A. What is the alleged violation?

(Describe the nature

of the problem)
The Gormans invited CFB ISD to participate in a clinical Low Vision* evaluation of their son Jacob. The goal was to better understand Jacobs vision, his needs, and his potential. CFB sent Ms Jordan as the vision specialist to represent CFB. The attached email from Ms Christy Jordan, a dually certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and Orientation and Mobility specialist (O &M) in CFB ISD, is to Ms Randi Wells, the Executive Director of Special Education in CFB ISD, and Ms Darcy Henry, Jacobs former TVI. This document highlights systemic problems in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Special Education department, specifically with Jacobs education. Ms Jordan boasts to the head of Special Education, I took notes and said very little. I played dumb!! As neither Ms Wells nor Ms Henry took action to correct this sabotage, nor help get better information for Jacob by requesting a new evaluation with a different vision specialist, they condoned it. Carrollton / Farmers Branch makes a noble promise to every student and every parent. Part of the promise is: As educators, we want to be partners with our families and the community. By working together, public schools are better environments for all children. We never stop looking for better ways to educate the children in our classrooms. Our teachers engage, think, reach and transform students every day....Simply put, C-FB ISD families matter to us. We want you to partner with us. Come be a part of C-FB. The full promise is attached. We placed tremendous trust in CFB ISD, one in which we have worked hard to be a part of and make greater for more than 20 years. My wife Melissa (Lissa) Gorman was honored with one of the highest awards in CFB - Very Important Professional - for her contributions to a better learning environment. We helped found the PTA for parents and children of Special Needs in CFB ISD, and we are still active members I monitor the forum and share information. Lissa is the director of communications. Jacob has multiple impairments: Cerebral Palsy, Blindness, unable to articulate speech, limited mobility, a seizure disorder, and a g-tube for ~80% of his nutrition. Yet he has overcome incredible obstacles a heart attack & enlarged heart, severe gastric reflux which led to

surgery and low oxygen saturation. He works tirelessly on goals, a merry dry wit, and a grateful heart. For Jacob, we have asked for help and offered help, requesting more information, more face time, more about what Jacob has done, how he is doing, what supports are working or not, what is the long term plan. We have offered to be there, to share, to add. We have asked questions about his education plan, the true goals, how to team from everyone*: his teachers and therapists, Jacobs former principal Mr Phil Jackson. When that did not work, we met with the administrators from the department of Special Education, asking for help. We met with Coordinators Ms Brister and Ms Ward, and even the Executive Director of Special Education - Ms Randi Wells several times. When that did not work, we called the Superintendents office for help and were told to meet with the Department of Student Services, so I talked to Mr Kim Holland several times, who I thought was a sympathetic ear. We asked everyone we could think of to help and facilitate and help us team. Sadly, the more we tried to be involved, the more the school withdrew. We received so little and were so excluded from the process. Mr. Jackson, Jacobs principal and the man in charge of the children with the greatest physical disabilities in the district, sums up the problem when he wrote: in response to the numerous questions you have presented to Ms Kim (Jacobs direct teacher) in your letter and email. We are following the goals and objectives, along with the related activities that are listed in Jacobs current IEP. Ms Kim is providing progress notes daily+ based on the these objectives. Goals, objectives, and activities can be changed during the next ARD meeting we have... + Not the case. Progress notes were initially
daily, then tampered off greatly after a few weeks. Responses to these notes were greatly limited, tampering off to nothing as punctuated in Mr Jacksons letter (attached).

Mr Jackson sent an earlier version of this letter to the heads of the Special Education department, namely Ms Ward and Ms Wells. No one answered. How is this a dialog between caring participants in a childs education? Who does this help? Certainly not Jacob. 1. Failure to provide an Appropriate Education sec 300.101 By limiting information an essential element in Education Jacobs education was substantially impaired and limited. By limiting this information to his parents, Jacobs quality of life was diminished. 2. Failure to provide related services sec 300.34(a) "other support services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes orientation and mobility services". Sec 300.34(a)(7)(i) "safe movement"

When we asked about Jacob using a powerchair, Dr Flemming spoke at length about the dangers and stated her objections. As Ms Jordnan noted, she was totally not on board with him just being slapped into a chair and turned loose for safety reasons. Note: The parents are also not on board with this. Yet A boy with Jacobs type of Cerebral Palsy will require a power chair for independent travel. A blind boy, even in a power chair, has a right to independent travel. It is the duty of the O&M specialist to help him be safe. If Ms Jordan had honored her duty, she could have discussed the learning process with Dr Flemming and assured her that it is possible, that it has been done. Because it is. And it has. Sec 300.34(a)(7)(ii) Inlcudes teaching children the following, as appropriate: (C) To understand and use remaining vision and distance low vision aids; and (D) Other concepts, techniques, and tools By refusing to participate in the discussion, Ms Jordan wasted an amazing opportunity to asked detailed questions about Jacobs vision and what supports would be appropriate. Why was the parent the one that needed to ask what size letter Jacob could see? What level of detail could he see in a picture? If line drawings were better? Why did not Ms Jordan seek clarification when she wondered with his CVI, they will probably fluctuate from day to day based on if he is having a good day. Not sure if parents know this or not. ? Why did she not ask? What was the hurt in that? What has Ms Jordan been trained not to say? In Jacobs FIE, Ms Henry, Jacobs vision specialist, did not think it worthwhile to have a Clinical Low Vision Exam. This evaluation was at the parents request to understand his vision and how to use it and low vision aids. I asked about using a CCT to bring what was far closer to Jacob, within his field of vision. Dr. Flemming told us about a device called the flipper, which switches between focusing on distant objects, like the teacher and whiteboard, and flipping to near objects. Ms Jordan was familiar with this aid. Sec 300.34(a)(8) (i) Parent counseling and training means assisting parents in understanding the special needs of their child; (ii) Providing parents with information about child development; and

(iii) Helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their childs IEP or IFSP. CFB was invited to the evaluation to participate, to make it better. In playing dumb, the vision specialist Ms Jordan clearly states these rights were purposefully quashed. Sec 300.39 Special education. (a) General. (1) Special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including (i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and (ii) Instruction in physical education. (2) Special education includes each of the following, if the services otherwise meet the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section (i) Speech-language pathology services, or any other related service, if the service is considered special education rather than a related service under State standards; (ii) Travel training Ms Jordan had an opportunity to help shape the best education possible at this evaluation. At the November 2010 ARD, Jacobs Speech Pathologist Amanda Phillips states categorically that Jacob has no ability to communicate . She proudly declared CFB ISDs major educational accomplishment is to have taught him to lift his head on command (which the ISDs attorney echoed). Yet on June 22nd, Dr Flemming confirmed Jacob abliity to communicate. She asked Jacob questions. And he responded, selecting the cards he could see, ignoring the others. Dr Flemming used Jacobs information to determine his vision. (the system uses vanishing lines. The lines get thinner and closer together, gradually blurring to gray, depending on the vision). Ms Jordan knew Jacob from school. She knew the perceptions of his inability to communicate, which is why she said, I was impressed with how he was able to pretty acurately touch the square as it moved from card to card. She could have changed those perceptions and greatly improved the specially designed instruction. 3. Failure to provide Assistive Technology sec 300.105 Each public agency must ensure that assistive technology devices or assistive technology services, or both, as those terms are defined in 300.5 and 300.6, respectively, are made available to a child with a disability if required as a part of the childs

(1) Special education under 300.36; (2) Related services under 300.34; or (3) Supplementary aids and services under 300.38 and 300.114(a)(2)(ii). At the previous ARD, I asked if there was a device, even a webcam, that could be used to bring what was far into Jacobs sphere of vision. I was met with blank stares from the 10+ representatives of CFB, including Ms Darcy Henry and Ms Anita Shepard, the Assistive Technology person. The Flipper is one well known device. There are others as well. Ms Jordan did not inquire about any devices or methods to help Jacob use his vision. Not a CCT, not a larger monitor. Not even low tech solutions like lighting & contrast, blackgrounds and fonts, color preferences (which are all easier to change using specialied devices.) 4. Failure to provide the Least Restrictive Environment Sec 300.114 (a)(2) (i) To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled; and (ii) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. The goal of special education is for the student to catch up to his peers and be in with them in the general education classroom. Why would Ms Jordan question this goal in a Low Vision Evaluation? Yet she does by stating He (dad) also mentioned that he (Jacob) will not be in the developmental center next year, but in regular ed. 1st grade????

B. What are the facts on which the allegation is based

1. Ms Christy Jordan is a specialist in Vision Instruction & Orientation & Mobility. 2. Ms Jordan represented CFB ISD at a Low Vision Evaluation for Jacob Gorman 3. Ms Jordan had information useful to Jacob Gorman and to his parents. 4. Ms Jordan did not provide information to Jacob nor his parents.

5. Ms Jordan proudly reported to Ms Henry, Jacobs vision teacher, and Ms Randi Wells, the Executive Director of Special Education, that she did not provide any information. 6. Ms Henry knew of Ms Jordans actions and condoned them. 7. The head of Special Education, Ms Wells, knew of Ms Jordans actions and either requested them or supported them. 8. Ms Wells discussed Ms Jordans participation and her role at the evaluation with Ms Jordan. 9. Ms Jordan was not the only one playing dumb, rather, it is institutional policy in Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD at least in Special Education, Carrollton Elementary, and the Division of Student Services. C. What are Significant Dates and Events that may be

relevant to this allegation?

January 2006 - June 2011. Specifically, June 22, 2010. We requested a Low Vision exam to help understand the extent of Jacob's blindness. We invited the school district to participate and share in the knowledge, so that as a team we could help Jacob access his world. The school district sent Ms Christy Jordan, a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and also the only cerfitied Orientation and Mobility specialist in CFB ISD. On June 22nd, 2010, Ms Jordan met us at Dr Fleming's office. Ms Jordan details her perception of the event in an e-mail to the Executive Director of Special Education. Ms Jordan and Ms Wells discussed the meeting prior to the evaluation

D. What Documents supporting the facts should be reviewed by the Agency regarding this allegation?
1. E-mail from Ms Jordan to Ms Randi Wells, Exec Director of Special Education, CFB ISD dated June 22, 2010. Attached. 2. Orginal e-mail from Ms Wells to Ms Jordan with instructions for her participation at the evaluation. 3. Reply from Ms Wells to Ms Jordan. 4. Ms Jordan's notes of the event. 5. Ms Wells meeting notes with the Gormans and her responses 6. Mr Jacksons correspondence with the Gormans 7. Mr Hollands notes from meetings with the Gormans and his responses. 8. Ms Henrys notes regarding Jacob and how to help him use his remaining vision, or supplement the loss. 9. The IEP and meeting minutes for 2010-2011 10. The audio tapes for the 2010-2011 ARD

E. Please describe your proposal for resolution of the allegation or to the problem.
1. Institutional change. The attitude in the Special Education Department is not focused on the student's needs, nor is it one that respects the parents as partners. 2. Pay to move the Gorman family to a school district that will provide open dialog and a true Free and Appropriate Education, specifically Plano ISD. 3. Assign wards to monitor the situation of all the children in CFB ISD that cannot walk and cannot talk.