The state auditor general's office is investigating special education settlements in the Scranton School District, according to the district's solicitor.
Since 2008, the district has settled 88 cases for a total of $2.5 million, plus $790,000 in fees for opposing attorneys.
The investigation comes at the same time district officials are trying to restructure the special education department, focusing more on communication with parents and adhering to student education plans.
During the audit, investigators will likely question delays with 15 of the settlements, district solicitor John Minora said. The 15 tentative settlements had been agreed to by the opposing attorneys and former longtime district solicitor Harry McGrath, who was fired by the board in November 2011. Some of the tentative agreements sat untouched for months or, in some cases, years, Mr. Minora said. One outstanding tentative settlement agreement went back to 2008, he said.
Total costs of the delayed settlements were at least several hundred thousand dollars, and the delays led to additional costs incurred by the district, as well as delays in some children receiving the educational supports included in their settlements, Mr. Minora said. Efforts to determine the total cost of the 15 settlements, and the costs incurred by the delays, were unsuccessful.
Because the board did not expect the settlements, an additional $400,000 for more recent cases will need to roll over to the 2013 budget, Mr. Minora said. The board has since approved the delayed agreements and the settlements have been paid, he said.
Under federal law, if parents are not satisfied with the special education services a school is providing to their child, the parents can file a complaint with the state's Office for Dispute Resolution.
Sometimes, an agreement can be reached through mediation, and other times, it goes to due process, where a hearing officer decides the dispute. Most often, the parties come to a settlement agreement.
Settlements usually include a plan for educational supports in the classroom, as well as money that is put into a trust. The money, which can only be used for educational purposes such as a computer or private tutoring, is not put in the trust until the school board approves the agreement.
Details, such as the total money awarded since 2008, and data on trust funds, has been requested by the auditor general's office, said Gina Colarossi, the special education department's new director. A spokeswoman from the auditor general's office said she could not confirm or deny the investigation. Mr. Minora said the office told him a complaint was made, but he was unable to find out who made it.
The cases being audited were under the watch of former special education director Lee Carr, who retired earlier this year. Efforts to reach Ms. Carr were unsuccessful.
Mr. McGrath, who on behalf of the school district negotiated the special education settlements through last November, including the 15 delayed ones, said he welcomes any investigation of the cases he helped settle. Regarding the 15 settlements, he disagreed that students had any delays in receiving their necessary supports and that the special education department could have implemented changes in students' educations before the board voted on the settlements.
After acting as interim solicitor for several months, Mr. Minora was appointed as solicitor in March. Shortly after his appointment, he started to receive inquiries from attorneys about the statuses of their clients' agreements, he said.
Lyn Ruane, chairwoman of the school board's special education committee, said the board was unaware of the cases, or that agreements had ever been reached.
Mr. McGrath said he was not hiding any settlements and there were always tentative agreements outstanding. If the board did not want to pay the settlement amounts, directors did not have to approve the agreements, and could have taken the cases further into the legal process, he said.
Mr. Minora said the district was right to settle the cases because the district made mistakes in the students' educations.
About 18 percent of the district's students qualify for special education services, whether it is extra help in math or full-time placement in a classroom for autistic students. The district has about 10,000 students.
Superintendent William King said he could not discuss the investigation, nor could he discuss the 15 cases that had been delayed.
Ms. Colarossi is now working on better communication within the special education department, as well as ensuring that students' education needs are being met. Additional supervisors have been promoted and more professional development for teachers is being scheduled.
Mr. King said the department had been overburdened, and the additional supervisors will help alleviate the concerns.
Mr. Minora thinks that at the conclusion of the investigation, the auditor general's office will approve of the changes already being made.
"We think we're making progress," Mr. Minora said.
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