.

The comments drew support from parent and community groups. Jessica Bauer Walker, a parent leader, and members of Parent Congress and the Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization urged collaboration and greater family engagement in policy revisions, particularly around the parent-involvement policy under review (policy 3170 as referenced by speakers). Sean Hussein, a youth community health worker with Connect, described Connect's role in outreach and advocacy and called for more supports and spaces where students feel supported rather than surveilled.

Board member Dr. Kaye responded that staff would follow up with the Fisher family and said, "I'm going to have some staff follow-up with you ... You can expect a call tomorrow." Another board member, speaking in support of the family, said the district should be flexible and transparent and that the Fisher family's experience pointed to a broader concern about equity for Black and brown students in special education.

The parent speakers cited New York State Education Department (NYSED) data and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in arguing the district is not meeting least-restrictive-environment expectations for some students; those sources were invoked by speakers but not introduced as formal evidence in the meeting.

The board did not take immediate formal action on placement policy during the meeting; Dr. Kaye's pledge of staff follow-up was the principal outcome recorded.

The public-comment sequence also included expressions of thanks to school staff and several short student narratives about school experience, behavior policies, and the need for culturally responsive school meals and consistent counseling supports.

Board follow-up: the board indicated staff would contact affected families and that the issue would be tracked; no formal motion or vote on placement policy was recorded at the meeting.

For context, speakers repeatedly contrasted the district's internal placement decisions with NYSED subgroup performance data and cited IDEA when describing parents' rights and due-process options.