Stop the Torture of Autistic Kids - Franklin Must Go! (Cherry Hill, NJ)
From: Bob
Witanek [mailto:bwitanek@igc.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 10:36 PM
To: 'anneeinhorn@chclc.org'; 'robertrusso@chclc.org'; 'susanbadaracco@chclc.org';
'lisaconn@chclc.org'; 'sharongiaccio@chclc.org'; 'kenhartman@chclc.org'; 'nancyodowd@chclc.org';
'stevenrobbins@chclc.org'; 'marktrentacoste@chclc.org'
Cc: 'Robert.A.Bourbon@hotmail.com'; 'SEA@hnva.net'
Subject: Stop Torture of Autistic Kids - Franklin Must Go!
Dear Board and Administration of Cherry Hill, NJ Public Schools,
As founding member of NJ Student Advocacy Union
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org (for identification purposes only), I hereby
wholeheartedly call upon you to heed the demands of the President of Cherry Hill
Special Education Alliance Stuart Chaifetz and remove without delay Ms. Franklin
from her position as director of special education and to form a special
education grievances committee to sincerely address the apparent many problems
in Cherry Hill schools in dealing with our children with special education
needs.
With an US Attorney General refusing to condemn water boarding as torture, with
the numerous offenses being committed at Guantanamo and in prisons and detention
camps throughout the US, perhaps school districts are now thinking that methods
of torture are valid means of dealing with our children with behavioral
disabilities. I guess we are witnessing the trickle down effect of a torture
nation.
You strike our children into your little autism room, we see it as a blow against the close to a million members of special education families across the state of New Jersey. We will not be silent and allow you to yield this reprehensible action against our children. The whole state is aware of this issue and you are just starting to feel the first ripples of what the reaction will be. The question is, will you be complicit in this horrendous action with your silence or will you act immediately to clear house of the responsible parties and address immediately address the legitimate and necessary concerns of the parents in your district?
We await your immediate action.
BASTA!
Bob Witanek
NJ Student Advocacy Union http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org (for identification purposes only),
-----Original Message-----
From my board:
Dear SEPTA Members,
We on the SEPTA board of officers are very aware of the attention that arose in the media in the last day or so, regarding the "Quiet Rooms" at Knight and Kilmer. Because this attention raises so many questions, I believe it is beneficial to communicate to everyone what we have done and continue to do on this issue.
Shortly after the rooms came to our attention in an October 2007 Parent's Forum, I summarized all of the concerns that were discussed at the forum in an October 22nd letter to Ms. Franklin. Shortly thereafter, two SEPTA board officers viewed the rooms and met productively with district staff.
The following communications ensued: (Attached for review)
· I sent Ms. Franklin another letter on October 29 th requesting specific information and offering SEPTA assistance in fashioning district policies regarding such rooms
· Ms. Franklin sent me an email addressing issues I raised in the October 22nd SEPTA correspondence, but lacking the specificity sought, and not addressing the issue of policies and the creation of policies
· Ms. Franklin responded in a November 6th correspondence to the SEPTA letter of October 22 nd, and referenced her October 30th email regarding the rooms
Agreement was met that SEPTA and the district would meet on November 26th to address how issues were to be submitted for resolution with the district. I attended that meeting with Lynette Howard of Zone PTA. The district was cordial and generous with their time. It was agreed that SEPTA's remaining issues would be submitted to the protocols outlined in that meeting.
The following day, I fielded a number of media inquiries regarding the rooms. I articulated for the media, so that SEPTA would not be misunderstood, the following:
· We found out about the rooms in October and undertook a fact finding effort;
· We sent representatives to view the rooms and discuss them with staff;
· We corresponded with District and they corresponded with us;
· We met with District yesterday and came to an understanding on how issues/concerns should be presented to District, and intended to submit this issue to that process;
· We have not reached any "agreement" with District on the rooms and we are not satisfied with the amount of information we have received;
· We are seeking the policies, procedures, practices, records, related to the rooms and the training of the staff utilizing them;
· We cannot know how many kids were in the rooms due to non-verbal students, emotional distress, etc.;
· We question the degree to which any consent by parents to have their children use the rooms was informed consent;
· We are opposed to the use of aversives, to include isolation;
· We take the position that any room that a child is removed to should be similar in its appointment, conductivity to learning, level of instruction; and equally appropriate in meeting the child's IEP as the room he/she left.
Please understand, as members of SEPTA, the following important points:
·
SEPTA values
transparency in all of our dealings. That is why we post our correspondence on
our website at
http://www.chlive.
· SEPTA values membership privacy. We were not responsible for this issue being in the media and we took no role in the media's coverage.
· SEPTA values relationships. We have sought to deal with the district face to face, in a respectful, cordial, and collaborative manner.
· SEPTA values fair play. Once we understood how the district wanted issues addressed, we respected and followed the policies.
· SEPTA values the welfare of special needs children. Our focus remains on their interests and welfare. Not ours, not the district's.
We know the last day or two have been stressful on our membership. We plan to move forward and re-double our efforts to bring resolution to the issues that concern our membership. We look forward to the district's continued goodwill and cooperation, and we are optimistic that good things can come from these recent events.
Sincerely,
Bob Bourbon
President - SEPTA
Dear friends,
The recent discovery that a padded closet was being used for children
with Autism in the Cherry Hill School system was absolutely shocking
and broke all of our hearts. That such an atrocity was set in place
is no accident, but instead is the inevitable result of the
continuing degradation of Special Education by our School
Administration and Superintendent, David Campbell.
Before the election last year, the Campbell Administration promised
there would be no cuts to special education, yet within a month they
had fired more than two dozen special education aides. Since that
time they have devastated home instruction services for the most
needy children by denying these services on days when children have
off from school (the entire purpose of the program was to give
disabled children extra help when they were out of school). In
addition, the Campbell Administration has been violating state law by
going farther and denying home instruction services to children even
when school was in session. The State is investigating this and we
expect to be victorious in our complaint against the Superintendent
and his Director of Special Education, Isreala Franklin.
At the Board of Education meeting on November 27th, it was revealed
by a parent that one Cherry Hill school has not had therapists for
special needs children for the entire year so far. This was confirmed
by Isreala Franklin. This is an absolute outrage and inexcusable; I
have spoken before the Board of Education a dozen times over the past
year warning them about under-staffing, and even with a full year's
warning, Franklin did nothing to rectify this situation.
Whether it was sheer incompetence or deliberate neglect, Franklin has
betrayed an entire school of special needs children by not providing
the proper staffing. Make no mistake that the children who
desperately needed this care have been harmed and will continue to
suffer because of Campbell's and Franklin's massive reduction of
resources for special needs children.
How many times are our children going to be treated like second class
citizens by the Campbell Administration? How many more times are we
going to be lied to and betrayed? And how many more nightmares are
yet to be uncovered and revealed? Enough is enough: For far too long
Special Needs children in Cherry Hill have been bled by budget cuts,
loss of staff and lack of therapists. These children cannot stand
further loss, and the only way to protect them is to stand up and
take action in their defense.
It is for all these reasons, including the despicable padded closet,
that we are calling for the termination of employment of Director of
Special Education Isreala Franklin, for she has absolutely failed to
protect and help the children under her care.
I strongly encourage all of you to contact the Cherry Hill Board of
Education and demand that immediate action be taken to not only
remove Franklin, but to create a new oversight committee for Special
Education, so that the grievous offenses committed against the most
vulnerable of our children may finally be dealt with and corrected.
Sincerely,
Stuart Chaifetz
President, Special Education Alliance
SEA@hnva.net
Email Addresses for the Cherry Hill Board of Education:
Anne Einhorn President
anneeinhorn@
Robert Russo Vice President
robertrusso@
Susan Badaracco
susanbadaracco@
Lisa Conn
lisaconn@chclc.
Sharon Giaccio sharongiaccio@
Kenneth Hartman
kenhartman@chclc.
Nancy O'Dowd
nancyodowd@chclc.
Steven Robbins stevenrobbins@
Mark Trentacoste
marktrentacoste@
Watch the news stories: http://www.nbc10.
http://cbs3.
Read the Courier-Post story:
http://www.courierp
From the web boards:
"I was so saddned to hear of this story. I had to
pull my 3.5 year old son (autism) out of school in Racine, WI a couple months
ago due to a similar situation. He was mechanically restrained without my
knowledge or consent. This affected him adversely of course. When I tried to
talk to the school about it, they actually argued with me and would not admit
that it was wrong. The director of spcial ed. resigned w/out notice, DPI issued
corrective action, but who cares. The teacher(s) are still there, doing the same
thing or worse to other kids. Anytime, a person (child or adult) is viewed as a
second class citizen things like this will continue to happen. I truly admire
the Cherry Hill community for standing together (for the most part) and calling
for resignations and change. Best of luck to the family...I wish you all the
best."
--
Americans don't learn to be self-governing citizens by baking brownies for the
school benefit or dishing out soup in a church basement. They learn to be
citizens by sitting down with each other around your tables back home, and
through the gritty, messy, unpredictable process of democratic engagement,
hammering out solutions to pressing, concrete problems using their own common
sense and everyday wisdom.
-William Schambra (Director, Bradley Center for Philanthropy & Civic Renewal at
the Hudson Institute)
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