UPDATE: As of Oct. 19, the district decided against creating this position and instead will hire a fourth special-education coordinator to “allow better coverage of family and school site concerns as well as ensure that coordinators get involved early to address parent concerns,” Superintendent Don Austin wrote in a weekly update. He encourages parents with concerns to reach out to the new district special-education coordinator, who will be trained in conflict and dispute resolution.
The Palo Alto school district has created a new dispute-resolution position for the special education department in the hopes it will shift what families of special-needs students often describe as an adversarial relationship with the district.
After Stephanie Sheridan, director of secondary special-education, resigned this summer, Superintendent Don Austin took the opportunity to rethink the department’s structure, he said. The department was once overseen by a single director and for the last year and a half by two directors, one for the elementary schools and another for the middle and high schools.
Rather than replace Sheridan, the special-education team eventually proposed creating the director of dispute resolution, with Austin’s support.
“We were trying to create a position that could help to guide parents through a process if they hit a wall,” Austin wrote in an email. “The concept of, ‘If the doors are closed, look for a window’ comes to mind. This person would have several responsibilities, starting with looking for windows of opportunity to resolve issues.”
The new director will support both families and staff in resolving concerns related to special education, according to a job description. He or she will “serve as mediator to facilitate constructive communication between the family and school in disagreement by keeping each side calm and allowing each to feel that they are being heard and addressed.” The goal is to “create an environment that allows the family and the school to reach a solution that is acceptable to both sides.”
The dispute-resolution director will also be tasked with writing settlement agreements and other legal documents, developing due process procedures and coordinating all required responses to any special education litigation, including resolution meetings, mediations, witness preparation and general communication with attorneys, according to the job description.
He or she will also serve as a resource for staff, providing advice and giving presentations on legal compliance, conflict resolution and strategies for improving relationships with parents.
The director of dispute resolution will report to Lana Conaway, the district’s assistant superintendent for strategic initiative operations.
The district is currently recruiting for the position and will only fill it if there is an “outstanding candidate,” Austin said.
“If that person does not emerge, we will rethink the plan,” he said.
Scary!
According to the article’s quotes from the job description, the person in this position will:
– “serve as mediator” – which means District employee. Right off the bat, this is not a “mediator”. It is an employee chosen by the District to be on their side.
-“by keeping each side calm” -This job description insults both employees and parents, before the person is even hired. Mediator is calm, you all are not.
-“allowing each to feel that they are being heard and addressed” – Why would yet another District legalistic employee make anyone feel their concerns were addressed? Addressed? Is this legal employee going to institute a real evidenced based program for dyslexia? Do they have unlimited power and money? Can they make their high paid lawyer be polite?
The next paragraph in the description says it all about the real purpose of this position:
-“The dispute-resolution director will also be tasked with writing settlement agreements and other legal documents, developing due process procedures and coordinating all required responses to any special education litigation, including resolution meetings, mediations, witness preparation and general communication with attorneys, according to the job description.”
In other words, this is a legal employee, ligation oriented, hired for due process against families and the disabled. The job duties include “witness preparation” (training teachers and therapists to testify against their students and patients, violating child and parent trust and, where applicable, their oath as medical professionals to do no harm.) That is not what a fair “mediator” does.
-“The district is currently recruiting for the position and will only fill it if there is an “outstanding candidate,” Austin said.”
Does this mean the position received Board approval? Was there a public meeting? Are they already recruiting because, like the debacle that put Holly Wade in power and kept bad law firms on board for years, recruiting before the job was approved by the Board? Did they create the job with a plan for whom they wanted to hire?
Why doesn’t the District just spend their time and resources making Special Education better, so there are not “disputes” in the first place? It is a better long run strategy to teach their employees to be responsive and polite, to complete documents, keep commitments, and think and communicate like educators instead of attack lawyers.
@Unfair Mediator
“Why doesn’t the District just spend their time and resources making Special Education better, so there are not “disputes” in the first place? It is a better long run strategy to teach their employees to be responsive and polite, to complete documents, keep commitments, and think and communicate like educators instead of attack lawyers.”
Amen!!
@Unfair Mediator,
Thanks, you speak for me, too. The burden is still on the families. And I see nothing that reassures me that there is any way to unpoison the well.
Until the job description includes truth and reconciliation, taking responsibility, apologizing for mistakes, outreach and collaboration, I see no reason this should be anymore trustworthy than before.
There is still this idea that the goal here is to get a clean slate and rather than working through the unresolved stuff still under the rug. I think until the district can really appreciate the damage it can do to families and vulnerable children, and really sees their work as a partnership, they will never be able to create a process that isn’t adversarial.
I would have recommended they hire an Ombuds, a neutral,
independent, informal, confidential, and EXTERNAL Ombuds who practices to the standards/code of conduct of the International Ombudsman Association.
This is what I do for educational institutions and it works. I’m not an advocate, but rather, a neutral resource that helps both sides come up with options for possible resolution. No one can be compelled to visit with the Ombuds, it is a voluntary decision.
– Former Palo Altan, part-time Ombuds at Pomona College
Posted by Conchita Serri, a resident of Charleston Meadows
>> I would have recommended they hire an Ombuds, a neutral,
independent, informal, confidential, and EXTERNAL Ombuds […] it works.
Agreed. I’ve seen it in another context. “It works.” I don’t know if it would work in this situation, but, it is worth a try, rather than another “litigation oriented” damage-control employee.
WHY NOT BE PROACTIVE!! Hire someone like you had years ago, Carol Zepecki who KNEW the Sp Ed Laws, tried to make placements work for the Student! Why hire someone to help with disputes?? Hire someone who knows the law and assits Parents thru the SST, 504 and IEP process! WE need someone who will advocate for the Student first and the Parents BEFORE there are disputes!! What is going on? Rethink who you need to hire!
The Special Ed department has many program directors and admins. We don’t need more new admins including a so called mediator who can’t really be a mediator if they are working for the district.
What we need is more qualified special ed aides and until there are more we won’t be able to continue with proper inclusion for our special ed kids. I believe there are shortages at many schools. This should be our priority