Two families allege disability discrimination against Denton ISD

Two local families have filed or are in the process of filing formal discrimination complaints against Denton ISD, alleging the school system failed to provide special education services to their children for the 2023-24 school year.

Delia Sandoval says her daughter Eva fell behind last school year because she didn’t have a certified special education teacher. Her daughter, who has developmental delays, is in her third year of preschool in the district, and an attorney filed a complaint last June through the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Sandoval said the individualized education plan, which can be offered to special education and general education students, calls for her daughter to receive 95 minutes of emergency literacy, 60 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of special personal care, 15 minutes of physical education and 105 minutes of social-emotional support daily.

“Our goal for Eva is for her to be in school with other students by the time she gets to high school,” Sandoval said. “But for this she must be prepared. She’s not ready now. Right now she’s behind.

Tanya East, who says her 4-year-old son is autistic and nonverbal, said she asked the district in the spring of 2023 to provide her son with a supplemental and alternative communication device that could help him learn to communicate. The county did not provide the device, but the family was able to obtain one, East said.

“The district, despite being a bring-your-own-device district, only had 10% usage in the first nine weeks,” East said. “This is his voice. They model it for him and they rarely use it.”

East said she contacted an attorney to file a disability discrimination complaint last December and refiled it last April. She is waiting for a letter which she expects will lead to an investigation.

The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights lists two pending investigations — one dated June 4 and another dated June 9 — filed against the district this year, both of which are listed as pending investigations into violations of free related education publications. FAPE is guaranteed to children ages 3 to 21 by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

“Denton ISD does not discriminate,” Denton ISD officials said in a statement. “We will continue to work with parents to meet the needs of all students. Of the 33,348 students we serve, we are aware of two complaints filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. One involves a public school student who is interested in football, and that individual is no longer enrolled in Denton ISD.”

Both Sandoval and East said their children suffer from a shortage of certified special education teachers in the district.

The Texas Education Agency listed special education among eight teacher shortage areas in the state and one of four teaching areas in the state with “critical shortages” in 2023-24. The TEA found that Texas public schools have a shortage of special education teachers in all grades. Critical shortages allow teaching credential candidates to apply for federally funded TEACH grants or Public Service Loan Forgiveness to become certified to teach in these professions.

“We were unstaffed or the classroom was unstaffed for 164 days of the 180 days of the school year,” East said. “That’s 72,160 minutes of school (year) that were not properly staffed with the required certified teachers or (paraprofessionals).”

Julie Zwar, director of communications for Denton ISD, said district officials are always working to recruit and retain certified teachers to serve its 43 campuses.

“As schools across the country continually work to recruit teachers, especially in high-need areas, some vacancies are being filled by teachers with alternative or provisional certifications. In the current climate, the need for teachers is increasing,” she said in an email. “The two parents you refer to have (students) currently enrolled in Denton ISD who are served by a teacher who is EC-12 certified in special education.”

East said she believes staffing shortages have contributed to another problem. Her son wears sweatpants, and East said her son sometimes lacked adequate dressing changes, and on one occasion spent seven hours in dirty sweatpants.

Both Sandoval and East are concerned about the possibility of retaliation as a result of their complaints. Sandoval said she believes her relationship with the district worsened after she filed a formal complaint.

“They’re pushing us aside or cutting us off, and they’re not really willing to listen to our voices and compromise,” Sandoval said. “And I think the hardest thing is not taking responsibility even after they admitted they didn’t provide my child with over 7,000 minutes of instruction. It was very disappointing to sit there and take it as an outsider.”