Thread by @SEALS_065

From a SEAL...My public comments to @AltaLomaSD --Dear @ALSD_Super_Jim,
I am aware that ALSD is holding an in-person meeting tonight and unfortunately I cannot attend in person. I am requesting an accommodation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Governor’s stay home

order. I have individuals in my family that are considered “high risk” & therefore I am strictly adhering to the Governor’s orders. Please read the comments below into the record during public comment:
Dear @AltaLomaSD Board and members of the public,
I would like to take the

opportunity to thank @ALSD_Super_Jim for his leadership in challenging a proposal by the West End SELPA to create a fund that would be used to collect sanctions against parents. This was a very encouraging gesture to parents in the community to show that perhaps there will be

much needed change at #WESELPA.
As you know, I have been raising issues about current WESELPA practices and how the agency has focused on litigation & demonization of students and parents, rather than helping student with disabilities. I filed a complaint with the State Bar

regarding the unethical practices of the law firm of Fagen, Friedman and Fulfrost (@F3Law) because they filed a frivolous legal action in federal court over $8.40. I have attached their motion so you can see for yourself. They have 3 attorneys getting paid up to $290 per hour to

get me to pay the district $8.40. They filed their Motion while the issue was being appealed. The point is to file motions for the sake of filing motions & raiding the tax payer piggy bank. These attorneys are being enabled by #WESELPA because they are allocating money to these

private corporations rather than to our children. @F3Law ‘s advice has been proven wrong. They recently lost a federal court case in Manhattan Beach & their advice resulted in the Manhattan Beach School District being deemed as a violator of civil rights. Currently, Selpa only

reimburses 30% of service cost to its districts, attorney fees in contrast are reimbursed 100%. We urge you to reverse these reimbursement percentages and to advocate for your district to receive full reimbursement for the cost of special education services. The #WESELPA Local

Plan will be coming to your board soon. We urge you to reject the SELPA Local Plan as currently written. The current policy is a perverse incentive to litigate. If your district chooses to provide services to the student then you only get 30% back from SELPA but if you choose to

litigate then you get 100% and you need SELPA permission to even consult with a legal advisor which is being paid for with district funds. We ask that you propose to reverse this ratio so that if the district chooses to provide services to the student, the #JRF will reimburse 💯%

and if in turn the district decides to litigate the matter, the #JRF will reimburse 30%. #WESELPA was proposing to adding a policy to include sanctions money going back to SELPA. Thanks to @ALSD_Super_Jim , this policy was tabled. The SELPA proposal sent a signal to the parent

community that #WESELPA will go along with the hardball tactics recommended by @F3Law. This is literally profiting from the pain FFF is inflicting on families who are already vulnerable. While this may seem like a harmless transfer of funds, there is a lot more background.

Thankfully, @ALSD_Super_Jim refused to act as an enabler to give lawyers like @F3Law the green light to use the #SELPA fund as their own revolving litigation fund which they will argue, will be self-funded by the sanctions they seek from parent attorneys and families.

@F3Law has literally manufactured a dispute over $8.40. They have 3 attorneys getting paid up to $290 per hour to try to get $8.40 out of my family. This is a gross misuse of public funds. I hope that in the future we can work collaboratively with the district and the new #SELPA

Administrator towards creating better educational opportunities for students rather than litigation #Moreteacherslesslawyers.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
#unroll @threadreaderapp