By Sarah Nagem
snagem@salisburypost.com
Some parents of Rowan-Salisbury students with disabilities told school board members earlier this week they’re unhappy about changes in the school system’s exceptional children program.
One by one, half a dozen parents explained to board members why off-campus activities are so important to their children.
Wendy Burnette spoke of her 8-year-old son, who is in a wheelchair because he has cerebral palsy. Burnette said she was disappointed the school system did away with trips to the Saving Grace horse farm in Salisbury.
“When my son got on that horse, he had legs,” Burnette told the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education as she became emotional.
Last month, the exceptional children’s department announced that off-campus trips will be more limited this year.
Students in EC classes will not leave campus for community-based learning activities more than once every three weeks.
Schools will continue to transport students to train for the Special Olympics, but not as often for some students. From now on, they can leave school to train up to 19 times throughout the year, the department decided.
In the past, some students went to the YMCA to train for swimming once a week.
The activities have become limited so teachers can focus more on classroom instruction, Dr. Crystal Vail, director of the EC department, has said.
EC students are held to the same standards as other students on federal and state accountability programs.
Some parents who addressed the school board Monday said their children learn valuable lessons while they are away from the classroom.
Dena Taylor said her son, Shawn, who attends Carson High School, learns how to read signs during his class trips to Wal-Mart. He also practices finding his way to the check-out line and paying the cashier, she said.
“Life skills are a vital part of any child’s education, but especially for Shawn and his (classmates),” Taylor said.
Last month, Dr. Rebecca Smith, assistant superintendent of curriculum, said the EC department will consider how a field trip relates to each child’s individualized education plan, or IEP.
Carson student Hannah Rowland’s IEP calls for community activities and trips to the library, her mother, Denise Rowland, told the school board.
The school had transported Hannah to the public library for more than three years, she said.
Rowland said Carson, which is the school system’s newest high school, has only a small collection of books that are written at an apppropriate skill level for her daughter, who has Down syndrome.
She said the EC department has agreed to take Hannah to the public library after her trips to the YMCA to practice swimming.
That seemed to ease Rowland’s concerns a bit.
“I do feel like things are moving in a positive direction, and I hope they continue to do so,” she said.
After the meeting, Vail said more skill- and age-appropriate books have been ordered for Carson’s school library.
Hannah’s father, David Rowland, said he was upset his daughter can no longer visit Saving Grace. Even if some students couldn’t ride the horses, he said, they learned how to take care of pets.
Burnette said trips to the horse farm gave the students an opportunity to encourage each other. And they learned from the trips, too, she said.
“To say it wasn’t educational ó he learned his ABCs in three days,” Burnette said of her son.
Instructors used to explain to her son that he would start riding the horse at a sign that said “A” and then maybe turn left at “B,” she said.
Christina Schmidt, whose 14-year-old son Joseph has Down syndrome, said she was concerned her son did not have everything he needed to learn at school.
“The ‘normal’ children had their needs met on day one of the school year,” Schmidt said.
Debbie File told board members her 19-year-old son Travis, who attends Carson, enjoys his swimming practices.
Travis, who also has Down syndrome, practiced at the Y a couple of weeks ago.
“Travis was so excited he woke me up that morning instead of me waking him up,” File said.
The board did not discuss the EC program during the meeting. Changes in off-campus trips for EC students did not require a vote from the board.
But Dr. Jim Emerson, chairman of the board, briefly addressed the parents.
“Let me assure you that you have been heard,” Emerson said.