A proposal by Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast to move students out of the Stephen Knolls School has stunned parents and Board of Education members who said they were never told about the plan even as they developed a memorial for former students of the special education facility.
Parents dedicated a memorial garden Oct. 18 to the 24 students who attended the school and have died. They said they asked school system officials repeatedly if the school would be closed because they did not want to spend their time and money on building the garden if Stephen Knolls were going to be closed. The school serves children who are severely disabled.
Jerry Heupel, whose two sons attended the school, said he was told in June by Associate Superintendent for Special Education and Student Services Carey Wright and Gwen Mason, director of special education services, that the school would remain in its current location on St. Margaret’s Way in Kensington.
On Monday, 11 days after the garden’s dedication, Weast released his six-year capital improvement plan, which outlines a decision to study its collocation with an elementary school to end the Stephen Knolls’ students “isolation” and let them “relate to non-disabled students.”
“I feel like we’ve been mislead,” said Heupel, whose sons have died. He led an effort in the 1990s to keep the school open even as administrators sought its closure.
Weast Chief of Staff Brian Edwards said the plan includes only a study and that no money has been allocated. The plan must be approved by the school board and County Council.
If the Stephen Knolls program is relocated, the memorial would be moved with it, Edwards said.
But that didn’t satisfy Heupel and Board of Education members Tuesday, who said the capital improvement plan could be amended to include money for the school’s relocation.
School board member Sharon Cox, who attended the Oct. 18 unveiling, called Weast’s decision “shameful.”
“I am so distressed over this bollix, and I think that’s the best work I can choose,” Cox said.
School board President Nancy Navarro and Vice President Shirley Brandman said they also were surprised by Weast’s proposal.
Wright and Mason did not return phone calls Tuesday for comment.
Eighty-five children are enrolled in Stephen Knolls’ special education programs, which serve students ages 3 to 21, said public schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison.
This is not the first time this year that a decision by the county to relocate special-ed facilities has set off parents. A decision by the board to begin phasing out middle and high school special-ed centers has outraged some advocates.
Heupel Tuesday accused the county of moving special-needs students to accommodate the school system’s needs with little deference to the children it serves.
“Certainly the students seem to be less of a consideration,” Heupel said.
