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Parent alleges district concealed plan to cluster Transition 2 students
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Summary
At the April 20 Williamson County school board meeting, attorney and parent Melissa Hogan accused the district of using a —pilot' as a soft launch to move Transition 2 students into clustered programs at fewer high schools and questioned whether the change complies with IDEA requirements.
Melissa Hogan, an attorney and parent, told the Williamson County Board of Education on April 20 that the district is treating a so-called —pilot' as a "soft launch" to cluster and effectively eliminate Transition 2 programs at more than half of the county's high schools.
Hogan said staff at Page and Nolensville high schools are being pushed to transfer or resign and that communications "already assume the clustering works." She named proposed moves she said staff were told about: Page students to Centennial, Nolensville to Ravenwood, Independence to Summit, and Brentwood/Fairview to Franklin. "If it moves forward, there is no backing up," Hogan said. She added that teachers submitted critiques in January and were then told to delay meetings, and that parents were not notified until Feb. 25.
Hogan cited federal special-education rules in questioning the legality of moving students without parent collaboration, saying, "Under IDEA regs, 'unless the IEP of a child with a disability requires some other arrangement, the child is educated in the school that he or she would attend if nondisabled.'"
Superintendent Golden responded in his report that the district's special-education staff are working to improve services and that the system will "continue to have some discussions" about Transition 2 students, emphasizing that IEP teams make placement decisions. Golden said administrators aim to include families in discussions and to find long-term solutions that preserve relationships and student skills.
The exchange unfolded during the public-comment period; the board did not take a formal vote on Transition 2 placement at the meeting. Hogan asked the board to "hold the district to standards of honesty and transparency and collaboration," saying the needs of vulnerable students should not be sacrificed for convenience.
The district's next procedural steps on Transition 2 were not specified at the meeting, beyond Golden's assurance that discussions would continue and staff would seek ways to include families and IEP teams.
