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Parents urge Arlington ISD to fix delays and interpreter gaps in deaf-student services
Summary
Three public speakers told the Arlington ISD Board on Oct. 2 that the district has been slow to register students, difficult to reach, and unreliable in providing certified ASL interpreters; parents also said records requests for special‑education files were obstructed or delayed.
President Chapa opened the board’s Oct. 2 meeting and invited public commenters to address the trustees.
Dr. Lisa Lee Egbert, a University of Texas at Arlington professor who said she had been appointed by the governor to a board in Texas, told trustees it took five weeks to register two nephews who were moving into the district and described repeated failures to get staff to return calls. “We tried to register one in high school for five weeks,” she said, urging the board to “change the system.” She also said district-provided ASL interpreters often are not certified and “I still don't trust that an interpreter will show up for me.”
Parent Emily Wingard, whose pre-K daughter is deaf, told the board she and other families have been told that many therapies or accommodations are “not necessary” once a child enters the district. “This is not just about services,” Wingard said. “This is about dignity. This is about rights, and my daughter deserves both.” She described separate lunch/recess seating for deaf students and repeated gaps in documentation and progress notes.
Parent Nick Commerford described efforts to obtain his child’s education records and IEP-related documents. He said campus administrators either could not locate files or told him documents were withheld for copyright reasons. “Open records?…that's going to cost you thousands of dollars because it's going to take us 120 hours to prepare for you,” Commerford said, adding that his FERPA request produced fewer than 20 documents and that important assessment files were missing.
District staff did not provide a formal response during the public-comment period; board policy was read to speakers at the outset noting trustees do not reply during open forum. Trustees later moved into reports and action items.
The comments raise three interconnected issues that the board must consider: registration processes for transfer students, reliability and certification of ASL interpreters for meetings and instruction, and the district's handling of records and parent access to IEP‑related documentation. Parents requested concrete system changes to ensure timely registration, consistent certified interpreting services, and full access to the records the district uses in IEP meetings.
The board did not take formal action on these items that evening; the public‑comment period is intended to solicit input rather than produce immediate responses. The trustees’ agenda proceeded to scheduled reports on academic programs, safety and other district business.
