Plan for Emotionally Disabled Students Meets Resistance

A cost-saving plan that would place two dozen emotionally disabled teenagers at Rio Mesa High School this fall has ignited fear among some parents and teachers in the Oxnard district who believe the students could endanger others on campus.

Trustees of the Oxnard Union High School District appear divided over the issue and have delayed approval of the program, which could prevent its implementation.

The board has removed the item from its Thursday meeting agenda and has yet to schedule it for future discussion.

The consolidation plan, which would save the district at least $250,000, would provide selected students diagnosed with emotional disorders--from mild depression to schizophrenia--an educational program staffed to meet their needs, said Peggy Nadin, director of special education.

Several of these students from Oxnard and Camarillo are housed in nonpublic schools scattered across the western United States simply because there is no room for them in more appropriate programs within their own school districts or even Ventura County, Nadin said.

Sending students to nonpublic schools, such as Casa Pacifica in Camarillo, costs the district an average of $38,000 per student per year.

“I do have a number of students who I know need to be in that program and, unfortunately, without it we don’t have a lot of options,” Nadin said.

Emotions were running high last week as news spread of an organized effort by Rio Mesa teachers to oppose the placement of emotionally disabled students on their campus.

Teachers circulated a petition and spoke publicly against the plan, saying the school was becoming a “dumping ground” for special-needs kids and questioning the safety of placing students now housed in isolated environments.

The issue took center stage at a school board meeting Wednesday, with nearly 100 parents, educators and activists turning out to express their concerns and fears.

Some parents said it would be unfair to subject their children to potentially violent behavior, while those with children in special education programs pointed out that recent violent incidents on school campuses were committed by others.

“Do we need protection from those already getting help, or those who are undiagnosed?” asked Ellen Linder, executive director of Moorpark-based United Parents, a nonprofit advocacy group. “And I submit that it’s the teachers’ ignorance and intolerance that are the real threat to us all.”

Teachers union President Barbara Kimmel could not be reached for comment.

Some Rio Mesa parent leaders said this week they do not necessarily oppose placing students with emotional problems on campus, but they do oppose pushing the plan through quickly.

“We don’t know yet if this is fish or fowl,” said Sandy Rao, president of the Rio Mesa Parent-Faculty Assn. “We are open and we want to learn, but we also don’t want it thrust down our throats, which is the way it’s going.”

Board member Nancy Koch said she’s also wary of speeding through approval for a program that may save the district money now but could prove costly if there’s an incident that spurs a lawsuit.

“They have to show me this is not a safety issue, and I’m not convinced,” she said.

Classrooms for the special-needs students would include four supervisors for every 12 students, and would be run by the district special education office, Nadin said. The goal would be to eventually transfer the students back into their home schools and less restrictive environments.

It is modeled after Phoenix School, a public special education school within the Ventura County superintendent of schools office.

“With that kind of staffing, they’ll see a lot of success,” said Alan Murray, principal at Phoenix, which has had to turn away students for lack of space. “If the program has enough interventions as part of the process, I don’t see the students as a safety threat.”

Meanwhile, district officials are trying to organize a study session with representatives from schools where on-campus programs for emotionally disabled students have been successful.

Board member Robert Valles said he is not happy about the board’s decision to delay discussion on the issue.

“The bottom line is, if we want this to happen, it’s got to be soon,” he said. “We have to serve all students, but there is this not-in-my-backyard attitude.”