Shorter School Day Is Called Discriminatory

Federal investigators have found that Burbank, Glendale and La Canada school officials discriminated against their severely disabled students by allowing them to have a shorter school day.

During the 1992-93 school year, each district sent a total of 21 seventh- through 12th-grade students to two special education classes at La Canada High School. Seventeen were from Glendale, three were from Burbank and one lived in La Canada, officials said.

Based on a complaint from Jeanne Corbett, a parent advocate, federal investigators learned that the classes met from 7:50 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The regular school schedule starts at 7:50 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.

No educational basis was documented to allow the 21 students to receive an hour to an hour and 10 minutes less school time per day than those on a regular day schedule, said John E. Palomino, director of the U. S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco. Federal regulation requires an equal length of school day for mentally and physically disabled students so they can have equal opportunity and access to extracurricular activities.

La Canada district officials, who ran the special education program, told federal investigators that students were receiving an equal number of instructional minutes because lunch was counted as part of their education. Teachers were available to help students eat. Officials also made the day shorter to prevent severely disabled students from getting caught in the after-school rush and parking lot vehicle traffic, La Canada Schools Supt. Jim Davis said.

Since the investigation, Burbank, Glendale and La Canada districts have agreed with federal and state officials to make severely disabled students’ school day the same as others at the La Canada campus. Burbank and Glendale district officials also agreed to monitor the La Canada program to ensure that it remains in compliance with regulations.

“We are most supportive of the changes that have been made,” said Burbank district Supt. Arthur Pierce. “All that (the investigation) does is put us on notice.”