If Monday night’s meeting was any indication, the Special Education Audit Subcommittee will be hard pressed to include a wide range of citizen opinions in its audit scope. About 20 residents and town employees came to the Bromfield School library for the public meeting, the intent of which was to “gain more understanding of the concerns Harvard citizens have about the special education program and their goals for this audit,” subcommittee member and Selectman Bob Eubank stated in a public notice in May.
Subcommittee citizen-representative Keith Cheveralls said that the point of the audit is not to investigate any alleged wrongdoing; however, if findings lead subcommittee members in that direction, they will pursue it, he added. They will not duplicate work done by the Department of Education in its three-year audit, which is scheduled for 2008. They also will not discuss private information about students or parents and are receiving legal guidance in this area. Cheveralls assured people that the audit subcommittee will not be involved in the audit itself, so will not have access to personal data; the subcommittee will hire an independent firm to conduct the audit itself.
“What is in bounds,” Cheveralls said, is what people want to see come out of the audit. “What are your fears, your concerns?” he asked. “This will only work if [subcommittee members] know what people want,” he added.
Mary Randig of West Bare Hill Road asked that the audit make sure that every child in special education programs belonged there, and not, for example, in remedial reading programs.
Wade Holtzman of Bolton Road asked to include a review of the efficiency of spending and cited as an illustration the possibilities of sending transportation services out to bid and providing services in-house. He also wanted to see included in the audit the financial needs for staff to comply with Department of Education requirements. “Do we have enough staff? Too many? Do we have enough money? Too much?” he asked.
Wendy Feddersen of Sherry Road wanted the audit “to point out shortfalls in special education services and identify the underserved.”
Debbie Ricci of East Bare Hill Road said that she would like to see the audit include an evaluation of the town’s individual education plans compared with state and federal requirements.
Despite the committee’s efforts to focus questions on the specific concerns and questions that brought the warrant article to the Annual Town Meeting—where residents approved $25,000 for an independent audit of special education operations and expenditures—few additional specific questions came up. Many attendees spoke of the need for Harvard residents to recognize certain things about special education: that unless people have had a special-needs child in their family, they can’t appreciate what is required; that more children have special needs now because more infants live through early health problems; that educating more people in town will go a long way toward ending suspicion about overspending; that the town may not be spending as much money as it should on special education.
Mary Jane Shelton of Bolton Road and several others said they worried that the audit would be negative and divisive, and asked that the committee focus more on the good things that have come from the program, such as the integrated preschool.
Different subcommittee members appeared to have different opinions on the goal of the audit: in particular, whether the audit should be about process or about spending. When Eubank reassured people that the audit would not be negative, he said that the subcommittee wanted to “let light shine on what the process is.” Subcommittee citizen-representative Sue Tokay responded to Holtzman’s financial queries: “It’s not a financial audit.”
On the other hand, subcommittee and Finance Committee member Cindy Russo responded to the comment that the town just needs more education about special education: “People didn’t vote $25,000 at Town Meeting because people need to be educated. People have concerns; that’s what the audit is for.” She said that the larger task force, not the subcommittee, will focus on education.
The next meeting of the subcommittee will be June 18, and although not scheduled as a public hearing, Eubank said that residents can bring their concerns to the meeting and be heard. In addition, questions and concerns can be sent to administrative assistant Valeska Ross (vross@harvard.ma.us) or to Town Administrator Tim Bragan (tbragan@harvard.ma.us).
