Below is an article from the San Bernardino Sun Newspaper on Parents Protesting the way RUSD treats their Special Ed cases.

Now I wasnt one the ground at this protest but I can tell you I have used my education in Child Development & Knowledge of School District Practices a time or two to help parents who were being walked over by special education staff at RUSD as well as pushy administrators. If you have a special ed student in RUSD you have eithier had to fight for services or your rights were never properly explained to you.

Within Special Ed you have all the control as the parent the school can only offer certain programs and intervetions, when its all said and done you must agree to their RECOMENDATIONS. If their rushing you call the meeting and re-scedule, when you come back let them know you will be recording the next meeting and everything will change, get an advocate there are tons of advocates that defend parents and kids on a daily basis & never just let an administrator levy a punishment against your kid because its too much work or its almost the end of the year. Because once you have been notified of your rights to challenge its almost a lost cause.

Most importantly if you feel lost contact somone for help school districts are no longer in the business of educating students they are for the most part there to keep people employed and run large budgets nothing more your children are mearly and ends to a means. I heard it all the time when I worked in public education “this place would be great if it were not for the students”.

RIALTO – More than 30 people protested the Rialto Unified School District’s policies and treatment of special education students Tuesday morning in front of the district’s administration building.

Parents, family members and those who said they were supporting parents carried signs calling for the removal of several key district administrators and the need for a state audit of the district’s special education program.

“Things have been going on behind closed doors at this district for a long time,” said Alejandra Rivera, who has a fifth-grade student in special education classes. “We thought the public should know what is going on.”

The protestors chanted, “no more abuse to special ed students” and other slogans as they walked on the sidewalk in front of the administration building on Walnut Avenue.

In interviews, several parents said that their complaints about the district’s handling of special education students has resulted in “retaliation” in the form of a visit to their home by San Bernardino County’s Child Protective Services or Rialto police.

Among the complaints, Rivera’s husband Jorge Rivera, who was an organizer for the protest, said the district is good at checking boxes showing that it provides services to special needs students, but that many times what is actually being provided has little value.

For example, his son receives speech therapy twice a week, but it is a group lesson with four other students lasting 20 minutes.

That means his son receives 10 minutes of speech therapy per week, not enough to help him overcome his many deficiencies, Jorge Rivera said.

The district has 2,257 children in special education, said Vivian Billups, attorney for the district.

Despite the financial hardships faced by the district, it has increased the number of professionals available to help special education students, she said.

The district has hired a board-certified behavioral analyst to help staffers address and understand behavioral symptoms and emotional disturbances.

The district has also hired two more psychologists and additional speech therapists, she said.

Additionally the district has been developing training for parents of special needs children and has established specialized track and field competition for special education participants, she said.

A parent advisory group has also been formed, she said.

“The district has a policy that it does not retaliate,” Billups said.

There are venues of complaint for retaliation, she said.

As to Jorge Rivera’s complaint of not enough time per student: ” … That doesn’t mean that the effort is not ongoing,” Billups said. “Just because a speech therapist isn’t two feet away doesn’t mean they are not receiving the benefit of the work.”

The speech therapist has likely developed a plan with the teacher to help the student progress, she said.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_20630109/rialto-parents-protest-alleged-inadequate-special-education-services#ixzz1v0Vk0X8L