The confidentiality agreement in Braham’s contract and those in the SMMUSD special education program is what prompted Council members Shriver, Bob Holbrook and Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz to vote last month to keep a $530,000 bonus in the city’s contribution to the school district in reserves.
Both Katz and Holbrook have stated they found it troubling there were special education parents who were terrified of speaking out because they feared school officials would take it out on their children in the services they received.
When parents of special needs students have a disagreement over the development of their children’s Individualized Education Plans (IEP), district officials and the parents meet as part of a due process dispute resolution process. From the dispute resolution process, an agreement is drafted wherein a confidentiality agreement could exist.
Talarico and Board of Education President Kathy Wisnicki came before City Council, asking it consider allocating the $530,000 increase, listing off a series of actions the school board has taken.
The school board has asked staff to schedule a series of board study sessions with an independent third party reviewer to examine the special education program.
Approximately 16 members of the public addressed the City Council’s decision to allocate the $530,000, some praising council members for withholding the money and questioning the practices of the district’s administration, others saying a compromise between the council and the school board.
“I hope you make a decision that’s in the best interest of all school children in the district,” said Denny Zane.
In the end, the City Council voted 4-2 to allocate the $530,000 increase contingent on the board imposing a moratorium on confidentiality agreements in special education until the independent third party review is concluded.
Council member Ken Genser was reluctant in his vote, stating the body was becoming more and more involved in education, an area reserved for the elected Board of Education.
Most of the seven-member board was in attendance. School board member Barry Snell said he left feeling very positive about the future, and didn’t see the result as the district losing and the special education program winning.
“It’s really prudent of City Council to ask us the questions,” Snell said on Wednesday.
School Board Vice President Oscar de la Torre also supports the moratorium.
“I think not having the moratorium, the cost of the district is $530,000 in the short term, but in the long-term, the perception of the school district’s public work and secrecy is much more damaging and can potentially prove more costly as we ask voters to renew parcel taxes,” de la Torre said on Wednesday.
The board is tentatively scheduled to consider the moratorium at its June 28 meeting, weighing the implications of complying with the council’s orders.
“I would have preferred if City Council let the Board of Education go forward with our plan to review all aspects of special education and make reasonable decisions based on the expertise we have in our district as well as the independent review,” Wisnicki said on Wednesday. “I don’t think the council was ill-spirited in any way and I believe they were trying to find a way they could compromise and give the district the extra funding.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 14, 2007. Read the original PDF.