AURORA | Multiple parents delivered emotional statements Tuesday regarding Aurora Public School’s decision to move some students with autism from one school to another.
“Right now, students with autism from multiple communities east of E-470 attend the autism program at Harmony Ridge P-8,” the district said in a statement sent out to families in March. “To allow students to attend schools closer to where they live, we will open two additional autism programs this fall at Aurora Highlands P-8 and Murphy Creek P-8. Moving a portion of the Harmony Ridge students to these schools now will allow families to have fewer disruptions or school changes in the future as the communities in eastern Aurora continue to develop and grow.”
Parents made multiple complaints against this change, including how this would affect their child’s routine, and how they feared that the new schools would not be as welcoming as Harmony Ridge.
Sarah Valenzuela’s child attends Harmony Ridge and benefits from their special education program. She added that her child splits his time between the general education classes and the special education classes. He and his classmates will be moved to another school.
“The [Exceptional Student Services] Department will tell you they have data to support this change. My son is not a number,” Valenzuela said. “Keeping him at Harmony Ridge is in his best interest…he will continue to work with staff he trusts…and he will get to stay at a school that has a culture of inclusivity, which is really hard to come by.”
Jerald Bell, another parent of a child with autism at Harmony Ridge, said he felt betrayed and surprised by this decision.
“[My daughter] is important to me and my wife. I truly believe that she is important to the district. But I feel like this could have been handled a lot better,” Bell said to the board Tuesday. He added that he and his wife are also considering moving to another school district.
Superintendent Michael Giles addressed the parents’ concerns during the open dialogue portion of the board meeting.
“Oftentimes, we think we communicate at the highest level and that sometimes doesn’t translate to what parents need. I can acknowledge that,” Giles said.
He said that he plans to follow up with families on the issue.
School district officials also reviewed progress in district efforts to boost graduation rates, especially among students of color.
As graduation day nears, district leaders continue to review trends and ways to improve student achievement for high school students.
District data shows that at the end of the second semester, 18% of the all district 11th grade students, which includes active students and those who have dropped out of school, have demonstrated career and college readiness. The year-end goal is 46%.
When looking at each racial demographic, 35% of Asian 11th grade students were on track to graduate on time next year, as of the time of the assessment. About 29% of White students, 18% of Hispanic students and 15% of Black students were on track.
Districts documents state that this is the first year that high school juniors have been assessed in the middle of the school-year, making it difficult for the district to determine if they will meet the year-end goal. There is no comparative data from previous school years.
Also, the district documents state that, “students are most likely to demonstrate [college and career readiness] skills in the second half of their 11th grade year or their 12th grade year.”
District data shows that at the end of the 2022-23 school year, an estimated 45% of 11th grade students were on track to graduate. District staff said that the previous year’s data is calculated from the number of 12th grade students who are on track to graduate at the beginning of the school year.
According to the Colorado Department of Education, the four-year graduation rate for the 2022-23 school year was 75%. That is below the state average of 83%.
The district-specific n trends were first presented during a board meeting on April 2. There was no additional discussion on it during the meeting Tuesday evening as it was categorized as a consent agenda item.
The recording of the meeting from Tuesday and April 2, as well as documents with additional statistics about students’ achievement and growth, are available for the public to view online.