The program will be run by the county counsel's office, which will hire a fujll-time attorney and paralegal to work with school districts to ensure that the needs of children with learning disabilities are being met. Districts are required to conduct an assessment of a student's special education needs if a parent asks for one. If the student is deemed eligible, districts are supposed to develop individual plans. These plans could involve hiring a tutor for a student who remains in a mainstream classroom, or putting a child in a smaller classroom where he or she can receive more attention, officials said. A student with more severe problems could be placed in a private school, at the district's expense.
Parents can challenge school districts over the adequacy of a child's individual program.
But many lack the knowledge, financial resources or willingness to pursue administrative remedies or lawsuits, according to Probation Department employee Rosalee Brouillette. County Counsel Ann Ravel soft-pedaled the possibility of filing lawsuits against school districts that fail in their legal obligations. Still, the threat of litigation is clearly designed to get the districts' atteniton. School officials complained that they were being threatened with litigation over a problem they already want to fix. The problem, they said, is that they are in a financial bind because federal and state governments have imposed special education mandates without providing adequate funds to implement them.