Parents of Special Education students say they live in fear of confidentiality agreements they are forced to sign to gain services for their children. School district staff says to board, make a deal with Santa Monica and halt the practice, for now.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District staff has recommended that the Board of Education accept the Santa Monica City Council’s demand to place a moratorium on confidentiality agreements with special education parents. If the district employs the moratorium it would receive a $530,000 increase from the city in its annual contribution to the district. The board will consider the matter at its meeting on Thursday.
Last month the Santa Monica City Council held a lengthy hearing about increasing its contractually obligated $6.5 million annual donation to the school district. After listening to testimony from parents of special education students who claimed they live in fear of confidentiality agreements they are forced to sign for their children to receive services, the council demanded that a 10-month moratorium be placed on the practice while an independent review is done of the special education program. The council also demanded that an outgoing employee never again be asked to sign a confidentiality clause, as former Chief Financial Officer Winston Braham was asked to do.
During the meeting, school officials said they supported a proposal by a group of education activists who said the district should conduct a review of its special education program, but without requiring the moratorium. However, that proposal failed to gain a majority support by the council.
Following the meeting, school district officials declined to state whether they could support the council’s demands. The staff report released earlier this week, written by Superintendent Dianne Talarico and Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker, does not specify why they recommend the district accept the conditions. Talarico did not return a call for comment on Tuesday.
Of the 1,500 special education students in the district, 88 are receiving increased special services. District officials have said the confidentiality agreements are necessary because each education plan is different for each student. The secrecy prevents parents from trying to compare what their child is receiving to another when the comparison might not be valid. Also, the resolutions prevent the student’s education plan from going to court. School board President Kathy Wisnicki said at last month’s council meeting the district has saved millions of dollars in potential litigation costs because of the practice.
But the parents who spoke at the meeting said they were in fear of losing their children’s services because of accidentally speaking about them. Also, they said, the community is losing because it has no ability to find out how much money is being spent on special education due to the sealed records.
The meeting begins 5:30 p.m. in the District Administrative Offices, located at 1651 16 St. in Santa Monica.