Parents of students with disabilities prepare for changes to fall school year

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

For Columbia Public Schools, all students eligible for special education services have the option to come to the building, receive their special education services remotely, or both. 

This means parents may choose for their child to receive reading services remotely, but bring their child in-person for physical therapy.

A local parent, Sara Rivera, has a lot of questions for how the proposed online and hybrid learning models will work for her son.

"I have questions about everything," she said. "Parents of children with disabilities have a lot of unique needs that we need to have met."

Rivera said one of the biggest challenges is preparing her son to go back to school and transition into a routine again.

"Going back to school is going to be extremely difficult, I need to have as much time as possible to explain to him and prep him for what he's going to go back into."

Rivera said her son is not responding well to the unknowns.

"The closer school gets the more anxious he gets," she said. "His anxiety is going through the rough to the point where it's interfering with his sleep and he's very on edge."

Courtney Lucas has a son with severe ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, bi-polar disorder and anxiety. She said online learning is not an option for him.

"I have tried to get answers for the questions, what are you doing for the students who need occupational therapy," Lucas said. "We just want his education to come first."

Michelle Baumstark, a spokesperson for Columbia Public Schools, says parents need to talk with their Individualized Education Program (IEP) coordinator and they will walk them through what the schedule will look like for their individual child.

She said even if general student classrooms are on a hybrid schedule, students with disabilities could potentially come five days a week.

The Columbia Public School's website said given current health department guidelines for August, CPS plans to implement each in-person student’s IEP as written.

According to the district's website, parents can also still refer their child for special education testing. The district said that no changes are being made to the evaluation process. If a formal assessment is needed, then the student will be taken to a sanitized testing environment.

Check back for updates on this developing story and watch ABC 17 News at 9 and 10.