By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, July 13 at 4:38 PM
Superintendent Creg Williams informed the Board of Education and members of the public this week that SLPS is now in compliance with all state requirements regarding Special Education.
Williams said that when he came to St. Louis, the district was out of compliance with "hundreds of items," but thanks to the work of many people in the district's special education services division, the State of Missouri has notified the district that they are now in good standing.
Williams praised the work of Dr. Marla Oakes, in particular. Oakes is the director of special education services for the district. Her future in SLPS has been the subject of much discussion as of late.
Last week The Watch incorrectly reported that Oakes and several of her staff had received Reduction in Force (RIF) letters along with many other district employees. That was wrong. Two sources then told The Watch that Oakes had resigned. Oakes today said that she has not submitted a letter of resignation to the human resources department.
She would not say if she had told Williams or any other administrator of plans of resigning, but she did blast The Watch for being in her business and worrying her staff with rumors of their firings. We again offered our apologies to her and her staff for our mistake.
We also tried to explain to Oakes how The Watch tries to balance the public's right to get information out of an often secretive government organization against the chance of getting the story wrong every once in a while due to the inaccuracy of some off-the-record sources.
We join the superintendent in congratulating Oakes on her accomplishments on behalf of St. Louis Public Schools students and wish her well in her future endeavors -- whatever and wherever they may be.
15 Comments:
OK blasters, here you go. Even after the apology-you'll still blast. So go ahead, let's hear it!
I still think this website is great for info and communication purposes. To dig deep, sometimes you have to go through crap to get to the bottom! Congrats to Ms Oakes, sounds like she at least has done a great job. I hope that she doesn't resign. It appears that we need more people like her in this district.
Thursday, July 13, 2006 5:07:09 PM
Most of the facilitators do do a good job. Most being the facilitators in the non-core subject areas. The core facilitators sit in their offices watching each day go by. They did not enforce the Kaplan curriculum or offer new programs to increase MAP scores. I know from personal experience the no-core subject facilitators are out in the schools helping their teachers through lesson plan ideas, classroom management, and getting supplies that the district is suppose to buy. I congratulate Marla and all of the Special Needs Teachers who had to go through filling out IEPs on the computer with a program full of bugs and screens that some programmer created. Create a computer that anyone can use and only a computer programmer will be able to use it.
As far as digging deep for problems all you have to do is just open your eyes. You can see most of the district problems on the surface. The person you have to dig deep for is Williams himself who has surrounded himself with layers of assistants.
Thursday, July 13, 2006 5:53:50 PM
I am glad someone had some successes with the Special Education Department because I have been trying to contact Beverly Stringfellow since April and she has never returned my phone calls. Finally, I spoke with a receptionist name Ms. Day who was very helpful and extremely nice. Maybe she is new to the system and came to the ditrict with Ms. Oakes. While I realize that others such as Ms. Stringfellow has been there for a hundred years. If you are not going to help the people...Please retire!!!!!
Thursday, July 13, 2006 9:11:34 PM
Anon. You are definitely right. The “experience” personnel never return phone calls. Ms. Day must be new or new to the district. But there are other facilitators who actually answer the calls themselves or return calls in a timely manner. They take their job seriously and want to incorporate some long needed changes. Even though they run into opposition from “experienced” teachers. These facilitators are also the one who actually work at their position instead of sitting in a cube shuffling papers (making it appear they are working) for a title. In defense of Ms. Oakes I do know that many of the facilitators have been in constant meetings that take the better part of the day. Have you tried using e-mail? In many of my e-mail responses from my facilitator the time the e-mail is written is well after “normal” working hours. This might help in getting your question/concern answered/resolved.
Thursday, July 13, 2006 9:54:03 PM
Yes, definitely after working hours - I gave up my Thanksgiving trip home to family to be sure that the MAP-A information to the State got there by the deadline, even though it had not been collected by the date that I explained was required to be in compliance. By the way, my Aunt that I wanted to see won't be there for Thanksgiving next year. She died last month.
Thursday, July 13, 2006 10:19:48 PM
I cannot say who is responsible for progress in the special ed department, as I haven't seen it as of yet. I am the single parent of a special education student I have spent at least $1500.00 in the last 2 years in order to obtain spec ed services for my child. The spec ed dept of the SLPS is a nightmare. I have the documentation necessary to file a child complaint with the State of MO. I will say for the 1st time (last April) a representative from the special ed department attended a 4 hour meeting with myself and school personnel and she was very informed on special ed laws and special ed issues. This was progress due to the appointment of Creg Williams.
My child was previously subjected to verbal and emotional abuse in the classroom of a teacher who held a masters degree in special education.
Where does a parent go from here?
Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:24:52 AM
File the child complaint. There is a time period that will expire (I believe it is two years). The special ed staff is so short-staffed and underpaid that I wouldn't be surprised if the whole department quit.
Saturday, July 15, 2006 10:17:24 AM
As a parent of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder enrolled in SLPS for 10 years, it is my opinion that the current Spec Ed Director and her assistants are by far the worst we have had in that time.
Dr. Oakes is best known by parents of children with Austim as someone you can count on to NOT return a phone call. The only way to get her attention is to hire an expensive attorney and file for Due Process.
Joan Storey, Autism Manager and Early Childhood Special Education Manager, is best known by parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders for promising services without follow-through, with twisting what little of the law she is familiar with to the advantage of the pocket book of the district, with causing widespread regression amongst the children during ESY this year, and through her statements shows herself to have no understanding of Autism.
Let's all remember who claimed Dr. Oakes is a success.
It may be that some children have benefitted from this Special Ed administration. Children with autism and their families are most likely not amoung them.
Autism occurs in 1 in every 166 children, 1 in every 68 families.
For our families as well as our community, scientifically valid methods of teaching by competent staff are a necessisity for positive outcomes as well as a requirement of the law.
Saturday, July 15, 2006 3:16:09 PM
Anonymous Parent of Gifted Autistic children, I am so sorry for your experiences with the special education department, my experiences have been the same. I just had a glimmer of hope with Creg Williams in charge this was going to turn around. Yes, the SLPS Ed department sucks! As a parent of a gifted special ed child I am at my wits end. We must demand accountability. Is there any interest in further conversation of this subject matter?
Saturday, July 15, 2006 7:55:31 PM
Anon,
Not having said if either or my children are gifted, I don't know if you are asking this question of me. However, there is always interest in further discussion. At this point, however,what is called for is action.
I had no glimmers of hope with Williams. Even regarding his small high schools, which I believe are a good idea,no mention in all the liturature was made of accomodation for children with special needs in the entrance requirements. I suspect a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights would have been the least of what it would have taken to get a response. I don't think he took our children into consideration in anything he said, did, or planned on doing. It has been Oakes' job to keep us complacent, quiet and cowed.
Families are networking through many means. Families with individuals with Autism are no longer isolated. There is a strong community in St. Louis and across the state with knowledgeable pro-active members.
Typically, DESE will protect a school district from Child Complaints unless they are based on varifiable procedural violations.
At this time, however, I feel all child complaints are useful and the more that are sent, the greater the spotlight will shine.
Wining a child complaint or not is is not what is at stake. Our children's futures are at stake.
DESE must be sent a strong message.
Saturday, July 15, 2006 10:17:39 PM
As a special education teacher, it saddens me to hear the problems that you have been facing. I have noticed over the past several years that so many unqualified individuals are being assigned to special education positions. It would be interesting to track the number of teachers with provisional certifications in special education positions. If you have a degree in anything, you can receive a provisional certificate to teach in SLPS. Many Teach for American teachers are placed in these positions as well. The Special School District of St. Louis County will not even consider an application from a provisionally certified teachers. Why do city kids continue to be the training grounds for future county teachers?
Qualified special education teachers are leaving the district at an alarming rate. I personally have had to fight with principals over the law as it pertains to special education students. I have been told to ignore the law and give children services in which they did not even have a disability. Many new, inexperienced teachers write what their principals tell them to write on an IEP. In fact, they may have never been told what an IEP was until their first time writing one. How can a person who has never taught before be effective with students who need individualized instruction? It is absolutely ridiculous.
The special education administrators spend an inordinate amount of time fixing huge problems that are caused by teachers and principals who have never bothered to learn or stay updated on special education law.
Please continue to fight for your children and stay active in the IEP process. I think you will find that many teachers are focused on what is best for your child but you have the most powerful voice in this district. One call to an assistant superintendent usually will get quick results from school based staff.
Saturday, July 15, 2006 11:55:18 PM
An Inside Perspective
Ladies,
I’d like to apologize to all of you in behalf of the department I work for, the Department of Special Education. I believe that I speak for the majority of my colleagues who work in the classrooms when I say that we are very much concerned with the individual needs of the students that we serve. We do the very best that we can with the limited resources and nonexistent support that we receive. No excuses, just facts.
Our classrooms are overcrowded and certified special education teachers are hard to secure and harder to retain. Since cross categorical special education classrooms have been implemented, we find that we have mildly handicapped children mixed in with more severe behavior disordered students. And the self-contained classrooms, which use to be broken up into individual classrooms that serviced students with the same disabilities and in the same age group, are no more.
For example, you can find a kindergarten student diagnosed with a Learning Disability with a sixth grade student diagnosed with a severe Behavioral Disorder sitting side-by-side in a self-contained classroom. What’s my point? First, the teacher finds him or herself constantly dealing with the students with behavior disorders in a classroom which may meet or exceed ten special needs students. Can each child receive the one on one attention that they need throughout the day, day after day? What effect do the older students and their behavior have on the kindergarten and first grade students? When did the parameters of the special education classrooms change and by whom? Were the changes implemented by Oakes or Williams? I can only tell you that these changes went into effect during the last school year. And for the students that we serve, in my opinion it was disastrous. I don’t understand why the parents of these students do not complain about the mix of ages in these classrooms. Complaining to the teachers only adds insult to injury. We did not set up the situation but are held responsible for it.
I appreciate and also share your concerns for your children. And as a senior special educator, I can only hope that our new superintendent and director of special education will be more sensitive to our special needs students, group our students by age and disabilities, supply the teachers with qualified aides and supplies, and remove the extra responsibility of entering data into the SIS System and return it to appropriate employees, the data processors.
And about the Special Education Department being in compliance with the state? Who do you think busted their kegs to make sure the department was in compliance, Oakes? It was the dedicated teachers and supervisors who worked day and night to make it happen so let’s give credit where credit is due. Thanks for listening.
Sunday, July 16, 2006 1:15:12 PM
Ron,
My child is not in a spec ed classroom, he is eligible for special ed accommodations, he has an IEP. I cannot even get the faculty members at his school to follow the IEP. I have spent my own money to obtain the services and I connot even get the school or special ed dept to abide by the state law. The special ed teacher at my son's school is not special ed certified, however, he is gifted certified. He was not properly trained in special ed, he didn't even know how to complete an IEP! That is not his downfall, that is the SLPS downfall, and this way well before Williams entered our school system. The previous Vice Principal and 1st grade teacher at my son's school were very proud to inform me they both had masters in special education. Just because you completed the class requirements and have the piece of paper does not make you a special ed teacher. The previous Vice Principal and 1st grade teacher that held those masters degress did most of the damage to my child. I have never had an experience with the special ed dept where they have been in compliance, Never!!! The principal at my child's schools feels she has the right to overlook his special ed sessions if she needs the teacher to help elsewhere??? Blatant law breaking. I am still waiting for the results of an OT evaluation that was supposed to take place at the end of April, beginning of May. It did not take place until the end of May, until I raised hell!! Still no results!! Which means I will be at the school ranting and raving the first week, and paying my educational consultant $60.00 hourly to attend more meetings to force the SLPS to do their job!!
Monday, July 17, 2006 10:45:34 AM
anonymous,
Use some of your advocacy money to have your advocate help you write child complaints.
You will be joinging many this summer who are also filing.
DESE thinks everything is good here because we, the parents, have not told them otherwise.
Oakes claimed she never resigned. (Once DESE said SLPS was in compliance.) What will her song and dance be when DESE gets a bag full of complaints?
Untimately, Dr. Oakes is responsible for your child's IEP not being implemented.
Monday, July 17, 2006 12:57:28 PM
I have a special needs child with Austism Spectrum Disorder and in early childhood special education at SLPS. When Dr. Williams publically praised Dr. Oakes his credibility was lost as far as I was concerned. I have experienced numerous problems with the special ed department which include no shows at scheduled meetins, not returned phone calls, not listening to teachers and principals when they see a child in need of additional services.... Ms. Storey has even tried to suggest a child might not even have autism even though he/she has already received not only the medical diagnosis but the educational diagnosis from a district employeed psychological examiner. Do they even read the IEP's???!!! Thankfully I have nothing but praise for the principals, teachers and therapists that have worked with my child but they can only do so much with people like Ms. Oakes and Ms. Storey in management positions.
Monday, July 17, 2006 1:41:30 PM
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