Bozeman schools settle special ed complaint

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

The Bozeman School District has agreed to pay $5,000 but admitted no wrongdoing in settling a discrimination complaint filed on behalf of a special education student who didn’t get to join an eighth-grade celebration at Sacajawea Middle School.

Beth Brenneman, attorney for Disability Rights Montana, a Helena nonprofit group that represented the developmentally disabled student and her mother, announced the settlement Monday. In the settlement, the school district agreed to take steps to improve the inclusion of students with disabilities in school activities.

Brenneman said the fact that the special education student wasn’t included was “a symbol” that the school wasn’t treating disabled students as “full members of the school.”

Kirk Miller, Bozeman school superintendent, emphasized that neither party admitted any wrongdoing.

The Bozeman schools are “working very diligently,” Miller said, with special education families and staff “to build a new direction” for its special education program.

“We’re moving forward,” Miller said. “We want to provide the best opportunities for all students in our charge. ... We will continue to move forward and do very well with communication with all parents.”

Kathleen Helland, of the Montana Human Rights Bureau, investigated the case and wrote a report in December 2007. According to her report, mother Jill Terry filed a complaint on behalf of her daughter after students with special needs weren’t able to participate in the eighth-grade celebration.

The mother first learned of the celebration the day before at the school’s main office, where the staff said the daughter’s teacher would have all the information. However, special education teacher Jenny Wildman didn’t know about the celebration, and the information she heard and passed on turned out to be erroneous.

The teacher wrote a note to Terry that her daughter “won’t be walking during 8th grade graduation. We were on our field trip during their practices.”

The next day, the teacher offered to find out more information, but the mother said not to bother, because she didn’t want an extra effort made for her daughter.

It turned out the daughter could have joined in. There was no formal graduation and no practice. Instead, the celebration consisted of short, student council presentations, a retiring teacher speaking, advisory classes being recognized and a dance. About 75 percent of eighth-graders attended.

According to the investigator’s report, the school district’s defense was that it was the mother’s responsibility to get the proper information. However, the investigator concluded the burden was on the school district and the teacher to get the accurate information, because the school district has “affirmative obligations” to “provide a reasonable accommodation” so special education students can be included along with regular students in school events, as required by law.

Brenneman said the burden is on school districts because children with disabilities have been discriminated against in the past.

In the settlement agreement, the district agreed that it “regrets any harm” to the student “caused by any miscommunication.” Asked if that was an apology, Miller said no.

The school district also agreed to review its policies, and to include Bozeman’s recently formed Special Education PTA (SEPTA) in policy revisions and in recommending a new special education director for the school district.

The district also agreed to make sure the special education staff gets the same briefings about school-wide events as all other teachers. According to the investigation, one regular-education teacher said the special education program didn’t “allow their staff to be integrated with regular teachers” in staff meetings because they had other issues to discuss.

The school district agreed to pay $2,000 in damages to the family and $3,000 for attorney fees. Miller said that was less than the district’s insurance deductible and so it would come out of taxpayer funds.

“Money really wasn’t the point,” Brenneman said. The mother “wanted people to change the system.”

The case was going to be heard in September by the Human Rights Bureau, Brenneman said, but “we saw an opportunity for things to change when there were resignations.”

Yvonne Humble, former special services director, resigned last spring citing personal reasons. The Sacajawea special education teacher also has left the district, Miller said.

The mother is “proud of her daughter for standing up,” Brenneman said.

“I am very glad that my daughter’s case could be the cause of some changes in the special education program to ensure that other students with disabilities are not treated similarly in the future,” Terry said in a written statement.

Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com or 582-2633.

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