SAN DIEGO —
Parents of students in San Diego County with special needs are doing what they can to prepare for the upcoming school year. And some have reached out to News 8 with concerns that their children are already slipping through the cracks.
The state mandates school districts continue providing special education to students with disabilities but many families still haven't received individualized assessments for their children.
For one mom News spoke with, the anxiety is becoming unbearable
"My daughter's not going to fail and I'm not going to allow her to fail because they don't know what to do with these kids,” said Cazandra Cerna. “They need to let us know what's going on. They need to let us know what's going to happen.”
Cerna said she's waited patiently but roughly two weeks from the start of distance learning she still doesn't know how her 3-year-old daughter will learn through a computer screen. Cerna said her what her daughter really needs are speech and physical therapy and, above all, human interaction.
Cerna’s daughter Lotus has down syndrome and is enrolled in a special education class in the Chula Vista Elementary School District where virtual classes are set to resume for all students on Aug. 31.
"What are they going to do about the special needs kids?” said Cerna.
"It may look different, but we are still going to provide the instruction,” said Rita Palet, the senior director of early education programs.
She promises curriculums will be engaging and interactive, but the district hasn't revealed a detailed plan.
Teachers don't return to the classroom to prepare until a few days before they're set to begin teaching.
"We're going to get there and make sure we're going to be there for all of our students,” Palet said.
Chula Vista isn't alone in the issue. Across California, there are hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities returning to distance learning. The San Diego County Office of Education addressed the challenges in a Zoom call this week.
As for Cerna, she said all she can do is continue advocating for her little girl.
"She's super smart regardless of what anybody ever says,” she said. “If we don't say something now, stick up for these kids, who else is going to do it?
The district wasn't able to provide a timeline for an assessment for Lotus but offered to have a personalized discussion with her mom before the start of the school year.