Genevieve+M’s+2017+OpEd+Article

= Einstein can’t go to Foothill =



The Foothill Dragon Press recently released its first magazine publication, and within that publication was an article about Foothills SPED (Special Ed Program). The article opens up by stating that Foothill High School has an abundance of AP (Advanced Placement), Honors and CP (College Prep) classes and that many students may not know about Foothills Special Ed program because SPED kids are NOT commonly found in the higher education classes. If that statement is accurate, it is a travesty.



The average SPED student body across the USA is 13.8% of all students. receives. In the 2 main destination high schools, Ventura High School & Buena High School, the average is 12-17% of the school's total student body (depending on the year) is enrolled in SPED classes, while Foothill High School only has just over 3% of its student body enrolled in SPED by comparison. Why does Foothill only have 33 students in SPED classes? Are they being discouraged from applying to this school in the first place? Are they being removed from the school by other means once they get in? What is the cause of this very low number of SPED students in this public high school?

I spoke with two SPED students attending Cabrillo Middle school in the 8th grade and they were both discouraged from applying to Foothill by Cabrillo’s administration, these students and their parents were told “Foothill is a tough school and will be too hard for your child, you might want to consider keeping your child at their home high school”. Those are just two students and not at all a conclusive answer to the question at hand, but it is an interesting thought.



As I looked further, I found that Foothills SPED environment is not the friendliest, multiple students feel like they are “a burden to Foothi ll” because they take classroom time from students that are “waiting in line to get to this school” and could really benefit from being here. Why would one of our SPED kids feel this way about our school. IEP meetings are required for every SPED student at Foothill, and alarmingly at some of these meetings, the directors of the program try to remove accommodations agreed upon in the student's IEP or 504. FTHS SPED teachers do not always follow the contract set in place by a child's IEP or 504 causing the student to fall further behind and fail; leaving the SPED student with no option but to remove themselves from the school. This was the impression from another former Foothill Student that now attends VISTA, a charter high school.

There are only 33 students in FTHS SPED, that leaves about 8 students per grade, but are only 8 freshmen coming into Foothill each year? This ratio is grossly off of the demographic. So again, why is Foothills SPED program so low. This will take a lot more digging and I hope that someone picks up the mantel and does this. Foothill is a publicly funded High School and each student in our City has equal opportunity to apply and attend via the Lottery. Somehow this demographic of children are underrepresented at this school and I would love to know why? I have my suspicions but I do not have the answer. The answer lies in one of three or a combination of all, either they are being discouraged from applying to the school, they are getting in and not succeeding and leave the school or they are being removed by suspensions for bad behaviors from the school. One thing is certain, the students I spoke with never felt welcome. As students with learning disabilities take time, money and space from Foothill it would not be a long stretch to think; probable cause?

Foothill is a marvelous school and has the capability to teach to all learning types and levels, but chooses to only put effort into the students without complications. With leaving the conclusion Einstein can't come to foothill.