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Students and parents urge Harford board to strengthen supports for chronic illness and special education
Summary
A parent autism advocate and student speakers asked the board to improve communication, referrals, and leniency in attendance and late-work policies to support students with chronic or invisible illnesses and disabilities.
At the July 20 meeting, parents and students urged Harford County Public Schools leadership to strengthen supports for students with special needs and chronic illnesses. Quanisha Mitchell, a parent and autism advocate, said families often lack information about referrals, therapies and IEP navigation and asked the district to treat parents as partners rather than expecting them to become experts overnight.
Student speaker Evelyn Brush, who said she lives with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), urged more lenient attendance and late-work policies to avoid disadvantaging students with chronic illnesses. "By creating more leniency in attendance as well as late-work policy... students are able to meet the expectations that you want them to succeed," Brush said. The board received the comments during the public-comment period; no policy changes were enacted at the meeting, but the remarks were taken under advisement for staff follow-up.
