Families confront HISD board over special education program's changes and investigation

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The HISD board of managers addressed the community for the first time since the Trump administration launched an investigation into the district's special education program, and families showed up to address the board in return.

The stories shared in Thursday's meeting were personal.

"We are being asked to choose between keeping him at his home school, where services do not match his IEP, or moving him to an entirely different campus where he does not have friends," a mother of a special education student said.

Parents and students speaking before the board of managers asked why children with disabilities are being told to move from schools that have the resources to teach them.

Just last week, the Department of Education launched an investigation into the district's special education program to find out if the district is discriminating against students with disabilities over its proposal to separate them from the larger student population.

University of Houston education professor Duncan Klussman said the team within the department of education that does these investigations has been stripped back under the Trump administration, and he was surprised to see one announced so quickly.

"I was surprised that the federal government moved that fast to say we are going to investigate this. Now, the state of Texas and all the school districts have been under the eye of the federal government because of special education, which may not be as surprising because the feds have had a focus on Texas for a while to prove it's providing special education to those with special needs," Klussman said.

The investigation wasn't mentioned by the board Thursday night, though members did ask pointed questions.

"The success programs, are they going to be housed within schools with general education, or are they going to be standalone locations or campuses?" board member Marcos Rosales asked

"I'm glad you asked that. There are no standalone campuses," deputy superintendent Krinsten Holt said.

Superintendent Mike Miles acknowledged that having the district under special education compliance is one of three criteria the state must meet to take over, and said students' individualized learning plans, also called IEPs, won't change.

"It's important to have IEPs, it's important to understand the specific disability, and on top of that, it's important to have good instruction for every kid regardless of disability," Miles said.

ABC13 learned that of the roughly 20,000 special education students in HISD, around 5,000 could be affected by being told they must move schools in just a few months.

The district claims students who receive the most tailored instruction will now be in classrooms with fewer grade levels and fewer students to improve learning.

What wasn't addressed is why the families weren't engaged in the changes and why they found out about them so shortly before the upcoming school year.

"This is not an educational change, it is an eviction from his support system," one special education parent told the board.