🚨Pass Ezra’s Act : Protect Children With Disabilities & Protect Families Through Transparency and Accountability

🏫 Families trust schools to protect, support, and educate their children every single day.

That trust should never be broken by schools making life-changing decisions about a child without their parents’ knowledge.

Yet families of children with disabilities remain vulnerable to schools making major behavioral, disciplinary, and safety decisions behind closed doors without proper parental notification, transparency, or accountability.

When this happens:

❌ Children can be mislabeled or misunderstood
❌ Disability-related behaviors can be treated as threats instead of being properly supported
❌ Parents can be excluded from critical decisions
❌ Families can face unnecessary involvement from law enforcement or Child Protective Services
❌ Permanent records may be created that can impact a child’s future
❌ Families can experience lasting emotional trauma

⚠️ No parent should find out after the fact that major decisions were made about their child.

⚠️ No child with disabilities should be treated like a problem instead of receiving appropriate support.

⚠️ No family should be traumatized because schools failed to communicate honestly and act responsibly.

My family experienced firsthand how devastating these failures can be.

What happened to us exposed serious gaps in protections for families—and it made one thing clear:

THIS MUST CHANGE.

That is why I am calling on the Florida Legislature, Ashley Moody, and Florida education leaders to pass Ezra’s Act.

📋 Ezra’s Act Would Require:
📢 Mandatory Parental Notification & Written Consent
Schools must notify parents and obtain written consent before initiating:

✅ Behavioral Threat Assessments
✅ School Safety Management Plans
✅ Psychological evaluations
✅ Behavioral intervention plans outside of an IEP process
✅ Ongoing counseling related to disciplinary incidents

🚨 Exceptions should only apply during immediate emergencies involving serious safety threats.

 
📂 Full Transparency for Families
Parents must have timely access to records involving their child, including:

✅ Incident reports
✅ Witness statements
✅ Behavioral documentation
✅ Surveillance footage
✅ Internal communications
✅ Safety plans

Families deserve access to records involving their own children.

 
🧩 Stronger Protections for Students With Disabilities
Before escalating disciplinary action, schools must document that:

✅ IEP accommodations were followed
✅ Disability-related behaviors were properly reviewed
✅ Appropriate interventions were attempted
✅ Parents were involved in major decisions

Children with disabilities deserve support—not criminalization.

 
🔍 Verification Before Reporting Families
Schools must verify facts before contacting:

✅ Law enforcement
✅ Child Protective Services
✅ Outside agencies

False or unverified reports can permanently damage families.

 
🛑 Anti-Retaliation Protections
Schools should not retaliate against families for:

✅ Requesting records
✅ Filing complaints
✅ Advocating for their children
✅ Seeking accountability

Parents should never fear punishment for speaking up.

 
⚖️ Independent Oversight & Accountability
School districts should not be allowed to investigate themselves when serious misconduct is alleged.

Ezra’s Act would require:

✅ Independent oversight
✅ Meaningful consequences for violations
✅ Greater protections for vulnerable children and families

 
❤️ Why This Matters
This is bigger than my family.

👧 It’s about protecting vulnerable children.

👨‍👩‍👧 It’s about protecting families from being shut out of critical decisions.

🛡️ It’s about preventing unnecessary trauma.

📚 It’s about ensuring schools work with families—not against them.

⚖️ It’s about accountability.

And it’s about making sure no other family experiences what mine did.

✊ Join Us
Children deserve protection.
Families deserve transparency.
Schools must be held accountable.

📢 Sign this petition.
📲 Share this petition.
🏛️ Help us demand change.

#PassEzrasAct #ProtectOurChildren #ProtectFamilies #DisabilityRights #ParentRights #SpecialEducation

— Deborah Gross