Mother of child with special needs calls for changes in MCPS~ Carter Linz

Below  is a story featured on WUSA9. I have to state the Carter's teacher acknowledged the Velcro (but blamed it on the para educators) and the wheelchair breaking happened on the bus. I find it appalling for them to deny any of the events when the school already acknowledged this happening and the bus driving and the department of transportation acknowledged the event regarding the wheelchair. They had no choice because they had to cut Carter tie downs and hold the chair for the ride home. The bus driver was in tears.

Mother of child with special needs calls for changes in MCPS

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/maryland/2015/04/02/montgomery-county-public-schools-special-needs-student-changes/70867864/

POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA9) – Montgomery County is know for their great public schools, but the mother of a kindergarten student with special needs is calling for changes in how students like her son are treated.
Deanna Linz says her six year old son Carter, who suffers from cerebral palsy and a lung condition, has been sent home with other student's coats, in a broken wheelchair, and, of greatest concern, improperly restrained to his wheelchair by a Velcro strap that restricted his airway and made it difficult to breathe.
Linz said Carter's teacher at Wayside Elementary School told her that the strap was used to restrain Carter for behavioral reasons.
"To me it just came across as incompetence and not caring," Linz said. "It just again comes down to my level of confidence in the school, which is none."
A Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson, while declining to discuss a specific incident involving a student in detail per district policy, refuted Linz's version of events regarding the strap, and said a student would only be physically restrained if he or she posed a danger to themselves or others and all other alternatives had been exhausted.
"I will tell you I talked to the principal. They've been working with this parent and they'll continue to do so," district spokesman Dana Tofig told WUSA 9. "The parent has raised some concerns and when they have they've been dealt with and we'll continue to do that," Tofig explained.
Linz says that her conversations with school and district officials have failed to produce tangible improvements in the care of her son while he is in the classroom. She said she has gone public with her complaints in the hopes of pushing the district to improve how it handles special needs students across the board.
Montgomery County Public Schools has more than 17,000 special needs students, and a budget of over $350,000,000 for special education.
"Montgomery County Public Schools has a pretty good reputation for special education services," Tofig said. "We have a lot of people who move here specifically for the programs that we offer, and we want that to continue," Tofig stated.
To that end, the district hired education research organization WestEd to conduct an audit of its special education programs this spring with a goal of improving what works well, and fixing what doesn't.
The audit includes focus groups with parents and students, school visits and interviews with faculty and staff. Tofig says the WestEd report should be completed and presented by the end of 2015.
The district will also host its second special education summit for parents in Gaithersburg on May 16th.