Miss-Delectable
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SGVTribune.com - Deaf student fights for help
After a yearlong legal battle, a deaf student at Glendora High School won the right to have an in-class, real-time transcription service.
Now her younger brother, also deaf and a freshman at the high school, is fighting to get the same service.
The two teenagers, Samantha and Victor Solorzano, believe that almost-instantaneous transcription will let them better participate in discussions. But the Glendora Unified School District is continuing to fight against providing a personal transcriber for Victor.
Samantha, 17, a junior, has had the service - called Communication Access Real-Time Translation, or CART - under a court order since the beginning of the school year.
"It helps me a lot," said Samantha, who goes by Sammi. "I can understand what the teachers say and what the students say in the classroom."
Last month, the school district dropped its appeal of a special education judge's decision in Sammi's favor. Now the district will have to provide the service until she graduates.
In September, the Solorzanos filed another lawsuit, similar to Sammi's, after school officials said they would not provide CART for Victor, 15.
A judge is scheduled
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to make a decision in mid-December. In the meantime, Victor has a notetaker with him in class.
Sammi's case is the first of its kind, according to her attorney, David M. Grey.
"It's certainly a precedent," Grey said. "It gives hope to a lot of families that otherwise might be cautious or concerned that they're not going to get (CART)."
The technology has been used occasionally in Los Angeles, Santa Monica-Malibu and Redlands school districts, said Grey, who works largely on special education cases.
However, CART is not widely employed because it's directed at a small population of deaf students who are oral learners and are in mainstream classes, he said.
The majority of deaf students use sign language, while oral learning is controversial in the deaf culture, according to Sammi and Victor's mother, Jackie Solorzano. Though both children can hear with the help of cochlear implants, the two siblings miss some things in class - such as when multiple students are speaking at once.
With CART, Sammi reads a transcript on her laptop while an aide, or "captioner," rapidly transcribes class discussion, much like a court reporter.
Glendora High School Principal Kelly Bruce would not allow a newspaper reporter or photographer to view the equipment in a classroom, nor would he address either Sammi's or Victor's cases.
From the school district's perspective, it's a question of need, according to Ted McNevin, director of instructional and student support services.
McNevin said due to student confidentiality requirements, he couldn't comment on the Solorzanos, but he spoke generally about CART and special education disputes.
"(CART) is provided in some districts but it's relatively rare," McNevin said. "Is this something that the student really needs in order to benefit from their education? That's where the disagreements usually lie."
The service costs the district about $60,000 per year, McNevin said.
Jackie Solorzano strongly believes that her children need CART to learn. Both children have been deaf since birth due to a recessive family gene, said Solorzano, who has spent many hours researching educational options - and is herself an oral teacher of deaf elementary school students in Rialto.
"I'm just trying to level the playing field," Solorzano said.
In Sammi's case, district lawyers argued that since she did well in school with a notetaker, she didn't require the additional service. They also argued transcription would be an invasion of the privacy for teachers and other students.
A judge, from the state's Office of Administrative Hearings Special Education Division, disagreed in a May decision. The district appealed to federal court but later dropped it. Under a settlement that is yet to be finalized, the district will have to pay the Solorzanos' attorney fees, Grey said.
Despite its loss in Sammi's case, the district is continuing to oppose CART for Victor.
"Victor's educational needs are no different than Samantha's," Grey said. "It almost borders on malicious ... to battle it again."
After a yearlong legal battle, a deaf student at Glendora High School won the right to have an in-class, real-time transcription service.
Now her younger brother, also deaf and a freshman at the high school, is fighting to get the same service.
The two teenagers, Samantha and Victor Solorzano, believe that almost-instantaneous transcription will let them better participate in discussions. But the Glendora Unified School District is continuing to fight against providing a personal transcriber for Victor.
Samantha, 17, a junior, has had the service - called Communication Access Real-Time Translation, or CART - under a court order since the beginning of the school year.
"It helps me a lot," said Samantha, who goes by Sammi. "I can understand what the teachers say and what the students say in the classroom."
Last month, the school district dropped its appeal of a special education judge's decision in Sammi's favor. Now the district will have to provide the service until she graduates.
In September, the Solorzanos filed another lawsuit, similar to Sammi's, after school officials said they would not provide CART for Victor, 15.
A judge is scheduled
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to make a decision in mid-December. In the meantime, Victor has a notetaker with him in class.
Sammi's case is the first of its kind, according to her attorney, David M. Grey.
"It's certainly a precedent," Grey said. "It gives hope to a lot of families that otherwise might be cautious or concerned that they're not going to get (CART)."
The technology has been used occasionally in Los Angeles, Santa Monica-Malibu and Redlands school districts, said Grey, who works largely on special education cases.
However, CART is not widely employed because it's directed at a small population of deaf students who are oral learners and are in mainstream classes, he said.
The majority of deaf students use sign language, while oral learning is controversial in the deaf culture, according to Sammi and Victor's mother, Jackie Solorzano. Though both children can hear with the help of cochlear implants, the two siblings miss some things in class - such as when multiple students are speaking at once.
With CART, Sammi reads a transcript on her laptop while an aide, or "captioner," rapidly transcribes class discussion, much like a court reporter.
Glendora High School Principal Kelly Bruce would not allow a newspaper reporter or photographer to view the equipment in a classroom, nor would he address either Sammi's or Victor's cases.
From the school district's perspective, it's a question of need, according to Ted McNevin, director of instructional and student support services.
McNevin said due to student confidentiality requirements, he couldn't comment on the Solorzanos, but he spoke generally about CART and special education disputes.
"(CART) is provided in some districts but it's relatively rare," McNevin said. "Is this something that the student really needs in order to benefit from their education? That's where the disagreements usually lie."
The service costs the district about $60,000 per year, McNevin said.
Jackie Solorzano strongly believes that her children need CART to learn. Both children have been deaf since birth due to a recessive family gene, said Solorzano, who has spent many hours researching educational options - and is herself an oral teacher of deaf elementary school students in Rialto.
"I'm just trying to level the playing field," Solorzano said.
In Sammi's case, district lawyers argued that since she did well in school with a notetaker, she didn't require the additional service. They also argued transcription would be an invasion of the privacy for teachers and other students.
A judge, from the state's Office of Administrative Hearings Special Education Division, disagreed in a May decision. The district appealed to federal court but later dropped it. Under a settlement that is yet to be finalized, the district will have to pay the Solorzanos' attorney fees, Grey said.
Despite its loss in Sammi's case, the district is continuing to oppose CART for Victor.
"Victor's educational needs are no different than Samantha's," Grey said. "It almost borders on malicious ... to battle it again."
