Special Announcement | December 3, 2020
TEA Finds 3rd HPISD School Improperly Denied Special Education Services to Dyslexic Student
A 4th HPISD family, this time from Bradfield Elementary, recently filed a complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on behalf of their 1st grade dyslexic child. The TEA ruled that HPISD was out of compliance with federal and state law by improperly denying special education services to the student.

The TEA also said students do NOT have to attempt or complete Take Flight before they can be eligible for special education services. Access to special education is crucial for many dyslexic students, as it can provide access to specially designed instruction in reading beyond / different than Take Flight.

In addition to steps the district must take for the individual child, the TEA has mandated that HPISD conduct a campus-wide review of evaluations conducted at Bradfield from February through May of 2020 to determine if other students were improperly denied special education services. This review is in addition to on-going reviews at Hyer and UP Elementary of evaluations conducted between May 2019 to May 2020. All reviews must be completed by December 31, 2020. (All of the evaluations at issue occurred prior to Covid and were not impacted by Covid.)

If your child was evaluated at one of these campuses and denied special education services, your student may be part of the review. Likely impacted are students who:
  • Were informed that they did not meet eligibility criteria (Ex. Scores too high, grades too high) and were therefore denied special education eligibility
  • Qualified for eligibility in another area, such as Speech or Other Health Impairment for ADHD, but were not given a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) identification despite weakness in reading
  • Were identified as having a Specific Learning Disability, but informed they did not need special education services, possibly because they needed to complete PreFlight or Take Flight first
 
If you have questions, reach out to your campus Special Education Coordinator ASAP as the deadline for HP to complete the review is December 31, 2020.

CLICK HERE to read the redacted TEA Investigative Report, and to learn more about the investigations and how they might impact your student.