The parents of two elementary school students, “E.J.” and “H.S.,” are suing the Salt Lake City School District because they’d like their kids to attend their neighborhood schools and be able to receive special education services there. Because E.J and H.S. are cognitively disabled, however, the school district assigned them to “hub” schools, sometimes more than 20 miles away, where they consolidate students with special needs.
Beyond the Books visited this issue in June 2021.
Also named as defendants are the Salt Lake City School District’s Superintendent, Timothy Gadson; Interim Special Education Director Nicole Suchey; and the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education.
E.J.’s parents requested that she attend Dilworth Elementary, her neighborhood school, but the district insisted that she move to Emerson Elementary to receive “Academic Support,” and her full special education services, “otherwise, she would have her services reduced or removed,” the lawsuit reads.
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As a result, E.J. is attending Emerson, despite the fact that her neighborhood friends and a sibling go to Dilworth, and that Emerson is a much longer bus ride away. Her parents have since found out that the inclusive, “collaborative classroom” that the school district had promised has not been fully implemented at Emerson, the lawsuit says.
The parents of H.S. made the opposite choice, and forfeited full special education services for H.S. in favor of him remaining at his neighborhood school, Bonneville Elementary. The district had assigned H.S. to Highland Park Elementary and a special class for students with “severe” disabilities, a designation with which H.S.’s parents disagree. In fact, they say H.S. thrives at Bonneville with his friends and siblings, and benefits from an environment that isn’t restricted to only peers with disabilities, and they fear his progress would decline in a segregated environment.
Nate Crippes, an attorney representing the families from the Disability Law Center, told Beyond the Books, “What we’d like to see is kids with disabilities going to their neighborhood school just like their friends, their nondisabled peers, their siblings that live in the same neighborhood, and to receive the special education services they need there.”
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Should E.J. and H.S. prevail, the court can determine that the Salt Lake City School District is in violation of federal disability laws, which would indicate that the district must find another method of supplying special education services. No damages would be rewarded but the DLC could recoup legal fees.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Salt Lake City School District told Beyond the Books that she was unaware of the lawsuit but could not comment regardless. “We don’t comment on pending/ongoing litigation,” Yandry Chatwin said via text.
Get more of 2News’ in-depth education reporting at the Beyond the Books page.