Opponents of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s special education policy are concerned that a potential move by the school district will result in the closure of LAUSD special schools.

On Feb. 25, the district sent a letter to parents of Van Ness Avenue Elementary School — which had recently merged with Frances Blend School, a school for the blind — that Van Ness has been identified as a potential co-location with Citizens of the World Charter School’s Silver Lake campus.

The letter followed notices sent to parents of students at the Banneker Special Education Center and the Salvin Special Education Center, whose special programs may be moved to other LAUSD campuses at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year.

“They’re being transformed so that they’re no longer special schools,” said attorney Eric Jacobson, who is representing a group of parents who are fighting the district’s special education moves.

Since March 2013, some parents of students in special education have expressed opposition to the district’s implementation of the Modified Consent Decree, which calls for students in special programs to be integrated with their general education peers to the maximum extent appropriate.

While the opponents generally agree that general education placement is beneficial for most students in special education, some parents of students with severe disabilities are concerned how general education campuses could affect their children, some of whom cannot speak or hear.

Throughout the process, district officials have contended that the special schools are not closing, and that the changes will be helpful for both general education and special education students. Officials have also argued that the changes are to comply with federal and state law.

“It’s not going anywhere,” LAUSD Special Education Division executive director Sharyn Howell said of Frances Blend during a previous interview. “It’s not being shuttered or closed.”

In October, two parent groups filed motions in federal district court in hopes of sanctioning the LAUSD for violating the decree. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew ruled against the groups for several reasons, one of which was due to the fact that the special schools were still open, Jacobson said. An appeal has since been filed.

Jacobson said he is considering filing a motion for reconsideration, but he doesn’t know how the district’s proposed program relocations will affect the appeal. He said the two entities will likely return to court this summer.

In the interim, his clients have been filing due process claims to circumvent the district’s placement proposals.

Jacobson said the district — not the individualized education plan (IEP) team — has been deciding where students should enroll, which is violation of federal law. District officials have denied those claims.

However, Jacobson said the district has been suggesting that students in special education attend day classes on general education campuses, where an itinerant teacher offers specialized instruction a few hours per week. Before the changes, students at Frances Blend received specialized instruction, such as full-time Braille lessons, he said.

“They believe [a few hours per week] is all that’s necessary and all the child needs,” Jacobson added. Howell has stated that specialized services have not declined as a result of the mergers.

Jacobson said he believes that the district wants to force all special education students to enroll in non-public schools, which could come at a “tremendous cost” to the district, as the LAUSD would be forced to pay for enrollment.

“They know full inclusion is inappropriate for the most severely disabled,” the attorney said.

Jacobson, whose daughter attended special schools, said general education students also suffer when integration is essentially a mandate.

“It’s not easy for general education kids to be in a class with the most disabled kids, because the most disabled kids usually have behavioral problems, which disrupt classroom activities. …It’s just the nature of their disability and that is very disruptive to a general class,” he added.

According to the Van Ness letter, the LAUSD issued a preliminary proposal for Citizens of the World Charter School after “carefully weighing various educational, safety and space-related factors.” The charter school has until May 1 to accept or decline the LAUSD’s offer.

How that move could impact Frances Blend is unknown. The district could not provide comment by deadline.

“If [the Van Ness proposal] goes through, it’s going to be the end of specialized intensive services for blind students who need a good start in terms of acquiring all the special skills that are going to enable them to be successful in school and in their future,” former Frances Blend principal Joy Efron said.

She said it a “far cry from the truth” that the LAUSD has provided the same level of service since the schools have merged. At Frances Blend, teachers taught Braille and a “myriad of special skills” that students need, she said.

“And they get them all day long, day after day,” Efron said, adding that students now receive 60 minutes per month of Braille instruction.

She said Frances Blend appears to be closing, as enrollment is down to 30 students and another eight will soon be moving to other schools. No new students are being enrolled, aside from students who have been placed through dispute resolutions or mediation, she said. Furthermore, the school is no longer on the district’s guide to schools and offices, nor does it have a location code, which can impact the school’s funding, the former principal said.

“Maybe [Howell is] referring to the building still being there. I don’t know,” Efron added.

If the school is closed, LAUSD students with visual impairments will have few alternatives for specialized instruction, she said. Efron said she found it ironic that the mergers were for the benefit of general education and special education students, but if the special education students are moved to non-public schools, that “apparently is OK with the powers that be.”