{"id":74604,"date":"2020-01-28T17:20:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T17:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/grandfather-questions-discipline-of-dolores-special-ed-student\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:36:59","slug":"grandfather-questions-discipline-of-dolores-special-ed-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/grandfather-questions-discipline-of-dolores-special-ed-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Grandfather questions discipline of Dolores special ed student"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"
Dolores School District Re-4A<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Dolores grandfather has criticized the school district for disciplinary techniques used on his grandson, but district administrators say they acted appropriately.<\/p>\n

At a meeting earlier this month, the man told the school board that the Dolores School District Re-4A had not appropriately followed the Individual Education Plan for his grandson. The boy is eligible for special education services at the school and faces social emotional and behavioral challenges, at times becoming physically aggressive, according to a report by the Colorado Department of Education.<\/p>\n

The grandfather issued complaints with the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office and CDE against the district and San Juan Board of Cooperative Services, which provides exceptional student services in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

He alleged that staff used a \u201cweighted blanket\u201d as discipline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to make sure you knew what was happening at the school,\u201d he told the board.<\/p>\n

Sheriff and state investigators produced differing results: The Sheriff\u2019s Office cleared the district of wrongdoing; the state found the school and BOCES violated aspects of federal and state law.<\/p>\n

In the Sheriff\u2019s Office report, Detective Yvonne McClellan wrote that she had discussed the case with the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with the DA\u2019s Office, it was determined that the case did not rise to the level of the criminal intent needed for child abuse,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office, she stated, had contacted the child\u2019s family and offered support through local agencies, but it had not been taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough my investigations, I have determined that while the school used a (unapproved) weighted blanket, they did so with their best intentions for the well-being of the child,\u201d McClellan wrote.<\/p>\n

The CDE, though, found the district and BOCES violated the state\u2019s Protection of Persons from Restraint Act by using a \u201cmechanical restraint\u201d not authorized by the student\u2019s IEP by not following documentation and notification requirements.<\/p>\n

The state also found that by removing the student from a \u201cgeneral education setting\u201d multiple times, the school violated the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. CDE investigators acknowledged keeping the student in a general education classroom \u201cwould have threatened the safety of others and interfered with the education of his peers,\u201d but said BOCES should have convened staff and service providers earlier to reevaluate the student\u2019s Behavior Intervention Plan.<\/p>\n

The state complaints officer set conditions for the district and BOCES to meet, including submitting to the state a corrective action plan by Jan. 10, providing the student\u2019s parent with a \u201cconsent for reevaluation\u201d by Dec. 20 and convening a meeting to review and revise the student\u2019s IEP and BIP by March 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Decision of the SCO is final and is not subject to appeal,\u201d the CDE report states said.<\/p>\n

Dolores Superintendent Lis Richard said the district met state conditions.<\/p>\n

She said while the district is not permitted to appeal the state decision, the district disagrees with the term \u201cweighted blanket\u201d to refer to the restraining device.<\/p>\n

The district couldn\u2019t appeal the findings by statute, but it takes issue with references to \u201ca weighted blanket,\u201d Richard told The Journal.<\/p>\n

She added that CDE investigators conducted their interviews by phone while sheriff and DA staff investigated in person at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very careful with all of our students and their needs,\u201d Richard said. \u201cIt is our intent to carefully follow the regulations set in place for student safety. Our sincere desire is that this child and all in our care are safe, secure, and provided the excellent education they deserve. We continue to work with our BOCES to coordinate such efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superintendent defends district\u2019s actions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44,277,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores","tag-dolores-elementary-school","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90443,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604\/revisions\/90443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74604"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}