Probe stalls special ed. hiring; superintendent overrides vote

BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent

Eight special education consultants, whose hiring was delayed by the Brick Board of Education, were in school on Sept. 6 after Schools Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger over-rode a board vote to avoid being in violation of federal and state law.

“The best interests of the children here were served by bringing the consultants in,” Seidenberger said last week.

The Board of Education tabled motions to renew contracts with verbal behavior consultants and verbal behavior staff training at the board’s Aug. 25 meeting.

Consultant hiring and training was put on hold until an incident that allegedly occurred between a teacher and a special education student in the Extended School Year program was investigated, said board President Sharon Kight.

Citing confidentiality issues, Kight would only say that the incident was brought to her attention on Aug. 22. Kight brought the matter to Seidenberger. She said the board was determining if the incident occurred and if it did, whether it was an isolated case or if it was an approved technique taught by verbal behavior consultants.

“I don’t want to see one child do without services they need,” Kight said. “I’m erring on the side of caution.”

Consultants provide functional assessments, help teachers set up classrooms and are called in to assist teachers in specific situations, Bob Lanzieri, president of Parents of Autistic Children, said last week.

With the addition of the district’s first autistic middle school program at Veterans Memorial Middle School beginning, new teachers in various buildings across the district and children returning to the structured environment of school, the consultants’ presence on the first day of school was essential.

“The consultants are targeted and sustained support for the teachers and the paraprofessionals,” Lanzieri said.

The possibility of not having consultants present when their children returned to class on the first day of school drew concerns from parents, especially since the board is not scheduled to meet again until Sept. 15, nine days after school started.

“We need them from day one,” said Melanie McGackin. “The hardest time is the transition back into school. If we start off on a bad foot, we’re setting the path for the rest of the year.”

“I applaud the board’s willingness to look into the problem,” Lanzieri said. “But are we willing to take chances with 70 kids? How do we throw the baby out with the bath water?”

Without consultants present on the first day of school, the district would also be in violation of some students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP), a document that details the special education and related services a student with a disability will receive.

“Some children had consultants written into their IEPs,” Seidenberger said. “With full knowledge, I cannot and will not put myself, teacher and aides into a potential litigious situation.”

District administrators are conducting their own internal investigation of the matter, have interviewed staff members, and “for safety’s sake” the state’s Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit was contacted, Seidenberger said.

“Dr. Seidenberger stepping in and putting the verbal behavior portion of the agenda through is the best thing that could have happened,” said parent Brenda Calderone.

Verbal behavior consultants who serve students are paid on an hourly basis, between $75 and $80, with limits placed on the number of days per week or year they are called in. Consultants who provide staff training receive per diem salaries between $350 and $750 per day, and also have limits as to how many days they are used.