MOUNT GREENWOOD — Parents of special-needs students are up in arms that Chicago Public Schools is going ahead with a "unilateral" plan to consolidate special-education classes, thus forcing the kids to switch schools.
"It's awful," said Mary Hughes, chairwoman of 19th Ward Parents for Special Education. "It's detrimental to their social and emotional wellbeing.
"This is really kind of immoral," she added. "It's a really backwards, regressive move."
According to Hughes, CPS is going ahead with a "unilateral" plan to consolidate special-ed classes at Mount Greenwood Elementary School and Cassell Elementary on the Southwest Side. Where before both schools had independent "cluster" special-ed programs, starting this fall special-needs students in the area will be sent to Cassell until sixth grade, when they'll then be sent to Mount Greenwood.
"All kids should be able to go to their neighborhood school," Hughes said, but the issue is especially important to special-needs students, many of whom, such as autistic kids, deal poorly with disruptions of any kind.
Switching schools will be "really, really detrimental to students," Hughes said, "especially at that age. It's such a tender age."
CPS explained Monday that the move was mandated by state regulations calling for any students born more than 48 months apart to be placed in different classrooms, where Mount Greenwood had a single special-ed "cluster" accommodating K-8.
"CPS worked with the principal at Mount Greenwood to find additional space to accommodate all of these students, but there was no additional space available at this school," said CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner. "CPS then worked with nearby schools to identify space for the students," arriving at Cassell.
It's worth noting that CPS recently built an addition at Mount Greenwood, but it didn't create additional special-ed space.
The switch to a middle school as a way station on the way to high school is hard on all students, and as such CPS tends to have elementary schools run through eighth grade. The switch would have an even worse effect on special-needs students, Hughes said.
"At an age when they want to be the same as everybody else, it's really wrong-minded," she added.
Hughes has sent several letters of protest to CPS and the Board of Education, and she said that last week about eight parents and Ald. Matthew O'Shea (19th) met with CPS' Dr. Markay Winston, head of the Office of Diverse Learner Support and Services. She said Winston put it to them as a "unilateral decision" that had already been made, and even the alderman wasn't informed of it "until it was a done deal."
Hughes said Winston and CPS proved "unwilling to work with the community."
That was in marked contrast, she said, with the way Cassell Principal Denise Esposito dealt with the issue in the past.
"Our principal is totally working with us," Hughes said. "She is 100 percent wanting to take care of the kids the other neighborhood schools in the area don't want to deal with."
Hughes said her oldest son just completed the "cluster" program at Cassell through the eighth grade and is now headed to the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in the fall.
"So I am a preacher for the cause," she added.
Up until now, she said, Mount Greenwood Elementary was the same.
"The parents of the kids at Mount Greenwood are extremely happy with the sort of relationship building that happens with gen-ed students and kids with special needs," Hughes added.
While not actively "mainstreaming" special-needs students, it gives the entire student body the continuity and the familiarity to make friendships across the divide between general and special education.
Hughes said all students should "be able to attend one school, K-8 ... so they can develop relationships they can benefit from throughout their lifetime."
Hughes said she spoke Monday with Winston, who insisted it was a "misunderstanding" that Cassell students would be shuttled back to Mount Greenwoood at sixth grade.
Bittner added that everything possible would be done to keep Cassell special-ed students in place through eighth grade, saying, "CPS is eager to work with the principal and staff at Cassell and to support neighborhood schools in delivery of educational services to ensure that when students graduate from sixth grade they continue to receive their services at that school, as appropriate."
CPS recently announced $200 million in budget cuts, including leaving 300-350 positions vacant. Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey immediately charged that those were special-ed positions CPS had been struggling to fill.
Hughes labeled the consolidation "a budget decision," but added, "It's so discriminatory." She said, "It's like throwing special-ed services back 30 years."
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