Broward schools criticized

Autistic kids’ rights violated, lawsuit claims

The Broward County SchoolDistrict is once again under attack for its handling of special needs students.

Two families are in federal court this week, arguing the school system violated federal lawby refusing to consider providing the “gold standard” of therapy for four autistic children. They also say the district has a “policy of segregation” that automatically places autistic children in specialized schools.

“The school board has simply, utterly, and repeatedly failed the children,” attorney David Pyper wrote in a federal court filing.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra’s ruling in the case, held Monday and Tuesday in West Palm Beach, could impact how the district serves special needs students. Not date for his decision has been set.

The legal battle comes two weeks after activists and parents accused district administrators of failing special needs children. The group clashed with School Board Chairwoman RosalindOsgood, who took issue with their tone and threatened to have them escorted out by security.

And, in 2014, a districtcommissioned report found multiple deficiencies in the Exceptional Student Services program, which serves about 30,000 children with physical, emotional and learning disabilities. The report by Tallahassee-based Evergreen Solutions found problems including insufficiently trained staff, long bus rides and high special ed student to teacher ratios.

In the federal court case, parents said they requested their children receive Applied Behavior Analysis as part of their schooling. The data-based therapy, which the children had started at age 2, uses positive reinforcement to teach social, language and other skills.

“I had a child who went