Local Schools Pay Hundreds of Thousands in Special Ed. Settlements

Baltimore City Schools has a $1.3 billion budget. Per pupil, it’s the third most-funded large school system in America, according to the U.S. Census.

As the State of Maryland is now asking taxpayers to pay more via the Kirwan Commission, Project Baltimore has learned how some of that money is being spent.

Much of that $1.3 billion is going directly to parents. In just one year, a Project Baltimore investigation has found that City Schools, and other districts, paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements for failing to educate students with disabilities.

Gregory Gray tells Fox45 his son is a fifth grader at Mount Royal Elementary in Baltimore City.

“He's just a very energetic kid and he's very smart. Very, very smart,” Gray says.

Gray says his son generally did well in school. But after a close family friend was shot and killed in Baltimore, his son regressed. He took it hard.

“Real hard. He had this mentality like he'd say, ‘Dad, I'm not going to let nobody get me first,’" Gray says. “And I used to have to tell my son, that's not cool. And I never knew what was going on.”

The devastating toll of the murder led to Gray’s boy being diagnosed with an emotional learning disability. At school, he received an Individualized Education Program or IEP, for students with disabilities. An IEP outlines additional help the student is supposed to receive, but Gray says his son was not receiving that help.

“My son is really in desperate need of tutoring in math. And, how did my son pass if he didn't know none of this math? They pass them, they just passed him along,” Gray says.

Gray filed a complaint against City Schools for violating his son’s IEP. Without an attorney, he was able to fight the case all the way to a due process hearing. The judge ruled in favor of City Schools.

“I was hurt,” says Gray.

Attorney Wayne Steedman specializes in disability law. He says he gets about 40 calls a month from parents like Gray whose children are not getting the educational services they need, even though schools must provide those services by law.

“It comes down to the money. It's a budgetary issue. And principals, they want to keep their jobs. So, they're being told from central office, this is what your budget is. Don't exceed your budget. If you exceed your budget, you may not be a principal anymore,” Steedman tells Project Baltimore.

But as schools try to stay on budget, it’s costing taxpayers. A Project Baltimore investigation found, just last year, North Avenue paid out $363,603.32 in 111 settlements to resolve disability complaints. That’s more than two settlements a week. By comparison, during that same year, Anne Arundel County Public Schools paid out six settlements totaling $108,050. Howard County paid 23 settlements for $470,722.26. Baltimore County Schools did not respond to our request for the same data.

“The school systems aren't allowed to say that the reason we can't give your child the services that you're asking for is because we don't have the funding,” says Steedman.

And, in those cases, if parents learn the truth about why their children are not getting the services, Steedman says that opens up school systems, like Baltimore City, to legal complaints. Steedman says that means the school systems can't be honest with the parents.

“Yeah, I mean that's what's happening, and I don't have a problem saying it because it is what it is,” he says. “It's a reality. And if you talked to other attorneys who do the same work that I do, they'll tell you the same thing.”

Gray was never offered a settlement. Steedman says the system is stacked against parents who can’t, or don’t, hire an attorney.

“This wasn't about no monetary goal or nothing like that. I just wanted my son to learn his math because you need math, you need an education,” says Gray. “I'm disgusted with Baltimore City schools because it's like you're protecting teachers that is not doing their jobs.”

Gray tells Project Baltimore his son is still not getting the help he needs, but he will keep fighting on his behalf.

Steedman went on to say in the 1970s, the Federal Government passed a law that students with disabilities get additional services. Washington promised to fund those extra services by 40 percent. But Steedman says the funding part never happened. So, school systems were forced to offer additional help but never received the funding to pay for it.