Hundreds of children with disabilities not being given education service, ACLU claims

PROVIDENCE — A federal class-action lawsuit has been filed against the state-run Providence Public School District claiming it failed to provide special education services to preschoolers.

The lawsuit was filed Monday by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Rhode Island and R.I. Center for Justice on behalf of several specific families and the advocacy group Parents Leading for Educational Equity (PLEE). The groups allege that “hundreds of children with disabilities between the ages of three and five are not receiving critical special education services they are entitled to.”

The Providence Public School Department, Providence School Board and Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) are also named defendants. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the state and school district to begin directly providing those services or else contract with other school districts and educational providers to do so. 

“There is a reason that the federal special education law mandates and prioritizes a ‘seamless’ transition from infant/toddler services to pre-school services for the most vulnerable children with disabilities,” Rhode Island Center for Justice executive director Jennifer Wood said in a statement Monday. 

“These children are depending on the public education system to provide essential services that support them in achieving critical developmental progress.”

The suit claims the school district failed to evaluate preschool children for special education services, or doing so only after months of delay, despite repeated requests by parents. Under federal law, school districts are required to provide special education services starting at age 3.

In one instance, the lawsuit says a 4-year-old boy with “global language skills typical of a much younger child” was scheduled to begin speech therapy on Dec. 14, 2022, but “has not received any special education or speech therapy from Providence and continues to wait for services.”

The family was reportedly told by the district “unfortunately, due to staffing issues, our evaluation team is taking longer than expected to review referrals.” A month later, another preschool evaluation team intervention specialist advised that the student “is on our list awaiting a case manager to be available… As soon as he reaches the top of the list, a case manager will be assigned.”

“Further, many students are coming out of the pandemic with increased needs,” school district spokesperson  Jay G. Wegimont said in a joint statement with RIDE. “RIDE and PPSD have pursued available services, programs, and/or staffing by contacting school districts and private programs within the local geographic area to inquire as to their ability to provide the needed services, to no avail.”

The ACLU argues that RIDE and the school district “have been well aware that Providence has not been providing mandated federal special education services at least since March 2022, but they have not taken the steps necessary to come into compliance with federal law.”

In a joint statement Monday evening, RIDE and Providence public schools said they “have been engaging with attorneys from the ACLU of Rhode Island and the R.I. Center for Justice for weeks and provided them with detailed information concerning the status of pre-K students awaiting special education evaluations or services in Providence and described the actions they had taken to address delays in providing the requisite evaluations and services.”

“As has been covered extensively by press reports, school communities across Rhode Island and the country are grappling with issues related to special education,” the statement read. “At no time did the Plaintiffs’ attorneys suggest anything that could be done to hasten the delivery of the needed student evaluations and special education services other than what RIDE and PPSD have either done, or planned to do, despite having been asked for alternative remedies on several occasions.”