Parents tell Deer Park ISD board Home Link is denying special-education services; call for formal review

Crystal Scott, a parent whose child receives services through the district's Home Link program, told the Deer Park ISD board on May 5 that families have repeatedly been denied evaluations and required special-education supports and asked the board to use its oversight powers to correct the problem.

"When you allow the administration to treat a systematic denial of rights with a minor procedural tweak, you are failing in your duties to oversight," Crystal Scott said during the public-comment period, urging the board to "speak up for those who can't speak for themselves." She accused district administrators of using official records to "misrepresent the parents" and said requests to correct those records were refused.

Attorney and parent Richard Scott addressed the same topic and framed it in statutory terms, citing the WAC series on alternative learning programs and federal law. He told the board that "AL programs are public schools" and that students retain IDEA and Section 504 protections. Scott advised any family denied evaluations or services to file a due-process hearing request or a complaint with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create a formal timeline and public record.

Other public commenters raised related concerns about how reports and disciplinary tracking are handled in the district. Waco Payne described repeated reports of bullying and questioned whether the district reliably tracks "HIV forms" and blue-slip reports from students, saying several incidents went unaddressed and asking the board what procedural changes would ensure complaints are processed and traceable.

Board members did not take an immediate corrective vote on the complaints during public comment. The meeting record shows the board moved on to its consent agenda and policy items after hearing comments. District leadership and board members acknowledged receiving the concerns and said staff would follow up through the administrative processes already under review; the transcript records no formal remedy at the meeting.

Richard Scott recommended formal legal steps for parents who assert their children's rights have been denied, saying in part: "If your children or students are being denied evaluations, accommodations or services within Home Link, you have formal legal recourse." The board did not dispute his summary of legal options during the meeting.

Next steps: Parents and advocates who raised complaints during public comment were told by the board and staff that the district would review the concerns; Richard Scott encouraged families to pursue due-process or OSPI complaints if they do not receive corrective action. The board advanced several policy edits for second reading, but no new district policy addressing Home Link special-education procedures was adopted at this meeting.