By Ashley Garan
Covid quarantine and all that comes with it has been hard; but these past two weeks have completely shattered me.
On Wednesday, June 3rd, I received a text message from another mom at my son’s special needs school, Giant Steps AIND (American Institute for Neuro-Integrative Development) in Southport. What came through was a screenshot of a letter she received from her attorney. A letter from Giant Steps stating that:
“After weeks of thoughtful consideration of alternatives, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of Giant Steps CT, effective June 30, 2020. As we consider the foreseeable future, we find ourselves with the unprecedented challenge to provide our students with the safe environment that has always been our priority. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with circumstances beyond our control to effectively protect and serve our students and staff while facing such an uncertain future.”
And with this awful news, panic grabbed hold, my breath gave out and my heart sank deep in my chest: our entire support system for Max, carefully established and adjusted over years, was ripped away with the words on a single page.
Max is 8, almost 9, as his neurotypical twin sister is quick to interject. Max is happy and deeply loved but he is far from the little boy we imagined raising when we found out I was pregnant with boy/girl twins. Max has autism, very severe autism. He is intellectually disabled, non-verbal, highly sensory with major aggression and behavioral issues. He does not understand safety or danger and will intentionally elope. Despite years of intensive therapy and plans from many seasoned experts, he is not yet toilet trained and lacks a consistent effective method for communication. He cannot go to just any school. He needs Giant Steps, he needs the people there and the relationships with those people that have taken years to build. Are there other special needs private schools? Yes, of course there are. I had reached out to them all in our search for an appropriate school, and I’ve been researching them again now. Most are not suitable or even able to accept him due to to his complex needs and behaviors. So this is another hidden casualty of Corona.
As life and businesses are beginning to open back up most parents of school-aged children are looking forward to getting back to school in the fall, even if it comes in stages and looks very different for quite some time. For Max and 39 other profoundly affected children, there is currently no real place to return to.
We wrote letters appealing, pleading, begging the Board to reconsider. We rallied together and, in the midst of tremendous grief and pressure, reached out to anyone and everyone we could. The outpouring of support from our community was significant. A petition to “Save Giant Steps School” with a goal of 1,000 signatures currently has 3,616 signatures and 890 comments. Besides parents’ heartfelt letters expressing just how unique and necessary this school is for their children, letters and calls of support also poured in from professionals in the field, organizations, and even Congressman Himes. The tone was unified: This school is a necessary resource, how can we help it to stay open and ensure a safe space for these vulnerable children to return to?
We had (and still have) so many questions. Why not continue distance learning for the time being (special needs schools run year-round) and reevaluate come fall or even later? Surely if districts are continuing distance learning it would be better for our students to continue distance learning with the teams that know them than to start from scratch in-district or at a new private school. Why not survey families and staff or utilize the highly educated and extremely creative therapists and educators at Giant Steps who know this specific group of kids and who problem solve on a daily basis to find solutions where others give up? What about liability waivers, or the disability exemptions that are written into the state guidelines? What will happen to the 501c3’s assets; the school building, land and equipment, once the school is no more? What experts were consulted and why were none of the people with the most to lose upon this school’s closure, given a chance to offer help? Nobody on the school Board was willing to answer.
As parents of kids with profound special needs, many of us had to learn the hard way to advocate for the educational rights of our children. For us, Giant Steps was the place we finally felt safe and heard, understood and supported. Even though we still faced significant challenges at home, we were able to trust that we had a support team, that our son was making progress in his own way in a safe, understanding and encouraging environment.
Now, as a group of parents we are shifting our efforts from saving our school to finding a new way forward, mustering the skills acquired along the way and with one another to lean on. There is no greater cause to support than your own child. While I don’t know what the outcome will be for us yet, I do know that this incredible group of parents, teachers, therapists, staff and students deserve a place to learn and grow together.
You can help too.
While this particular situation affects 40 children, the issues at play have devastating implications for a much broader group of special education students and ultimately our public education system at large.
Although the Board made it clear that this decision to permanently close the school is final, we were told that they are open to considering a transfer. We are now reaching out to the community to help facilitate this in any way possible. If you are able to help in any way, please contact the former Parent Association leaders. We are at the forefront of this negotiation and can be reached via email at gsparentgroup@gmail.com. Thank you
