We were disappointed to hear that Durango School District 9-R may move forward with a separation from San Juan Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES).
There are three things in particular that struck us from the Herald article (June 25). First, it’s curious that the resolution to move forward with a separation is happening before the audit referred to in the article. Even though Mr. Snowberger says the decision will wait until the results of the audit are in, the decision to put the separation to a vote in advance of that would appear to indicate Snowberger’s intentions are already clear.
Second, the 9-R resolution states that the district “has adequate personnel in place to manage the responsibilities currently undertaken by San Juan BOCES.” To our knowledge, the district does not employ any of its own speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, school social workers or school psychologists. All of those services are currently provided by San Juan BOCES, as stated in the article.
Finally, the article seems to indicate that this is a financial decision. Nowhere does it talk about the possible impact to students, particularly students with special needs. We can’t imagine how the district, with limited resources and no current special education expertise of its own, will be able to make a separation without affecting the most vulnerable of its students.
As the parents of a former 9-R student who received multiple services from San Juan BOCES, we can say that the dedication and professionalism of the providers in that organization to students like our son can’t be duplicated by a district that appears to be making student-level decisions solely for financial reasons. We hope that the district will seriously consider the possible impact to the students they are charged with serving.
Jeff and Susan Hatfield
Tempe, Ariz.
