Minneapolis Public Schools is dismantling supports for students with autism and denying them their rights to an appropriate public education. They are reducing choice and drastically decreasing the quality of education for these students. The Special Education Department is acting behind the backs of families, without input from teachers, and to the great detriment of vulnerable students. They are restricting access to the highly successful Citywide Autism Program and substantially diluting support within the program. They are placing young children with autism in neighborhood schools with alarmingly inadequate supports. The result will be disastrous for mainstream students, students of other disabilities, and especially for students with autism. They risk causing irreparable harm to the children they are supposed to serve.

Special Education Officials have repeatedly ignored parents’ concerns; excluded the teachers who know these students best; and misrepresented their plan to families, the school board, the public, and the media. This plan is being implemented with reckless haste, and in every step they are demonstrating a negligent disregard for the needs of children with autism.

We ask that Minneapolis Public Schools return to a policy of placement based on individual need, not district mandate.

We ask that Minneapolis renew its commitment to giving children with autism their rights according to federal law: An appropriate education that provides each student with the supports necessary to function in the least restrictive environment where s/he can make meaningful educational progress.

We ask that IEPs of all incoming students with autism be redone as soon as possible, so IEP teams can recommend the best environment for each child's needs, and families can be correctly informed of the full continuum of services--including a complete and accurate representation of the Citywide Autism Program.

We ask that Citywide Autism Program sites that were closed to kindergarteners be re-opened and re-staffed (including, but not limited to Burroughs, Jenny Lind, Folwell, Hale, Marcy, Andersen, and Wenonah). Incoming families should be invited to tour the schools and meet the Citywide ASD teachers as soon as possible, so these families may make fully-informed choices. 

We ask that Early Childhood Special Education classrooms be re-opened and staffed at a level that will allow these preschoolers to receive the intense individualized early intervention they require, and that the program re-opens to all children who need it.

We ask that resource teachers at neighborhood schools be fully-trained in autism to better serve the students with ASD who do attend these schools.

We ask for a thorough investigation into the plans, methods, and conduct of the current Special Education administration. 

We ask for a Special Education administration that is committed to evidence-based interventions for autism and all other disabilities--one that values the experience and knowledge of teachers, respects families, is committed to honesty and transparency, and, above all, puts the needs of the children they are supposed to be serving before all else.