Fort Worth ISD finished 52 special education evaluations late last year, its worst on-time rate in five years, as parents rally for services

Out of 1,859 special education evaluations Fort Worth ISD did last school year, 52 were finished after the legal deadline, according to figures the district reported to the state and the Fort Worth Report got through a public records request.

That works out to an on-time rate of 97.2%. The state's goal, in line with federal law, is 100%, and the Report found last year's rate was the district's weakest in five or more years. In 12 of the late cases, the district listed a shortage of staff available to do the testing.

The numbers surfaced as parents and advocates with Literacy Fort Worth gathered outside the gates of the district's District Service Center to press FWISD to follow the individualized education programs it writes for students with disabilities.

What parents say

Two parents whose children attend different FWISD schools told the Report that making sure the district carries out their children's plans has turned into a second job.

One, a nurse, said it took three and a half years of asking before the district tested her son for learning disabilities, and that teachers this fall did not respond to her emails about the accommodations in his plan.

The other said his son, who is taught mostly in a self-contained classroom, went months in kindergarten without the general education class time his plan requires, and that the problem came back when first grade started in August. He said campus leaders pointed to staffing.

Caroline James, Literacy Fort Worth's executive director, said she has sat in on over 100 special education meetings across 10 Tarrant County districts and that none of them are doing a great job. "We are failing students and families at scale," she said.

The district's response

In a written statement, Deputy Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury said FWISD checks its service logs against each plan and tracks how students are doing. If a service is skipped, he said, the district records the circumstances, weighs the effect on the student and moves to correct it.

Choudhury said general education teachers can see their students' plans, are told which accommodations they are responsible for and are trained by special education staff. Whether a student should receive make-up services is up to the student's admission, review and dismissal committee, a group that includes the parent, he said.

He also laid out the timeline families can expect. A written request from a parent gives FWISD 15 school days to answer. With the parent's consent in hand, staff generally get 45 school days to finish the evaluation, and the committee then has 30 calendar days to meet and rule on eligibility.

A district spokesperson did not answer the Report's question about one parent's account of an exchange with Superintendent Peter Licata at a listening session.

Rebecca Montgomery, a volunteer with the city's Literacy Roundup screening program, said campuses need clear steps so parents know whom to contact, how to file a request and what response to expect, and that teachers need training to spot signs of dyslexia.

Sources

fortworthreport.org