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State compliance Hawaii has made enough progress in improving services for special-needs students that federal oversight of the state's program can be substantially reduced, a court-appointed monitor has recommended.
with Felix decree
improves
The court monitor says oversight
of the program can be easedBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"The hard work of the last several years is coming to full fruition, and the benefits to children and schools are beginning to be realized," according to a 41-page report written by Ivor Groves, appointed to monitor the state's effort to meet requirements under the federal Felix consent decree.
But Groves also wrote that the state is not completely out of the woods yet and will need an additional two years of court supervision to address remaining challenges and to prove that it can maintain its progress, including keeping track of the $340 million annual budget for special-education resources.
A hearing is scheduled for June 10 when U.S. District Judge David Ezra is expected to decide whether the state has sufficiently complied with the decree.
Groves said that if Ezra finds that the state is in substantial compliance, then the monitor's oversight should be reduced and restructured with the University of Hawaii's University Affiliated Program taking over the monitor's records and activities.
The court should then step out of the picture on June 30, 2004, according to Groves' recommendations, which were filed in court yesterday.
In 1993 a lawsuit filed on behalf of special-needs student Jennifer Felix alleged that the state was in violation of federal law by not providing appropriate services to public school children with disabilities.
The state entered into the consent decree in 1994, promising to make improvements mainly through the departments of Education and Health.
Groves said that 38 of 41 school complexes -- high schools and their feeder schools -- are recommended for full compliance.
Waianae and Lanai complexes have not passed service testing, which assesses whether a complex has met minimum requirements of compliance. They will submit a plan on how to improve and then will be retested in the fall.
Pahoa complex on the Big Island is in provisional compliance but needs to demonstrate that it can sustain improvements in serving children.
The state has completed 15 of the required 19 benchmarks. The remaining benchmarks are either partially or substantially completed.
Groves said that 88 percent of special-education teachers in the state are certified, while the benchmark target is 90 percent. Also, while the DOE's computerized information system known as ISPED is up and running, it needs some refinements.
Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said she has not seen the report, but when told of the monitor's findings, she replied, "He's accurate and he's perceptive, and he has done his evaluation of what we've done and what we need to get done."
Hamamoto said that if the court adopts the monitor's recommendations, the additional two years will give the department time to work out some problems that she understands are detailed in the report.
"There are some things that only come with time and practice," she said.
Health director Bruce Anderson could not be reached for comment.
Plaintiff's attorney Shelby Floyd said that she has not seen the report. She also said that the plaintiffs have not yet settled on a position.
"We will have to see what the monitor says," she said.
Groves also raised concerns that parents and schools are having more difficulty resolving conflicts over what kinds of services the students should receive. He said Hawaii likely has a higher rate of conflict requiring mediation and appeals than comparative states.
"It's part of a problem that we've raised frequently and probably we are going to raise to the court," Floyd said.
Hamamoto said that the next two years can also help resolve those issues. "It's a matter of time because we have to build the public trust."
Both the state and the plaintiffs will have until the end of the month to respond to the monitor's recommendations and report.