Parent tells Osceola board ESE changes left behavior‑certified staff short at behavioral hub school
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Summary
At the Dec. 9 meeting, parent Ravi Khatri told the board that recent ESE changes harmed his nonverbal son by placing him where staff lack behavior certification; he also alleged a staff member threatened legal action. The board acknowledged the comment; no immediate remedy was recorded.
At the Osceola County School Board meeting on Dec. 9, parent and public commenter Ravi Khatri told the board his nonverbal son’s education has been negatively affected by recent ESE (Exceptional Student Education) changes.
Khatri said his son previously attended Michigan Avenue Elementary and had a team of behavior‑trained staff, paraprofessionals and therapists. He alleged that the district’s reconfiguration placed the behavior hub at a school without adequate training for complex behaviors and that, as a result, his son’s behavior has deteriorated. Khatri said the current school lacks behavior‑certified teachers and paraprofessionals for his son and that, in a recent IEP meeting, staff blamed the child for staffing shortages and that a staff member named Kathleen Kanuda threatened legal action if the family did not accept a particular placement option (PML), according to Khatri.
Chair thanked Khatri for bringing the matter to the board’s attention; the transcript records the board’s acknowledgement but no recorded on‑the‑record remedy or staff response addressing the allegations during the meeting.
The comment was the only public speaker on this item. The district’s public packet and staff presentations elsewhere in the meeting described rule changes and rezoning but did not include a staff response to the claims about ESE staffing in the meeting record. Khatri’s statements are accusations reported on the record; they were not resolved during the hearing and no denial or rebuttal appears in the transcript.
Separately, during agenda management the superintendent introduced a blue‑sheet item (8.03) describing a proposed service agreement between the district and the Bailey Education Group to provide teacher coaching and student supports funded by a Florida Department of Education grant; the agenda was amended to add that item for board consideration. The transcript does not record board action approving that specific service agreement on Dec. 9 beyond the agenda modification.