Four parents have filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of their autistic children, alleging that the Philadelphia School District is illegally moving the children from school to school based solely on their disability. At issue is the district's Automatic Autism Transfer Policy, which mandates that students with autism move to another school at the end of third and fifth grades. Non-autistic students do not have to move. The four plaintiff parents, whose suit was filed Monday in federal court, claim the district is violating state and federal law by transferring students simply because they are autistic.
Autism-support classes are located in various schools throughout the city, requiring most students to be transferred every three years. Most schools that have an autism-support class have a K-2, 3-5, or 6-8 class, but not all three, according to Sonja Kerr, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Sharon Vargas, one of the plaintiffs, said she is worried for her son, a second grader. "They don't really prepare the kids for a transition, and that's really hard for autistic kids," she said. "It's so frustrating." Though the suit was filed by four parents, the policy affects at least 3,000 students district-wide, said Kerr, director of disability rights at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. "We think it's a widespread problem," said Kerr. "We think it's a long-standing problem."
Transitions are especially difficult for people with autism, and the automatic-transfer policy has been criticized by the Philadelphia Right to Education Local Task Force, a local authority charged with monitoring school districts' compliance on special-education issues. Two of the plaintiff parents won due-process hearings this year that found that the district had violated the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act by keeping their children out of their neighborhood schools and by allowing the children's autism-support classrooms to become overcrowded.
The hearing officer said then that he did not have the authority to address the automatic-transfer policy. In his finding, which was included in the lawsuit, Officer Brian Jason Ford wrote, "The district is encouraged to alter its procedures on a broader scope, if only to avoid a plethora of identical claims from similarly situated students." Two of the students are 9-year-olds finishing third grade at Richmond Elementary in Port Richmond; two are 8-year-olds finishing second grade at Richmond. The parents seek to have the transfer policy overturned so their children can attend support classes in their current school.
Kerr, the parents who filed the suit, and their children are holding a news conference Tuesday to draw attention to the case. Kerr said she believed many parents of special-education students did not know their rights. A School District spokeswoman said she had not yet seen the suit and so could not comment.
Advice about a friendship situation
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