A group dedicated to helping students with disabilities get the services they need says one lawsuit and two years later the Austin Independent School District is continuing to violate state and federal law.
Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) is an organization that represents and advocates for students with disabilities. They tell CBS Austin AISD is preventing thousands of students from receiving timely evaluations. As a result, these delays are causing thousands of students to miss out on crucial special education services.
Amy Trost is one of many Austin Independent School District parents fed up with the ongoing delay of disability evaluations.
“They never finished it when we asked when it would be finished, they couldn’t tell us,” she said.
Her son has a developmental disability and is currently receiving special services. After suspecting he may have an additional impairment Trost requested a re-evaluation. She says it took AISD more than a year to fulfill the request.
“I think that one of the most frustrating things for us is knowing that the district only has 45 days to complete these evaluations. And they weren’t doing it,” said Trost.
Steven Aleman is the senior policy specialist with Disability Rights Texas. He says due to AISD‘s failures more than 1,800 students are waiting for evaluations.
“Both federal law and state law requires that children suspected of a disability and needing special services have to first be tested to understand the nature of the disability and understand the nature of what interventions are necessary,” Aleman said.
Read the full article, Disability rights group calls on state to address Austin ISD’s ongoing delayed evaluations, on the CBS Austin Website.