A Washington state school district denied special education services to a number of students for over a decade, a three-month investigation discovered.
Anthony Moran, a student with severe autism, enrolled in the Mabton School District when he was 5 years old and was denied special education services from the get-go. Moran is now 17 years old and cannot count, write or say his own name. He needs help with almost all basic living skills and his communication skills match those of a 3-year-old.
“I sent my baby to these people, and they didn’t help him. They didn’t help him progress,” said Moran’s mother, Lorena Ramirez, according to K5News. “They didn’t help him do anything, and they lied to me about it.”
After a three-month investigation, K5News found that the district had violated the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) on a number of counts. IDEA “ensures that all children with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living,” according to the American Psychological Association.
The school district allegedly didn’t allow Moran and a number of other disabled students to attend a full school day and had them participate in non-academic tasks like sleeping. It didn’t provide him with any kind of speech therapy, occupational therapy or behavioral support. In fact, his teachers punished him when he projected any behavioral issues associated with autism, according to the report. (RELATED: Hawaii Pays $10M After Being Sued For Cutting Up Special Education Funds)
The district also lied to Moran’s parents about academic progress he’d made and the services the school provided to him.
“It’s the most egregious (school district) that I’ve come across because of the number of issues and the length of time that the issues have gone on,” said Kerri Feeney, the attorney for Moran and his mother. “They had to have known these were violations,” she added.
It’s a tragedy that at the “age of 18 or 21 [Moran] doesn’t have the basic prerequisites to function in society,” Seattle-based neuropsychologist Wendy Marlowe said, K5News reported.
A number of current school officials declined to comment while other Mabton school administrators who no longer work in the district admitted to the district’s slew of violations, according to K5News.
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