The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Legal Services announced on Wednesday they filed a federal complaint against the Providence Public School District for allegedly failing to give parents of special education students important documents on services they may receive.
According to a news release, the complaint, filed with the US Department of Education, states that the documents “contain student test protocols, which include notes and observations of evaluators that form the basis of reports on the services that must be provided to address the child’s special educational needs.”
“The complaint, on behalf of a Providence parent and her child, was filed as a class administrative complaint on behalf of all children with disabilities or suspected disabilities in the school district,” the release said. “The school district has admitted that it has failed to maintain and/or cannot locate evaluation and test protocols for the child and, presumably, other students.”
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The RIACLU and RI Legal Services said they’re seeking “a variety of forms of relief,” including trainings for school staff on protocols and an order barring the district from “using evaluations where protocols have been mislaid, lost, or destroyed illegally if a parent or guardian objects to their use.”
Reaching for comment, Rhode Island Department of Education spokesman Victor Morente said the school district “was recently made aware of the complaint.”
“It is under review by PPSD’s legal counsel, and they will respond accordingly,” he added.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: ACLU, RI Legal Services file complaint against PPSD on special education records