Unbudgeted expenses continue to pile up on Darien Schools as the district works to fix a complex web of problems in its special education program.
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Special ed expenses and questions continue
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Onus on parents to investigate
Parents who thought the state would alert them if investigators found their children might have been harmed by Darien Schools’ illegal special education practices will not be getting a notice from state officials addressing that issue.
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Town divided over future of special education
While the schools have publicized a summarized version of what residents, teachers and students are looking for in an interim special education director, an examination of the entire results paints a somewhat different picture — one of a divided town that is split over the best path for the schools to take.
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Legal and PR fees break six figures as district fights complaint
Darien Schools spent more than $124,000 on legal fees and public relations help from April through July as it navigates its way through an unprecedented special education problem.
Parents concerned over new special ed committee meeting structure
When the Special Education Advisory Committee met prior to March of this year, they were always joined at the table by a school administrator. But since 24 parents filed a complaint with the state Department of Education, administrators have been increasingly absent from sitting at the table with the committee.
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Legality of special ed forms questioned
Darien’s special education policies continue to face heavy scrutiny from parents, lawyers and others, who have said the district could be failing to inform parents of their rights when some parents of children with disabilities seek to place their children in private school.
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The final frontier: Local is first woman to solo hike Alaskan range
Kristin Gates struggled to pull her paddle through the breaking waves. For three days and two nights she’d paddled, stopping only for the bathroom. She ate very little. Continue reading
Records may have been prematurely destroyed
When mother Ruth Bowman asked Darien Schools for her son’s school records, she claims it was three years before she got anything back.
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Newspaper claims schools denied access to info
After no response to at least three requests for public records from the schools, The Darien Times has filed a complaint with state Freedom of Information Commission, alleging the schools have denied access to public documents.
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District’s chain of command questioned
To whom does Darien’s director of special education report? This simple question has no easy answer, as an examination of thousands of printed email pages appears to conflict with the official chain of command provided by the schools. Continue reading
David DesRoches 