BASIS: PCSB staff recommends conditional continuance due to SWD

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I, for one, would be perfectly happy if they lost their charter and converted to private. Two students there and it would be a stretch, but worth it to keep the school going.

And it would be such a relief to not have to read these crabs-in-a-barrel comments from anti-charter people who want everything to be the SAME, even if the "SAME" is pretty horrible.

For the record, DCPS does a pretty horrible job with SPED - yes they have programming but the students don't learn much once you get past elementary school.

It's not that people want it to be the same. People want BASIS to follow the law. Is that so awful?

They ARE following the law.

Read the report before you comment further. You are just embarrassing yourself.

Then why are there so many violations listed in the report?

Have you read any of the the reports on other DCPS and DCPSC? They ALL have violations of many types.

It specifically says in the report that BASIS is worse than most.

See Appendix A, page 31 "Of the eight areas
OSSE monitors, BASIS DC PCS was required to take corrective action in four areas during
the review period. DC PCSB compared this performance to other charter LEAs in DC and,
based on this comparison, determined the school had among the highest instances of
identified noncompliance in one area: Child Find Monitoring."

Page 33: "For comparison, across the last five years, BASIS DC PCS performed better than 17.8% of
charter LEAs, receiving a finding in four reporting periods out of the 13 applicable
reporting periods.60 OSSE confirms that the school has addressed findings in SY 2018 –
19 through SY 2020 – 21."

Page 33-34: "A reevaluation is used to determine whether a student with an identified disability still
has a disability. Schools must conduct a reevaluation for each student with a disability
once every three years. OSSE identified BASIS DC PCS for noncompliance for not
adhering to the required timeline for reevaluation during the following school years:
§ SY 2016 – 17 May 2017 (October 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017)
§ SY 2017 – 18 May 2018 (October 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018)
§ SY 2018 – 19 August 2018 (April 1, 2018 – June 30, 2018)
§ SY 2018 – 19 May 2019 (October 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019)
§ SY 2019 – 20 Q4 (SY 2018; April 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019)
§ SY 2019 – 20 Q3 (January 1, 2020 – March 31, 2020)
§ SY 2020 – 21 Q2 – Q3 (SY 2020; October 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021)

For comparison, across the last five years, BASIS DC PCS performed better than 32.8% of
charter LEAs, receiving a finding in seven reporting periods out of the 15 applicable
reporting periods.62 OSSE confirms that the school has addressed SY 2016 – 17 through
SY 2019 – 20 findings. SY 2020 – 21 findings are not yet due for correction."


Come on, BASIS boosters. This is embarrassing. Better than 32.8% of charters? Hardly any kids with special needs should make it easier to get it right for the few they do have. But nope. Still having violations every year. They seem to have taken corrective action steps to get it together for their review, but really, this is not good. Crap services, people leave, ta-da it's a well-performing school! Yay BASIS!

Let’s take your biggest violation by Basis: “Child Find.”

“Child Find is a set of policies, procedures, and public awareness activities designed to locate, identify, and evaluate students who may require special education and related services.” (p. 35)

As the report notes, Basis (like many other DC charters, some of which are failing) was flagged for this violation before and took corrective action including requiring staff participating in a webinar. The violation was deemed corrected.

Great, so Basis needs to require its already overworked teachers to take another webinar on SPED students. I am sure that they will do that, and everyone will move on, just like they did before. Yay, PP!

DC schools are among the worst in the country, rivaling Mississippi and Alabama. Yet you are hung up on SPED webinars.

You're missing the whole part about Basis not enrolling enough SN students; as well as their well-established reputation for not supporting kids with IEPs.

And you are missing the part that Basis is 100% lottery, is the best charter academically in the city for both SPED and non-SPED, and DC schools are among the worst in the country.

Your attitude is one reason people take their tax dollars and move to Maryland and Virginia, leaving DC schools with even less money and worse off.

So basically you think Basis should get to exclude kids with SN. Ok.

So basically you think Basis should be 100% SN kids. Ok.

(see how that works?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a BASIS parent of a kid with HFA.

Indeed, my child with HFA does well at BASIS in part because of its highly structured nature. There's also an emphasis on individual learning, as opposed to the endless group work my HFA often had to endure in elementary school. The math/science also happens to be a particular strength for my child. Finally, while I have no clue how many kids with HFA attend BASIS, there are plenty of nerdy kids, so my HFA child's "quirkiness" is likely accepted by many peers.

Same for my child, who doesn't have an diagnosis but certainly shares many characteristics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

Special Needs preference has been allowed in the lottery for many years (see Bridges). If BASIS wanted to do this, they would have already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

God forbid all schools can't be all things to all people.

Seems like theres' a good argument to be made that Basis should market itself as such, PPP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

Well, actually Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of ADA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

God forbid all schools can't be all things to all people.

Seems like theres' a good argument to be made that Basis should market itself as such, PPP.

it’s not a good argument. it’s a violation of the law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

God forbid all schools can't be all things to all people.

Seems like theres' a good argument to be made that Basis should market itself as such, PPP.

it’s not a good argument. it’s a violation of the law.

It's a voilation of the law to say they have short classes, concerete expectaqtion, a focus on individual work, organiztion and executive functioning and keeps people busy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

God forbid all schools can't be all things to all people.

Seems like theres' a good argument to be made that Basis should market itself as such, PPP.

it’s not a good argument. it’s a violation of the law.

It's a voilation of the law to say they have short classes, concerete expectaqtion, a focus on individual work, organiztion and executive functioning and keeps people busy?

it’s a violation of the law for an LEA to discriminate against kids bases on their disability. Being a “niche” or whatever doesn’t give license to discriminate.

[Anonymous]

But is it discrimination against other SN to advertise that BASIS could be a very good fit for kids with SN that make them pretty rigid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tangent, but I would think Basis' curriculm might actually be a good fit for some HFA kids who benefit from concrete, non-experiental learning and very clear expectations. I'm not an expert in HFA at all, but from what I understand from friends, that kind of learning might work well.

I agree. My ADHD kid is thriving at BASIS, because all of the classes are reasonably short with very clear, concrete expectations and a strong system for keeping organized. The same child struggles with overly long class periods (block scheduling), nebulous assignments or expectations, too much free time during the school day, and too much group work.

No school can be everything for everyone. The most ideal solution would be to figure out the types of SN kids who would thrive at BASIS, and then find a way to get them some level of priority in the lottery. Many 2E kids, like mine, require fewer SN supports at BASIS than they would at a regular school, and thus cost less money to educate. This is an ideal solution for everyone.

An ideal solution that violates IDEA ... no public school can screen out kids with disabilities of the "wrong type."

God forbid all schools can't be all things to all people.

Seems like theres' a good argument to be made that Basis should market itself as such, PPP.

it’s not a good argument. it’s a violation of the law.

It's a voilation of the law to say they have short classes, concerete expectaqtion, a focus on individual work, organiztion and executive functioning and keeps people busy?

This. Especially when your so-called "niche" is serving the easiest kids of all. And claiming all the while that you're just a regular school and open to everyone and there are no special ed problems to see here, nope, it's just that those kids don't want what we're offering, nothing we can do.

If their "niche" were something like students with Level 3 nonverbal autism, or behavioral IEPs, then it would be more understandable for them to pick and choose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But is it discrimination against other SN to advertise that BASIS could be a very good fit for kids with SN that make them pretty rigid?

If they're advertising in a way that suggests they will only support specific disabilities or profiles, then yes, that would be extremely problematic. You see private schools and camps advertise in that way and it's clearly meant to exclude kids with higher support/perceived higher support needs, as well as, frankly, kids with autism who are "too" autistic.

Remember just because Basis is a charter does not mean they are exempt from supporting kids with SN of all levels. They can't just pick and chose. The Charter Board pointed out that Basis has basically no higher-needs kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But is it discrimination against other SN to advertise that BASIS could be a very good fit for kids with SN that make them pretty rigid?

If they're advertising in a way that suggests they will only support specific disabilities or profiles, then yes, that would be extremely problematic. You see private schools and camps advertise in that way and it's clearly meant to exclude kids with higher support/perceived higher support needs, as well as, frankly, kids with autism who are "too" autistic.

Remember just because Basis is a charter does not mean they are exempt from supporting kids with SN of all levels. They can't just pick and chose. The Charter Board pointed out that Basis has basically no higher-needs kids.

The SN boosters here are missing the point altogether in their zeal and assumptions.

The point is that Basis would likely make a great fit for any student who does well with structure, clear expectations, focus on individual work, lots of emphasis on organization and concrete curriculums. Many kids with HFA would fit the bill.

Emphasising those strengths and talking about how this kind of learning can benefit some students would be a way to message that out to families with all types of kids, including HFA or others and might encourage kids who otherwise wouldn't think to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But is it discrimination against other SN to advertise that BASIS could be a very good fit for kids with SN that make them pretty rigid?

If they're advertising in a way that suggests they will only support specific disabilities or profiles, then yes, that would be extremely problematic. You see private schools and camps advertise in that way and it's clearly meant to exclude kids with higher support/perceived higher support needs, as well as, frankly, kids with autism who are "too" autistic.

Remember just because Basis is a charter does not mean they are exempt from supporting kids with SN of all levels. They can't just pick and chose. The Charter Board pointed out that Basis has basically no higher-needs kids.

The SN boosters here are missing the point altogether in their zeal and assumptions.

The point is that Basis would likely make a great fit for any student who does well with structure, clear expectations, focus on individual work, lots of emphasis on organization and concrete curriculums. Many kids with HFA would fit the bill.

Emphasising those strengths and talking about how this kind of learning can benefit some students would be a way to message that out to families with all types of kids, including HFA or others and might encourage kids who otherwise wouldn't think to apply.

"SN Booster"? Really? Forgive me for having "zeal and assumptions" as I attempt to ensure my child with disabilities gets an education.

As much as you want Basis to be exempt from special education laws, it is not. It would be great if Basis established and funded an HFA program and advertised it. That doesn't allow it to screen for certain disabilities and levels of disabilities. Clearly Basis has a serious issue retaining and serving kids with disabilities. Falling back on "oh the few we have do well" does not fix that problem.