Full Integration Possible?

Z.W. is a second-grade special education student in the southern part of the state. Unfortunately for Z.W., her school experience thus far has been very difficult. Z.W. is a child with multiple mental health issues. Her school district did not know how to help a child like Z.W. to benefit from her education. The school district also did not seem to know what IDEA requires for children like Z.W.

As a result, about half a dozen behavior intervention plans were written for Z.W. over a two-year period. None of these plans provided adequate support for Z.W. One of these behavior plans was so inappropriate for Z.W. that implementation of the plan drastically increased the frequency of her behaviors and brought about more extreme behaviors that Z.W. had never exhibited before.

The school district’s solution to the negative changes they had caused in Z.W. was to remove Z.W. from school and place her on homebound instruction indefinitely. Once it became clear that this school district did not intend to return Z.W. to school within any reasonable period of time, P&A filed a due process request with the State Department of Education. Mediation failed, and a fair hearing was held.

As a result of the hearing, Z.W. is in the process of being gradually but steadily reintegrated back into the school setting. Z.W.’s current behavior intervention plan and reintegration plan were developed by a qualified child psychologist, who is overseeing the implementation of both plans. Z.W.’s mother and her advocates here at P&A are hopeful that Z.W. will be fully integrated into her regular classroom some time this spring. Of course, the success of both plans will depend largely on the degree to which the school district is willing to follow the plans as written. Therefore, it is still too early to gauge what kind of school year Z.W. will have. But we anticipate that she will know much greater success this school year than ever before.