Department of Justice Challenges the Georgia Department of Education over GNETS Program
Imagine a child heading off to school with friends, all anticipating the excitement and challenges of a new year. But upon arriving, one child is separated from their peers and sent into a remote corner in the basement of the building that has suffered from neglect. Even lunch brings no connection to familiar folks; this student eats only with others from his segregated area.
This scenario isn’t imagined for the sake of a story. Natasha Hall’s son, Gavon, has been in a Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS) program since the first grade. Hall is working hard to get her son, now 11, out of the program that she feels has robbed him of a normal childhood.
“He has been in the same room for five years. He doesn’t ride the same bus, isn’t included in things like the school play or other activities and his academics are completely suffering,” said Hall, whose son attends school in Cobb County.
Hall described her son as once a happy-go-lucky and perky child, but over time, whose spirit has been damaged by the segregated school he now attends. “He hates going to school and says it feels like a prison. He has trust issues and doesn’t like adults,” she added. “It’s a very isolating situation.”
Gavon’s story isn’t unique. Instead, it is the usual school day for over 3,000 students in the GNETS program across the State.
GNETS History
GNETS dates back to 1970 when it was launched in Athens, GA. According to a 2015 US Department of Justice (DOJ) report, the facility offered, “therapeutic and educational services for students with emotional or behavioral health needs.” Two years later, the program expanded with a “network of psycho-educational centers.”
Over the years, the program has grown to include 24 regional facilities that work with about 5,000 students with behavior-related disabilities. The DOJ estimates that more than two-thirds of those students are part of a GNETS center in a “self-contained building,” while others are in general education buildings – separating the students from their peers. In 2007, the program was extended throughout Georgia’s 181 school districts.
The funding for GNETS versus neighborhood schools is vastly different. In the 2014-15 school year, more than $70 million of state and federal funds underwrote the GNETS program, through “a line item in the state budget separate from the state’s funding of public schools,” the 2015 DOJ report pointed out.
“The State would say that a lot of the services ‘these kids’ need are available under GNETS,” said Leslie Lipson, an attorney with the Georgia Advocacy Office. Lipson has worked for over 15 years for a non-segregated school system.
“What started in Athens was an innovative model, but it has not changed in the 25 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)] was passed. Since then, we also know more about education and schooling.”
IDEA was designed to protect the rights of students with disabilities by ensuring that everyone receives a free appropriate public education, regardless of ability. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications and governmental activities. The combination of both determined the segregation in GNETS was a civil rights issue for students with disabilities.
The DOJ Investigation and Report
Almost three years ago, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported about a 13-year-old student from Hall County who was assigned to the Alpine GNETS school in Gainesville. According to the story, the school’s personnel placed the boy in a windowless room with no furniture, no food and no water, behind a locked metal door – 19 times over 29 days in the fall of 2004. The average length of seclusion was 94 minutes.
On Nov. 15, 2004, teachers placed the student in what they called the “time-out room,” and, although he had twice threatened suicide, they allowed him to keep a rope he was using as a belt. He used the rope to hang himself. Upon this finding, the DOJ buried itself into a three-year investigation of the GNETS program across the State.
On July 15, 2015, a letter from the DOJ was sent to both Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and State Attorney General Sam Olens. The 21-page missive includes specific findings collected by DOJ investigators who looked into how the State handles the education of students with behavior-related disabilities and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The investigation included interviews with students themselves, who reported feeling that, “school is like prison where I am in the weird class,” and who considered themselves “outcasts” from others their age in the same building.
The report also found that students in GNETS programs are often barred from engaging in the routines and activities enjoyed by the general population. Amenities such as lockers, the chance to join after-school sports and clubs or being included in the yearbook – activities the DOJ describes as “the most basic elements of a typical childhood school experience” – were not extended to GNETS students.
The problems with GNETS go well beyond merely offering a complete school experience.
The letter also outlines an “inequality of educational opportunities for students in the program,” specifically pointing to students not receiving “grade-level instruction that meets Georgia’s state standards like their peers in general education classrooms.” Many high school GNETS programs feature only computer-based instruction, often without the benefit of a special education teacher.
Faye Montgomery, an advocate based in Savannah, confirmed this finding. “Currently, there is a statewide and nationwide shortage of teachers, which includes special education teachers. This is forcing computer-based learning and no real follow-up or accountability for these children’s education,” she said.
The ADA Violation
The letter from the DOJ also noted that the State’s management of the GNETS program “violates Title II of the ADA by unnecessarily segregating students with disabilities from their peers,” while at the same time providing “opportunities to its students that are unequal to those provided to students throughout the State who are not in the GNETS program.”
Title II of the ADA is a “clear and comprehensive national mandate to end discrimination against and ensure equality of opportunity for persons with disabilities.” It also specifies that no person with a disability can be barred from “the benefits of the services, programs or activities of a public entity” – including those offered as part of an educational system.
“The DOJ got many complaints about segregated schooling – that’s what prompted the investigation that lasted two to three years,” explained Lipson. “They were able to detail that even when kids are in the same school, they’re segregated – they’re in a basement marked as a detention room.”
While students with disabilities are afforded the same opportunities as their peers, for those in the GNETS programs, school is a drastically different experience.
“Most kids with disabilities have access to art, physical education, foreign languages, music and science labs, while most of these segregated children do not,” said Lipson. There is no research that says segregating kids with behavior-related disorders is effective, but that’s been happening for more than 40 years.”
Hall agrees.“There are children with the same diagnosis as my son and they are in general education classes and thriving. But trying to get Gavon out of GNETS has been a tough, uphill climb.” Gavon has been diagnosed with Emotional Behavior Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and autism.
A Call for Advocacy
While Lipson is willing to talk about the issues around GNETS, very few others are. While the State and the DOJ are in conversation, no one will comment. Atlanta radio station WABE-FM reported that both the Attorney General’s office and the State Depart-ment of Education refused to comment “because of the pending nature of the matter,” although there had been communication with the DOJ.
But if no resolution is reached, the DOJ could sue the State for ADA violations.
“Many of these kids do not have very significant behavioral problems and could easily be included in their neighborhood schools,” added Lipson. However, moving children out of GNETS isn’t an easy task and takes a lot of advocacy.
“First and foremost, every parent with a child in an IEP has the right to request a change of placement,” said Montgomery. “Keep everything in writing, follow up and move up the chain of command. And get the right people on your side.”
Educating the public about this issue is equally important. Parents and advocates are encouraged to speak to city officials, local school districts and their representatives in the State Congress.
“This is not a small issue and change is not going to come overnight,” said Montgomery. “We have to put up a strong fight to make sure all of our children have an equal opportunity for a good education.”
To read the complete letter from the Department of Justice to the State of Georgia, visit bit.ly/1ixEO1O
The Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO) is an independent, federally-mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in Georgia. The GAO in Decatur can be reached at 404.885.1234 or online at thegao.org
Read more articles in the fall issue of Making a Difference here:
