BRIDGEPORT — The district is still not providing adequate and timely plans and services for its most vulnerable students, a year-long state investigation has concluded.


Prompted by a complaint filed a year ago on behalf eight students receiving special education by the Center for Children’s Advocacy, the state probe found that while the issues raised by those students have been settled or withdrawn, there remains systematic concerns in how the district complies with both state and federal special education mandates.

As a result, a June 30, 2016 letter to the the district from the state spells out a corrective action plan that includes timelines and increased state monitoring through September 2018.

By September 2016, for instance, the district needs a staff person responsible for the special education referral process, must provide more training to staff, and begin a process of randomly reviewing files of up to five special education students a month to determine if the plans developed for them provide educational benefit. It also must start surveying parents to determine their satisfaction with the district’s special education process.

“The investigation was comprehensive, it was thorough,” said Kathryn Meyer, an attorney for the center. “We are pleased with the extent to which monitoring was required.

Interim Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz said the state findings bear no surprises.

“We have worked very closely with (the state),” Rabinowitz said. “We have a plan and a special education data team which is monitoring the plan.”

[log in to unmask]; @lclambeck