08/21/2026
After getting many messages and emails that echoed my own thoughts and concerns, I am choosing to address another school-related issue. I’ve been writing and saving this post for the past two days and I can’t be silent about it.
A principal was recently fired. I cannot and will not discuss the details of that because I am bound by law not to. People are very upset about this, which I give space for, but none of them have all the details.
This is about a consequence of the discourse about that firing and the harm it is doing. Rumors and speculation are not helpful. More than that, the parent blaming, parent shaming, and hateful comments regarding children in special education/ with IEPs (individual education plans) IS HURTFUL. As most people know, I am the parent of a special education student. While his diagnoses aren’t behavioral, we have many friends that do fall in that category. I have lived the life of a SPED mom in this district for the past 14 years, walking beside other SPED parents, navigating a system that is not set up for our children. I have developed close relationships with teachers and staff who work with our students. These educators who have dedicated their lives to giving our students the best educational opportunities they can have. Part of the reason I ran for school board was to add bring this perspective to the table. I will always advocate for our SPED students, families, teachers, and paras because so much of their experiences go unseen.
Families are reading the comments and hurting. As you’ll find posted in a couple groups, one parent shared their feelings about seeing these comments. They reached out to me this morning and we had a good conversation. They shared the following that they may use in public comment at the next board meeting:
“My son is a special-education student in this district. He has ADHD and DMDD, a serious disorder that affects his ability to regulate his emotions and behavior. I want to make something very clear: our teachers deserve to be safe. Our students deserve to be safe. If my child hurts someone during a behavioral crisis, I don’t expect the school to pretend it didn’t happen. But over the last several months, I’ve watched this community’s conversation change from concern about safety into something much more disheartening. I’ve watched former teachers and paras, and community members say children like mine — disability or not —should be kicked out of public school, forced to homeschool them. That education is a privilege, not a right. That police should be called on them. I’ve even seen people advocating for corporal punishment as if you can punish a disability away. I’ve watched their parents blamed, as though having a child with severe behavioral and emotional disabilities means we simply failed to parent them. But don’t see the doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, evaluations, medications, IEP meetings, crisis calls, hospitalizations, sleepless nights, and parents desperately trying to teach their children skills that other children develop naturally. These aren’t “bad kids.” They’re children whose disabilities can sometimes result in extremely difficult—and yes, sometimes unsafe—behavior. That behavior must be addressed. But special-education students are now becoming both the target and the shield in an argument between adults. Whatever disagreements exist surrounding this administration’s decisions, children like my son should not be absorbing the anger from them. I’m not asking you to disclose confidential personnel information or defend an employment decision. I’m asking you to defend the children who have now been dragged into the middle of it. Teacher safety and disability rights are not opposing values. IDEA exists because children with disabilities—including disabilities that affect behavior—are entitled to a free appropriate public education. My son has an IEP and IDEA protections, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t face consequences when his behavior is unsafe. This should never have become teachers versus special-education students. These children didn’t create this controversy. They didn’t make these administrative decisions. They didn’t ask to become examples in somebody else’s argument. They’re children. Protect our teachers. Protect the other children in their classrooms. And protect our special-education students. The question should be, how do we fix and support all three? Not have them pitted against each other. Please stop allowing disabled children to serve as both the target and the shield while adults fight with each other. Leadership doesn’t require discussing confidential personnel matters. Leadership does require standing up for the children who cannot stand at this microphone and defend themselves. And by supporting the principles and teachers and staff that work with these kids daily and know them personally."
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I saw a post on Facebook just this morning from a parent about their child being bullied. Is this really that different? Is that this the modeling that we want for our children? These students and families are our neighbors and they’re reading and hurting.
