A Split Decision on Kindergartner’s Ouster From School

Nearly a year after a local school district went to court to oust a disabled kindergarten student from class because of behavior problems, federal investigators have found that officials broke the law in two instances connected to the case but rejected broader allegations that the district discriminated against the child.

Without admitting that it violated the law, the Ocean View School District agreed to address the problems raised by the federal Office of Civil Rights by obtaining special training for district staff. The Office of Civil Rights, therefore, found the district in compliance and plans no further action.

In the latest chapter of the ongoing battle--which became a symbol last year of the sizzling national debate over the full inclusion of disabled children in mainstreamed classrooms--both sides claimed victory.

“We feel vindicated,” said James D. Peters, the boy’s father, who filed the civil rights complaint last summer. “They said the district broke the law.”

But Ronald Wenkart, an attorney with the Orange County Department of Education, also used the word “vindicated.”

“All of (Peters’) major allegations were found to be untrue,” Wenkart said. “There were two small points that we don’t really agree with, but they’re small points.”

Jimmy Peters, who turned 7 in December, suffers from a communications disorder of disputed severity. After a series of violent outbursts in his Circle View classroom last spring, officials suspended Jimmy and went to court trying to get the boy placed in a special class for disabled students.

But a federal judge sent him back to class, where protesting parents waited. Jimmy spent just 45 minutes in school that day, and has been receiving one-on-one instruction at his home ever since.

In a 16-page report, federal investigators found that the school district broke the law by failing to fulfill Jimmy’s Individualized Education Plan, and by implying that an advocacy for special-education students might make a friend of Peters’ ineligible for a job as a teacher’s aide.

The investigators found no evidence, however, to support several accusations by Peters that district officials singled Jimmy out for mistreatment and retaliation.

“Overall, we are pleased with the content and tone of the report,” Ocean View Supt. James R. Tarwater said in a statement.

But the report criticized district officials in its conclusion, saying Jimmy’s suspension and the court fight “might have been averted had the student’s educational program been properly implemented.”

The report also chastised the district for allowing Jimmy to continue being home-schooled for nearly a year, noting that one-on-one instruction is not the “least restrictive environment,” as required by law.

The standoff between Peters and school officials continues. Peters, who lost a bid for the school board last fall, has refused for months to allow Jimmy to undergo a routine assessment to determine placement.

He said on Thursday that he would use the OCR report to file a lawsuit requesting damages. Jimmy began the current home-schooling program after Peters requested a transfer from one school to another days before classes began, and asked that major changes be made to accommodate his son. The district has said that Jimmy can attend his old school but that it cannot disrupt another school for one child’s needs.

“Peters is just not cooperating,” Wenkart said. “It’s going to go on for a long time.”