Chicago's Instituto charter school sanctioned for special education violations

State officials gave a Chicago charter high school the harshest possible sanction after an investigation found three years of “repeated and unresolved” special education violations.

Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy in Little Village on the Southwest Side will now be subjected to intense oversight by Chicago Public Schools. The publicly funded, privately run charter school blamed the problems on the sudden resignation of its entire special education staff a day before the school year started three years ago, and on the ongoing challenge of hiring teachers and clinicians to work with students with disabilities.

Instituto del Progreso Latino, the nonprofit organization that runs the school, said in a statement that it takes the sanction “very seriously.”

“We want to be clear that these violations did not stem from a lack of commitment to our students or a disregard for their needs,” the charter operator said.

The sanction came to light at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Thursday. Josh Long, CPS’ special education chief, read aloud a letter to the board, which he said Illinois education officials required him to do.

Among the many problems detailed in the letter was that some students went three years without receiving mandated services, and others went their entire high school careers without a needed aide.

The state estimated that 100 of the roughly 500 students at Instituto last year missed between 12,000 and 80,000 minutes of instruction and services. The school also repeatedly failed to offer make-up services, even after the state compelled them, according to the letter.

The state is demanding that CPS have bi-weekly meetings and monthly visits with Instituto. The district authorizes charter schools such as Instituto and is responsible for making sure that students with disabilities get the support they need to access education.

CPS is well aware that Instituto Health Sciences Academy has had problems providing special education instruction and services. When the school board renewed Instituto’s contract in April, the operator received a “needs improvement” rating for both special education and English Learner programs.

But it is not alone. CPS officials determined that nearly all16 charter schools approved in the spring needed to improve their services for students with disabilities. Like Instituto, many of them struggle to find staff, as they are competing with district-run and suburban schools.

Alberto Mendez, the principal of Instituto Health Sciences Academy, pointed out to the board at Thursday’s meeting that there’s a nationwide shortage of special education staff. But Mendez, who became principal last year, said the school has five of the eight special education teachers it needs this year, plus all the other core special education staff, including a social worker, case manager and aides.

School staff spoke up at the board meeting in support of leadership and touted the progress they have made to address concerns raised in the letter.

Jaqlyn Grandsart, a social worker, said that when the special education department resigned, the school was left “without the infrastructure, personnel or systems necessary to immediately provide services or corrective action.”

“Over the past year we have intentionally rebuilt staffing, systems and oversight,” she said. “We are now currently at 100% compliance. While this letter reflects past failures, it does not fully capture the work that has been ongoing with systems now in place to prevent these issues from reoccurring.”

Special education teacher Dessie Marek said their efforts have resulted in better outcomes for their students, including increased attendance and better grades.

“Over the past year, I have seen measurable progress in our special education program,” she said.

Marek said she works with a student who is showing signs of improvement after struggling to engage in class and complete assignments due to unmet needs.

“That student is now regularly attending class, participating in instruction and earning passing grades,” she said, adding that she’s “optimistic about the future of special education at IHSCA.”