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Texas Education Agency May Tighten Oversight For Off-Campus Special Ed Programs

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“It wasn’t clear what specific actions the districts had to take in their oversight and now we have a baseline,” said Shiloh Carter, an attorney with Disability Rights Texas.

Carter said that in the last year, she’s represented 13 students with disabilities who’ve been sent by their school districts to alternative programs  — only for their parents to worry about their safety, academic progress and even potential physical abuse. She said in those cases, their home districts failed to check if they were receiving their individualized special ed services or investigate allegations of physical abuse.

“The kids that are placed in these out-of-district placements typically are the kids that are most vulnerable and that have the most complex needs,” Carter said.

“So, we need to make sure that if we’re going to send them out of their home districts, that these placements are really appropriate and that they’re receiving the services that they need and they’re not just being warehoused outside, languishing in these sub-par placements.”

Read the full story on the Houston Public Media radio website.