By Lynn Sturgis Santa Monica
I would like to thank you for having the courage and the leadership to withhold city monies until the Board of Education of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District had an independent audit of it’s special education department’s policies and procedures. I am a 14 year resident of Santa Monica, with a daughter currently in 10th grade at Samohi and a son in seventh grade at JAMS. I have been involved in their education at the classroom level, at the site level and at the district level. For the most part, they have had more than adequate experiences, are receiving good educations, and I personally have almost always been dealt with respectfully.
However, I have several friends who have children with special needs who have not had the same experience or benefits that my family has had. So, it was with great anticipation that I read the Barber Report and attended the BOE meeting of April 3 and saw most of last evening’s (April 17) meeting on TV. I was stunned by what the report uncovered and by the Board of Education’s initial lackluster response to it. I am somewhat heartened by comments made last evening by Rebecca Kennerly of the PTA Council and by Board Members Pye and Escarce — they seem to be finally “getting it.”
But, I do not trust the BOE or the administrative leadership of SMMUSD and urge you to continue to hold the purse strings until concrete changes have been made as recommended in the Barber report. Specifically: ■That the terms of these “secret deals” be put into the student’s IEP ■That the district create a supportive environment — the e-mail that one parent read last night from a teacher was inexcusable and should not be tolerated ■That all staff and parents be treated with civility and respect ■That the authority to address special ed issues be decentralized (translation for a lay person = get rid of the boss or bosses who are abusing their power).
Let’s get real here. If the so called mastermind of these secret deals went ahead and kept doing them even after the BOE ordered a moratorium on them, what else is happening that no one knows about?
I wouldn’t normally ask my city government to oversee what my school district does, but this is an extremely abnormal circumstance that deserves your continued attention. I do not believe that some of the school board members or SMMUSD administrators will be swayed into action without you continuing to withhold monies until they do something about this tragic situation.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.