Legal fees thin special ed budget

Attorney’s fees brought by complaints from guardians of children with special needs are taking its toll on the shrinking budget allotted for the special education of the Public School System.

Special Education Program Coordinator Franklin R. Perez said PSS spends $200 per day when complaints lodged in are brought to court.

This daily legal expenditure will easily translate to $200,000 each year which should have gone to serve the needs of children.

Perez said based on federal regulations, complaints can be pursued through the complaint procedure and due process.

The complaint procedure does not bring any legal fees for parents or PSS. A team involving the school principal, PSS legal counsel, special education coordinator and teachers will be convened to address the complaint.

However, legal fees would start to pile up when complainants opt to pursue the case using the due process.

Sources said advocacy groups would pursue complaints by taking PSS to court.

Currently, PSS is responding to three cases in court, the highest number so far, and is taking money away from the children with special needs, he said.

According to PSS Budget Officer William Matson, just like the regular PSS programs, special education also took the 10 percent cut on its budget this year.

Although the program secured close to $3 million from the Federal government, it also relied on local funding amounting to $2 million this year.

“The money is a lot but it can go pretty quickly too,” Matson said, considering that addressing the special needs of one student would mean thousands of dollars.

Its budget is mostly directed to hire special education teachers and experts on correcting speech, physical mobility and other special needs.

For this coming school year, the program still lacks five teachers to maintain the present number of people on board, Perez said. “But we lack 17 teachers from what it should be,” he added.

PSS tried to recruit teachers from the mainland through the Internet. Acting Associate Commissioner for Instruction Rita Sablan said only 10 have so far responded.

However, it is still a question on whether PSS is in the position to recruit more teachers. “Next year, the challenge remains if we can fill up vacancies,” Matson said.