The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, or DEED, found that the Juneau School District did not provide occupational therapy services to some students that were supposed to receive them last school year.
According to a report from the department, the district lost an occupational therapist last year and did not follow the correct procedure to ensure students would continue to receive services. Some students with an individualized education program, or IEP, require a certain amount of occupational therapy during the school year.
Don Enoch is DEED’s special education administrator. He said when a school loses staff that provide a specific special education service, a replacement should be found as quickly as possible and a compensatory education plan must be offered to students in the meantime.
“The IEP guarantees the parents will receive those services for their students, and when that’s not done, the district’s obligated to make that right,” he said.
The report states that the district must offer services to make up for lost time. JSD also has to send a spreadsheet to DEED that lists which students qualify for services, and whether families decided to go through with the services.
The initial complaint was filed in June, and DEED issued the final report in November. In an email to KTOO, Juneau School District Student Services Director Jason DeCamillis said the district was already addressing the issue before the complaint was filed, and had resolved the issue before November.
He said fewer than 30 students were affected. Before the state’s report was completed, DeCamillis said the district hired new staff, provided make-up services or created a plan to provide services in the current school year.
“We do take these gaps very seriously and proactively address known issues as soon as possible, with as much communication as possible,” he wrote.
In addition to a systemic complaint made about occupational therapy, an individual complaint was also filed to the state this year related to occupational therapy services. An investigation concluded that specific student is owed 330 minutes of compensatory occupational therapy services.
Enoch said many parents don’t realize the state is a resource to help students with IEPs. In addition to investigating complaints, DEED can also hold due process hearings and mediate meetings between parents and the school district about IEPs.
He said DEED can also help explain an IEP to parents. He wants more parents to reach out to DEED if they are having issues.
“We don’t get very many calls from parents at all, and it’s kind of concerning sometimes, because we hear things that are going on out in the communities, and we have to go out and investigate,” Enoch said. “But one phone call from a parent could help clue us into problems that a district is having.”
The district has until the end of next year to complete all compensatory services as outlined by DEED. Parents with concerns about their children’s special education services can call DEED’s special education office at 907-465-8693.
Clarification: This story has been updated to better reflect the Juneau School District’s response timeline.
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