Children with special needs need in-person instruction
Dear North Penn School Board,
I am a mother of a special needs student at Montgomery Elementary. My son, Kareem, has Down Syndrome, high functioning autism, and adhd along with other diagnoses. We are so proud that he is mostly included at Montgomery Elementary and he is going into 5th grade. We uprooted our family to move to this district because North Penn has a great reputation with inclusion and being progressive with respect to meeting the needs of students with disabilities so that they can flourish in the brick and mortar in person setting.
When the district went to distance learning this past spring, it did not go well. It was a complete 180 to the progress he has made since we moved to the district. Prior to the shutdown, he was doing well in school and most importantly he really enjoyed school. To say virtual learning was not successful for my child is the understatement of the year. During the shutdown, Kareem’s behaviors escalated to the point where he started having self-injury behaviors due to the virtual learning modality of education. Virtual learning was detrimental to Kareem’s social, emotional, and academic well-being. I want to be clear, I am not here to place blame we understand that this spring we all had to quickly shift during unprecedented times. With that being said, we need flexibility and creativity to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities like my son. Given Kareem’s disabilities and behavior plan and needs, he really needs in person instruction by a teacher to access his education. Students with disabilities and complex needs should be prioritized to receive in person learning this school year. I am requesting in person instruction by a teacher in an educational setting/school 5 days a week while meeting safety protocols so that Kareem and other special needs low incidence children can meaningfully access a free and appropriate education. These children also need in person adult support of a para to access the curriculum.
The World Health Organization has recommended that the COVID incidence should be less than 5% in a community for schools to open safely. When the district announced it was moving to an all virtual platform, Montgomery County was at 2.5 %. The governor has not closed schools. Other school districts locally are doing in person instruction for children with low incidence/complex disabilities while the rest of the district is virtual.
There should not be a one size fits all approach to the children in our district. I am very concerned about the harmful impact of the current school reopening decision on Kareem and other students with complex needs. I am requesting that the board make a revision to the criteria regarding school this fall to allow low incidence students to be educated on the premises. Furthermore I urge you all to work together, I urge every union to come together to do what is best for these students.
Maryanne Bayoumy North Wales