Question for Education Committee Meeting Tonight (IDEA Waivers)

April 16, 2020

Dear T/E School Administration, T/E School Board Education Committee and other T/E School Board Members:

We hope you and your families are well and that you had a nice spring break together.  BUILD appreciates all of the efforts of the school board, administration, and teachers to find ways to educate all of our students during these challenging times.  We appreciate your response to our concerns for families who depend on the Free and Reduced Meal Program to sustain their families.  

It’s timely that the Special Education Update is on the Education Committee’s agenda for tonight’s April Meeting.  Along with many parent groups and disability organizations, BUILD is concerned about local, state and national efforts to request Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) waivers from the US Department of Education, as well as Section 504 Plan waivers. These waivers would roll back the civil rights of students with learning differences such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, speech and language disabilities, ADHD and others. 

This is not about parents who have children with disabilities being inflexible during these unique times. Parents have been very flexible, patient and collaborative with their teachers. Rather, it’s about ensuring that the small education rights that children with disabilities have are not lessened during these times for lack of creativity. Parents are very open to working with their teachers and the District in figuring out solutions.  Has the T/E School District or the T/E School Board applied for these waivers for IDEA or Section 504 either directly or through any associations with whom they are affiliated?  

Also, we are compiling the results of our Family Survey on Distance Learning in T/E and plan to share it in the next couple of days.

As we mentioned before, there are so many great resources available; we have shared resources on our website www.buildte.org so all families can find them.  

Let’s work creatively together to meet the needs of all our students!

Sincerely, 

Wendy Brooks, Maggie Gaines, Jamie Lynch & Kate Mayer

BUILD T/E

See the letter here.