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Group files federal restraining order to keep schools open for kids with special needs
The group, representing special education students, already has a class action lawsuit pending in court on the first shut down in 2020, claiming it violated the Civil Rights of the families and fraud. Districts took millions in Medicaid and other federal dollars for low-income individuals and didn't use them.
FOX 2 - Patrick Donohue has a daughter who suffered a severe brain injury as an infant. He knows the struggle families face with children of special needs.
That's why he says he is doing everything in his power to stop Michigan schools and districts across the country from closing because of Covid.
"My shock is a dad in Manhattan shouldn’t be the one having to be the one to force the schools to re-open all over the country," he said. "The school districts don’t have the unilateral authority to close and move to remote learning for special education IEPs because the law doesn’t allow them to do so."
He says to think of an IEP or Individualized Education Program as a contract between the school district and the parents of a public school student that promises specialized education services provided under federal law.
School districts that close and switch to remote learning, breaks the contract and the law.
"They are the ones that should actually go to court can I alter the IEP's and change their educational program, without putting procedural safeguards that have been put in place for these families," he said.
Donohue, who created the Brain Injury Rights Group, filed a temporary restraining order in federal court naming major districts like Ann Arbor and Detroit Public Schools including the Michigan Department of Education.
The group, representing special education students, already has a class action lawsuit pending in court on the first shut down in 2020, claiming it violated the Civil Rights of the families and fraud. Districts took millions in Medicaid and other federal dollars for low-income individuals and didn't use them.
"There is a tsunami of harms that’s on its way, that we are just starting to see the surface," he said.
Donohue points to how students - especially those with special needs - have regressed and suffered socially, emotionally and academically.
But several districts believe they may not have a choice. The omicron variant is spreading so fast, schools don't have enough staff to teach the students.
"We also know this omicron variant is much milder, it is very transmittable but more (like) a cold than something more severe," Donohue said. "So the answer to the question is, what did the school districts do two years ago when they had a flu or cold outbreak? They managed it."