Report Says Schools Shortchange the Disabled : Education: A federal study says that five school districts isolated students from the mainstream even when it wasn’t necessary. The schools agree to reassess their actions.

Five San Gabriel Valley school districts discriminated against disabled students by sending them to a county-run school for the severely handicapped even if they didn’t need to be isolated from mainstream schools, a federal investigation found.

An Oct. 2 report by the U.S. Education Department said Stoneman School in San Marino was poorly maintained and did not provide the students with the same quality of education as non-disabled children get at mainstream schools.

The report also faulted each district for failing to monitor the welfare of students from their areas.

No penalties were levied because all five districts have promised to reassess the students they have placed in the school, said John E. Palomino, regional director for the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

The districts are Alhambra City, El Monte City, San Marino Unified, South Pasadena Unified and Temple City Unified school districts.

An investigation is pending against Montebello Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which runs the school in space rented from the San Marino district, Palomino said.

This fall, 270 severely emotionally disturbed, trainable mentally handicapped and multiply handicapped students ages 3 to 22 from 14 Southern California districts are enrolled at Stoneman, Principal Martina Westmoreland said.

Westmoreland refused to comment on the investigation and referred questions to the county education office. Telephone calls to that office were not returned.

Palomino said many students at Stoneman “were not severe enough to be in a totally isolated setting,” and were sent there for convenience.

“The law requires that a student identified as handicapped be examined by school personnel,” he said. “Unless (there is) a need to be isolated, services should be provided in a mixed setting whenever possible.”

Officials in Alhambra, El Monte and San Marino said they do not believe they had incorrectly placed students but had agreed to make a reassessment. Other district officials could not be reached.

Among other assurances, the districts agreed to re-examine students sent to Stoneman to see if they really need to be at a school that is exclusively for the severely disabled. If there is no such need, the students will be reassigned to a school in the district, Palomino said.

For students who continue at Stoneman, the districts will provide opportunities, such as lunch recess, to mix with non-handicapped students, Palomino said. No such “mainstreaming” activities existed before the investigation, even though they are required by law, he said.

Other findings in the report:

* At times Stoneman did not provide needed educational services, such as speech therapy.

* Lavatories, the nurse’s office and the mental health counselor’s office at Stoneman are not wheelchair-accessible, though most other sections of the campus are.

* Upkeep of playgrounds, buildings and landscaping at Stoneman is not comparable to other schools in the San Marino district, which is responsible for maintaining Stoneman.

But Jack R. Rose, San Marino’s assistant superintendent of instructional services, said all schools in the district were suffering because of budget cuts, and Stoneman was no worse than others. “There are cracked walls, leaky windows and broken roofs everywhere,” he said.