Coronavirus stopped school, not learning for special ed students in Stanislaus County
Estrella Contreras loves school, even her new Zoom classroom set up when schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 4-year-old from Turlock has Down syndrome and hearing loss. She joined Serena Riray’s special education class for deaf and hard-of-hearing preschoolers at Margaret L. Annear School in January 2019.
“Estrella knows when it’s time for her Zoom classes,” said Yadira Contreras, Estrella’s mother, “She still gets to sign, see her teachers and friends and an education targeted for her way of learning.”
With statewide school closures, distance learning has emerged as the mainstay for educating California’s students.
But, the barriers for distance learning, including having little or no experience with videoconferencing and the need for electronic devices and consistent access to the internet for typically developing children, quickly became apparent to parents, teachers and the school districts.
Children with hearing or vision impairment, cognitive delays or physical disabilities may have to overcome even more obstacles to use the devices and videoconferencing.
With her hearing loss, Estrella has challenges with communicating. Since starting school, the happy little girl now uses sign language and vocalizes words. Contreras was worried that she would lose ground when the schools closed.
“I was afraid she would backtrack, but she is doing great,” said Contreras, “Her classes are amazing and I get to do the Zoom classes.”
Riray, Estrella’s teacher, has been a special education teacher with Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE) for about three years. She has some unique skills for her job: she grew up signing as her older sister is deaf, her bachelor’s degree is in speech therapy and her master’s degree is in special education.
But her media experience was mostly from socializing with friends.
“I had never used Zoom,” said Riray, “It’s a big experiment but the families are learning with me as we go.”
She said they had a few technical glitches initially, but by the second week the kids were fully engaged and the parents reported being pleased.
“One of the few positives of this situation is that I have more interactions with parents,” said Riray, “And they’re learning (signs) at the same time with the kids.”
Riray has held Zoom classes three times a week since the schools closed. She has also been mailing packets of hands-on activities to her students and making phone calls with families.
She said that other service providers, such as speech therapist and behavior therapists, continue to collaborate with her, including joining the Zoom classes, to try to meet the children’s needs.
Special education in time of COVID-19
The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the 26 districts in the county have rallied to develop distance learning plans for about 110,000 K-12 school kids and the more than 1,400 special education students, birth to 22, when the pandemic closed schools.
But, meeting the gamut of unique needs for students in special ed is a tall order from afar, and may not happen all at once.
“Our professionals have fully stepped up to this challenge and have fully committed to providing services in the best way that they can,” said Sarah Grantano, SCOE assistant superintendent for special education and health services.
SCOE coordinates — or case manages — all of the services for the county’s students with the highest needs.
“We have about 700 students for whom we provide direct services, that is we’re their case manager,” Grantano said. “It’s close to 1,400 total with adding in the other students for whom the districts are mainly responsible, but we provide some services.”
California has nearly three-quarter million students enrolled in special education with an individualized education plan (IEP).
An IEP is a legal document that maps out the plans for instruction, support and other services needed for a child with a qualifying disability to reach his/her highest educational achievement.
The services cover a wide range from tutors and therapists to 1-on-1 classroom aides for severely impaired students.
The Individual Disability Education Act specifies 13 broad categories of disabilities that may qualify a child for special education, such as hearing, vision or physical impairment, emotional disturbances, autism and intellectual disabilities, among others.
By law, public schools, but not private ones, must provide the requirements of a student’s IEP. The U.S. Department of Education has not waived the IDEA requirements during the pandemic.
The California Department of Education and the State Board of Education is working with the federal government for flexibility with the requirements, and providing guidance to the state’s schools in the interim.
Local school districts provide more than academics
“We are providing academic opportunities for our students,” said Ana Trujillo Santillan, mental health clinical for the Ceres Unified School District, “But our focus is the mental health and well-being of our students and families.”
Trujillo Santillan is a licensed clinical social worker at Don Pedro Elementary School and she works with emotionally disturbed children. Her students have challenges with learning, controlling their behaviors and mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.
“Now we have parents and kids who already have mental health and behavior issues, confined in situations with increased family stress,” said Trujillo Santillan, “We’re trying to help them maintain some sense of normalcy.”
Teachers are also using ClassDoJo, a free app used to cultivate a positive, connected classroom environment for special ed, as well as general ed students.
In the app, the children have a personalized profile that includes their own avatar. Teachers can reach out to the students personally, as well as a group to send out push alerts, distribute homework and share videos.
Grantano said initially, some parents weren’t ready to take on distance learning due to feeling overwhelmed with the demands of other children at home, job loss and other stressors of the pandemic.
So, special ed personnel started making phone calls to families to ensure that their basic needs, such as food and housing, were being met, including giving them information about food distribution in their districts.
Based upon emails to The Bee from local school districts, special ed teachers and personnel throughout the county are using videoconferencing, mailing homework packets and skill sheets, doing telephone checks and using social media to stay connected with their students and families and to offer social-emotional support, as well as academics.
Trujillo Santillan said it is a privilege that families are allowing school personnel into their homes.
“It is a difficult time for everyone and we want to help alleviate some of the stress,” said Trujillo Santillan, “We are leaning into this with empathy, patience and grace.”
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
