Delavan child with disabilities in educational limbo Parents appeal state Department of Public Instruction for transfer to virtual school iQ Academy

Karen Herzog, via a kind reader's email:

A Delavan couple is appealing a decision by the state Department of Public Instruction to support the Waukesha School District's placement of their son in a bricks-and-mortar school instead of the virtual school they requested because the boy has cerebral palsy and speech impairments.

"We consider this straight-out discrimination, because he once had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan)," said Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, the attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin who filed a petition for review in Walworth County Circuit Court.

The 12-year-old boy no longer has an IEP for special education services and could attend the online school easier than a bricks-and-mortar school because of his physical disabilities, Spitzer-Resnick said. His mother was interested in the virtual school because it would offer a curriculum and structure; she currently home-schools the boy.

"He does have severe physical disabilities, but he's quite smart," Spitzer-Resnick said.

The Delavan parents of a 12-year-old who cannot speak or move because of cerebral palsy asked a Walworth County judge this week to reverse decisions that prohibit their son from learning at home by using public school computer courses.

The parents, Daniel and Catherine "Cassie" Hartogh, contend that their son Benjamin was discriminated against because he could not get into a virtual school program.

Representing the family is Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin in Madison.

"It's an awful situation, and my son is suffering from it," Cassie Hartogh said in a telephone interview.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 11, 2011 4:39 PM
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