Special Education In Livingston Schools Put Under The Microscope

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Do you have concerns about special education in Livingston’s public schools? You’re not alone, a newly released report says.

In the spring of 2023, the district commissioned an audit involving Livingston’s schools. The goal? To get feedback from an outside third-party about “inclusivity and equity.”

That report was released in early December and discussed at a board of education meeting. See the results of the general audit here.

After the meeting, some Livingston residents asked for more information about special education – and alleged “retaliation” when parents complain. In response, a2z Equity Coaching prepared a follow-up addendum to the report that addressed their concerns, noting that the feedback they received from parents and other community members has not been “verified as fact.” View the full report online here.

Some of the concerns that participants expressed included:

• “OoD students not included in district and school communications and events”
• “Lack of programing/supports for neurodiverse students (all or nothing approach)”
• “Access to courses/electives that are not required or do not meet graduation requirements”
• “Overrepresentation by race in self-contained classrooms”
• “Staff turnover, especially at Burnett Hill”
• “Bullying of neurodiverse students”
• “Lack of co-curricular opportunities”
• “Treated as ‘less than’ for not performing to high achieving standard”

The two most-frequent issues reported across grade levels were:

ALL OR NOTHING – “The school's inability to program for neurodiverse students. A common theme is that the school takes an "all or nothing approach" - either you can be included in everything or nothing. Parent perception is there is little or no flexibility.”

EQUAL COURSE ACCESS – “The inability of students with special needs to have access to courses at the secondary level that are not required or do not meet graduation requirements (example, ICS offered in Spanish; if your child wants French, they cannot get ICS). These types of issues were mentioned repeatedly.”

The report noted that there was a “persistent theme of fear of retaliation and a perception of favoritism” among parents and staff who interviewed for the survey on special needs.

Some of their concerns included:

Favoritism – “Shows up when a student misbehaves, but has a parent who is friendly with a principal, district administrator, or board member. The perception is that the ‘friend’ makes a call, or has coffee, and the consequence for that student is reduced. Both family and staff cited incidents such as this.”

Retaliation – “Many staff recounted incidents in which they took a stance on an issue counter to what leadership wanted – sometimes advocating for a student, sometimes for themselves or against a policy or practice – and then received negative evaluations during their next observation cycle, even though they had a history of high evaluations to that point. Others spoke about being reassigned to less desirable positions or schedules, or about reaching out to ask for support (health concerns, overwhelming workload) and rather than receiving that support, instead receiving negative evaluations or write-ups.”

Threats – “Examples were provided about students being ‘threatened’ with not graduating if they continued to post in the Black at Livingston social media space.”

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Shelley Zion of a2z Equity Coaching gave a presentation about special education at Tuesday’s board of education meeting (watch footage below, video is cued to the discussion).

“While the audit is done, and the final report shared, your work is just beginning,” Zion’s addendum report from Feb. 6 states.

“Now the district – via administrative teams, district departments, individual school teams, equity councils, parent groups and board committees – will have to engage with the findings, ask more questions and come up with strategies to respond to the recommendations,” the report continues.

“The single biggest challenge for the district is to create the organizational structures and supports that allow the students, faculty and staff, and community members to engage with and implement the recommendations in their interpersonal interactions, classroom, building and team settings,” the report adds.

See other suggestions here.

“The purpose of the equity audit is not punitive, nor should it be weaponized,” the report added. “It is meant to help all stakeholders in the district engage in a process of continuous improvement. If we are to build a humanizing system, we have to all work together to repair, restore, and build trust and communication.”

The report also painted an overall positive picture of Livingston’s public school system:

“Livingston Public Schools is a good school system. Overall, students fare well on academic and co-curricular standards, behave as expected, and succeed in completing their schooling and progressing to college and career. The district does not have any significant areas of disproportionality, and most faculty and staff see it as a good place to live and work, contributing to high levels of staff retention in most instructional and support services areas. Changing demographics have created some tensions, and the district has responded by increasing its attention on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion. There are challenges and occasional incidents that are addressed, but outcomes are good.”

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