School's future remains uncertain

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SAVING HIS SCHOOL-Weyland Academy School student Robby Slomann and mom, Cheryl, of Westlake Village, protest a recent decision not to recertify the Camarillo school. Part I of Two Parts

For the first time since kindergarten, Kyle Crane has experienced a successful year at school. Kyle is a ninth-grade student at Weyland Academy in Camarillo, a privately owned special education school that operates on public funds.

But the school lost most of its 18 students from the Conejo Valley to the city of Ventura last Friday when the California Department of Education's nonpublic schools division denied recertification of the school based on its interpretation of special education teacher credential requirements.

The question of school certification means more than just hardship for the students. It points to a much larger issue regarding the level of special education teacher training required in both public and nonpublic schools.

Kyle and his brother, who attends a special education program at Agoura High School, were both diagnosed with autism at an early age. Although Kyle is considered high-functioning, public school did not fit his needs.

"For the first time since kindergarten, (Kyle) has had a successful school year academically, socially, behaviorally and emotionally," said Kyle's mother, Monica Crane. "He is completing ninth-grade work at a ninth-grade level, including first year algebra, composition, vocabulary, grammar, social studies, art, health and P.E."

Crane said that prior to enrollment at Weyland her son was shuffled from program to program without much success. Before Weyland opened about 18 months ago, Kyle missed all of sixth grade due to a lack of what Crane called "appropriate educational placement."

Kyle was accepted in a seventh-grade program through the Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD), which Crane said was "acceptable" but shortlived. By eighth grade, the program had been changed and it no longer fit Kyle's unique needs.

"He spent more than half of his eighth-grade school year at home without any education," Crane said.

Weyland provided the 15year-old the opportunity to learn.

According to Laura Valdez, Weyland Academy's founder and director, the state no longer views autism on a spectrum-all children with autism are now assigned to the moderate to severe category, a niche that dictates the credential requirements for special education teachers. Valdez holds a "moderate to severe" credential, but the other teachers at the school had earned special education credentials focused on mild to moderate special education students.

"The state said that autism is a moderate to severe disability which means that every student at Weyland needed to have a moderate to severe credentialed teacher," Valdez said. "That makes no sense because those of us who live it and work in the field know that it is a spectrum disorder ranging from severe to genius level. I disagree with a blanket statement that looks only at a label and not a student's individual needs."

According to Mary Schillinger, director of pupil services for LVUSD, ". . .There is a shortage of special education credentialed teachers and in particular teachers with the moderate to severe credential."

Crane agrees. "The requirement for these children to be educated by a teacher with a moderate to severe level credential, although admirable, is not possible," she said. "There simply are not enough teachers that meet the requirements for the number of children (diagnosed as autistic)."

"I am particularly alarmed by the fact that from kindergarten through eighth grade not one of my son's teachers was required to have, or had, a moderate to severe level credential," she said, adding that for several years his teacher didn't hold a special education credential of any kind.

Camarillo resident Sasha Fuentes had two boys in the program. Xavier had been bounced from one school to the next for years, she said.

"I don't think he had ever been at the same school for longer than a year," Fuentes said. "The services at public school were inadequate to say the least."

Fuentes explained that her son's behavior problems could not be handled at public schools. Her younger son, Raven, was also diagnosed with autism and attended a special day class in kindergarten before attending first grade at Weyland.

"Since they have been at Weyland we have seen a drastic improvement," Fuentes said. "For the first time, they both are able to address their academics. Before most of their day was spent trying to curb their behaviors."

Fuentes said that even before the school closed, her children were suffering. "They feel the tension and anxiety. They keep asking where their school is going to go because they know it is coming to an end."

When Xavier is upset, Fuentes said he physically hurts himself.

Kathy Murillo, who hails from Ventura, said her son Jake wasn't talking a year ago.

Since his enrollment in Weyland, Murillo said that Jake is "happiest and best he's ever been . . . calmer and more social."

Many parents agree that the credential is less important than the school's environment. Mother Linda Snair said that teachers with the moderate to severe credential are not necessarily qualified to handle children who are autistic but high-functioning.

Parents said that the key to their children's success in school is based on very small classroom sizes and a structured environment that places behavioral and social skills ahead of academics. Children with autism, they said, need to master these skills before being able to tackle academics.

"If they don't get a grasp on their behavioral and social stuff first, then they'll never be able to learn," Murillo said. "It's that simple." But finding appropriate placements in other schools after Weyland may not be so simple. Many parents are worried that their child will have to sit on a bus for an extended period of time, difficult enough for any child, but intolerable for many children with disabilities-especially autism.

Schillinger believes that other nonpublic school placements are appropriate and available.

As of Monday, the Weyland School regrouped with a smaller student body. Valdez hopes that she can keep the school open long enough to get through the appeal process. But without certification, the school cannot be publicly funded.

One parent quipped that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, should be renamed for special education students: "Your Child Left Behind Act."

Other parents don't have room in their lives for humor. When asked what their next steps would be for their children, one mom just said, "Wait."

Next week's article will focus on the individualized education plan (IEP) for special education students and how the plan determines their placement in public or private schools.