Countywide : Parents Ask to Keep Special Ed Funding

Angry that classroom hours for severely disabled children will be cut this summer as a budget-trimming measure, several parents urged county Department of Education board members to reconsider their decision at the board’s meeting Thursday.

About 800 students, ages 3 to 21, are enrolled in special programs that teach basic skills at 23 county sites. Many are profoundly disabled, both mentally and physically, from congenital diseases such as autism and spinal meningitis.

“We are talking about the most severely handicapped students in the system. . . . Our young people don’t have after-school friends or other activities to enrich their life and, as such, depend on the program,” said parent Ed McNew of Irvine, whose son attends Mission Viejo High School.

Board members agreed to consider the parents’ concerns, but several later expressed doubt that they would change their minds about shortening classes from six hours to four because of the budgetary crisis facing schools.

“We’re very appreciative of the parents’ problem and yet the finances are real. We’ve made all the cuts we can,” said county schools Supt. John F. Dean.

Deputy Supt. Lynn April Hartline said the county has been running on a deficit for several years.

“The state has shortchanged special education for a number of years,” she said. “We have Juvenile Court schools, programs for dropouts. The funding has not been increasing for any. They are all very special children with exceptional needs. It breaks our hearts. But it is a tough time.”

Parents of the disabled children, however, insisted that the rights of their children are being neglected in violation of a 1974 federal law which requires public schools to provide an appropriate education to students with special needs.

“So what?” said parent Roslyn Hunter of the budget crisis. “That has nothing to do with the fact that they’re cutting back on our children’s education.”

“The point of entitlement is that you have to provide those services. You have to find the money,” said Hunter, whose 21-year-old son attends the George Key Special Center in Placentia.

Parents accused board members of trying to set a precedent for a four-hour workday in order to include the shorter day in a new teachers’ union contract, which will be drawn in 1993.

Parents were also enraged that they were not consulted or given enough time to make alternative plans.

“We heard rumors it was about to happen, and then we received this letter in the mail last week. Such short notice was inconsiderate,” said Robert Merritt, whose 17-year-old son, Charles, attends Mission Viejo High School.

Merrit said he was at a loss to figure out how he would provide care this summer for his son, who has spinal meningitis.

“Most parents of special education kids have difficulty getting care at a reasonable cost. I have a fixed income and I’m going to have to juggle a lot to make it happen.”