Parents’ claim special education kids being treated as ‘second-class citizens’ triggers federal investigation and resolution

IDAHO FALLS — A local couple has accused Bonneville School District 93 of allowing activities that are illegal and discriminatory. Their complaint to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights initiated an investigation that has ended in a voluntary resolution by the district.

The OCR looks into allegations of discrimination within the educational system. It began an investigation into Rocky Mountain Middle School after receiving a complaint from Ryan Bezzant, who had visited the school with his wife.

“I believe that what is going on in this school is illegal and discriminatory,” Ryan Bezzant’s complaint said. “I am disgusted with the condition of the special education program at that school.”

What is it all about?

Bezzant and his wife, Kiersten, moved to Idaho Falls from Virginia. At the time, they were worried about how their daughter would fare in Idaho schools. She has been diagnosed with autism, so she has some very specific needs and accommodations that have to be met when it comes to her education.

Initially, the couple was delighted with District 93. However, that changed when it came time for their daughter to move up from grade school to middle school.

The couple has become outspoken advocates for their daughter over the years, Bezzant told EastIdahoNews.com. So, when they toured Rocky Mountain Middle School in December 2022, they weren’t shy about voicing their dismay at what they called the “shocking” state of the special education program at the school.

They filed a complaint against Bonneville School District 93 regarding the special education program at Rocky Mountain Middle School. They emailed the District 93 Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme to inform him of the complaint after they filed it.

“I wanted there to be some accountability,” Ryan Bezzant told EastIdahoNews.com. Too often, he and Kiersten had seen complaints go ignored at the school and district level, he said.

“The way RMMS and Bonneville High run their (special education) rooms feels more like herding cattle and less like teaching children,” Kiersten wrote in an email to Woolstenhulme.

“Students were performing janitorial work,” Ryan Bezzant said. The Bezzants observed kids wiping down tables in the cafeteria, cleaning door handles and washing and folding cleaning rags and towels. Additionally, the special-needs students were required to brush their teeth as a group each morning — something the couple found neither necessary nor inclusive.

“A student’s dignity is not preserved when cleaning door knobs and setting up tables,” Kiersten Bezzant’s email said. She asserted that “these children are being taught how to be helpful in the home or group homes,” not how to live independently. Cleaning, she said, wasn’t a giving the kids a “free and appropriate education.”

“I believe it is my job as a parent to teach my child how to fold laundry and perform proper hygiene,” her email stated, “and the school’s responsibility to educate my child in school subjects.”

Then there was the issue of inclusion, the Bezzants said — or the lack thereof.

“Students were experiencing maximum segregation,” Ryan Bezzant wrote in his complaint. “They were not being allowed to participate in any general education classes, including music, art and physical education, which are classes that they could easily participate in with reasonable assistance.”

The classroom itself, he said, was sparse. In stark contrast to the elementary school their child was attending at the time, there were no decorations or furniture. Books and reading materials were at a minimum, as were desks and computers.

“My honest perspective,” Ryan Bezzant said in his email to Woolstenhulme, “is that it looks like the dirty corner of the school where the ‘problem’ children are contained.”

Other parents disagree

“The complaint centered on concerns that all students in this program were practicing routine hygiene skills, such as brushing their teeth in the classroom,” Woolstenhulme said in a written statement to EastIdahoNews.com. “And the students were also performing routine custodial tasks.”

Both of these practices help students develop skills they will use in their day-to-day lives, said Woolstenhulme.

“Many parents have expressed appreciation for the opportunities their children had to learn and reinforce these life skills at school,” he noted.

Several parents reached out to EastIdahoNews.com to dispute the complaint. What is represented in the complaint is not, they say, the experience they or their children have had at the school. They said their children were thriving in the program at RMMS under the direction of JoAnna Owens.

One mom (and former educator) spoke to EastIdahoNews.com on the condition that she remain anonymous out of concern for her child, “Rowdy.” She said the life skills of hygiene and cleaning are a crucial component in becoming independent, responsible adults.

“Typically-developing children often learn these skills through observation and imitation. This is often not the case for many students on the (autism) spectrum or special needs. Life skills training is vital for them.”

Erin Schwab moved to Idaho Falls from Arizona, where her son was in a private school. Arizona is notable for its excellent special education programs, she said. Much like the Bezzants, she was hesitant about enrolling her child in a new school.

“We were concerned about going back into public school,” Schwab told EastIdahoNews.com. She knew an Idaho school wouldn’t be able to offer many of the opportunities his school in Arizona afforded.

“JoAnna took me on a tour of her room and discussed the (activities) that are practiced, and my husband and I were thrilled.”

The ultimate goal for her son, she said, is to move out and be independent. The hygiene and cleaning activities make sure students know how to take care of themselves, she said.

“I liked that this would be offered to us. I loved all of it,” Schwab said.

Starla Willden’s son is entering his third year in the special education program at RMMS. Like Schwab, she was aware of and happy with the life skills activities, including cleaning, laundry and hygiene.

“I was asked if he could work on brushing teeth and I said yes. He works on that at home and at occupational therapy. I didn’t see why having it reinforced at school was a problem,” she said in a written statement to EastIdahoNews.com. “As far as cleaning goes, it was fine. He is supposed to work on life skills. He cleans and helps fold at home. I personally didn’t have a problem with those skills being practiced and worked on at school.”

The parents said they had no issues with their children’s inclusion or exclusion. On the contrary, those who reached out to EastIdahoNews.com were happy with the involvement their kids have with their general education peers.

“Joanna has … collaborated with several general education teachers,” Rowdy’s mother told EastIdahoNews.com “(She) has made it possible to integrate her students (who) are behaviorally or cognitively capable into classes with general education students in subjects like PE, art and history.”

“(Inclusion) is great if they can be around other kids,” Schwab said. “We decided that wasn’t the best option for our son. … His needs are such that he does need to be more secluded.” She said she also had concerns about bullying from his general education peers.

Willden said her son does a variety of activities, with and without his “typical” peers.

“He goes to art class. He has an adapted PE class that ‘typical’ peers are in with him. He goes to assemblies and participates in school activities when it is something he can participate in,” she stated, then added, “If he was segregated so much, why do so many of the other students know him? Why would they come say hi to him when we are not at school?”

Voluntary resolution agreement

Despite the support from other parents, the OCR investigation did find the life skills and hygiene practices to be concerning and discriminatory because they were only required of students with disabilities, not the entire student body. It agreed to what is called a voluntary resolution to the complaint.

A complaint under investigation by the OCR may be resolved at any time, according the the department’s web site. District 93 expressed an interest in resolving the complaint before the conclusion of the investigation and OCR felt concerns would be appropriately addressed through a voluntary resolution.

The school board ratified the “informal, voluntary” resolution during a meeting on July 13.

As part of the voluntary resolution, the district has agreed to “terminate the practice of tasking all students in self-contained special education programs at Rocky Mountain Middle School (RMM School) with performing cleaning and laundry tasks for the school, including washing and folding rags, wiping down door handles, and wiping off tables in the cafeteria, unless these tasks are shared equally by students at the school.”

The resolution agreement goes on to state that District 93 “will not require students in self-contained special education classrooms at RMM School to conduct daily dental or other personal hygiene tasks, that are not required of other students.”

The exception, Woolstenhulme stated, would be if parents and staff agree the tasks should be listed in the student’s IEP or behavioral plan.

“These are simple changes that will not impact the program or the school,” he said. “We will simply need to think differently about helping students to learn these skills.”

“I just want things to get better for everybody,” Bezzant said of OCR’s decision. “Our kids deserve better. They don’t deserve to be treated as second-class citizens.”