Killorans Say Change Will Allow Their Son To Attend Westhampton Beach Middle School This Fall

The parents of a 12-year-old with Down syndrome who have been fighting to send their son to the Westhampton Beach Middle School said they’ve reached a settlement with the Remsenburg-Speonk School District that should allow their son to attend classes there this fall.

Terrie and Christian Killoran of Remsenburg said they met with Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School Special Education Director Jan Achilich and the district’s attorneys last Wednesday, June 17, to work out a compromise that would allow their son Aiden to attend the Westhampton Beach Middle School.

The Killorans have been clashing with the two school districts, both privately and publicly, since they were informed that Aiden would not be able to attend the middle school for the seventh grade because his individualized education program, or IEP, called for a specialized classroom not currently offered in Westhampton Beach.

The Killorans took issue with this because Aiden’s original IEP—a plan that identifies personal objectives for special needs students—was changed this past school year without explanation, they said. Under the previous IEP, Aiden would have been eligible for an integrated education classroom that is offered at Westhampton Beach.

As per the compromise hammered out last week, Aiden’s IEP calls for him to be enrolled in a 15:1:1 classroom, which consists of one special education teacher and one special education professional to instruct 15 students. Ms. Killoran said this is a less intensive set up than the 8:1:1 classroom recommended earlier this year by Remsenburg-Speonk school officials, albeit more restrictive than the integrated classroom that was originally recommended.

“We feel fantastic about it—that’s what we had on the table back in April, then they retracted it because of the pressure from Westhampton,” Ms. Killoran said. “It’s unfortunate that we had to go through all this to get that done. It’s frustrating and embarrassing because we didn’t want have to bring all this out in the open.”

Remsenburg-Speonk Superintendent Ronald Masera and Ms. Achilich both declined to comment on the changes discussed by the Killorans, citing restrictions outlined by the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

“I don’t have any information for you,” Dr. Masera said on Wednesday morning. “There’s really no comment at this point.”

The recommendations of the new IEP were set to be approved by the Remsenburg-Speonk Board of Education on Wednesday. If accepted, the onus would then be on Westhampton Beach to accept the recommendations or reject them.

Westhampton Beach Schools Superintendent Michael Radday said he was aware that the Remsenburg-Speonk School Board was considering a resolution to change Aiden’s IEP, but also said he could not comment on the matter.

“I have not seen the resolution, and the resolution has not yet been approved by the Remsenburg-Speonk Board,” Mr. Radday wrote in an email on Tuesday night. “Accordingly, it would be premature for me to comment further at this time.”

Ms. Killoran noted that attorneys for Remsenburg-Speonk had invited representatives from Westhampton Beach to attend last week’s meeting but never heard back from them.

Ms. Killoran said she felt attending last week’s meeting would have been a sign of good faith by Westhampton Beach, showing that officials there would give serious consideration to accepting the revised recommendations from Remsenburg-Speonk regarding Aiden. In recent weeks, the Killorans have threatened to sue both school districts for discriminatory practices, pointing out that Westhampton Beach has never allowed an alternately assessed student, or one who does not take state-mandated tests because of a learning disability, to enroll there.

“If they don’t accept [the new IEP], then we basically have no other choice,” Ms. Killoran said.