Declines to Open Systemic Investigation Despite Cases with Similar Facts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
This week the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) opened an investigation into allegations that a Johnston County Public high school excludes and segregates a teenage student instead of providing him the services he needs to succeed, but declined to open a systemic investigation that the school system routinely excludes and segregates other autistic students.
Monday’s decision to investigate marks the second time this year that DPI opened investigations into the treatment of students with autism in Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS). Disability Rights NC filed the first complaint in March 2025on behalf of three students with autism who were similarly shut out of full-time learning. In that case, DPI confirmed violations for two of those students, finding the school system failed to educate them in the least restrictive environment (LRE), but did not uphold the broader systemic claims.
The latest complaint with DPI is filed on behalf of “KS1,” who has been forced to attend school on an unnecessarily shortened day schedule rather than receiving timely evaluations and support plans to help the student meet his goals. Both complaints assert JCPS maintains a policy, practice, and procedure of failing to educate students with autism in the LRE as required by federal law and state policy.
“We are very heartened DPI agreed to investigate our client’s treatment in the school because even with significant advocacy, the school continues to deny our client the services and supports he is entitled to by law,” said Glynnis Hagins, an attorney on DRNC’s Education Team. “At the same time, we are concerned that DPI declined to open a systemic complaint. This is the fourth JCPS student with autism we have represented recently, each in a different school but with very similar facts. We hope parents or guardians of students with autism who are being excluded or segregated will advocate at school for their children using the advocacy tips on our website, and, if that doesn’t work, by filing a complaint with DPI. It is important for state agencies to know how differently each county treats disabled students.”
According to the complaint, the school prohibited KS, who has limited verbal speech, from using his communication device. It is well known that students who do not get the disability services they need, such as communication devices, may be more likely to experience behavioral challenges in school.
In addition, the school did not provide KS with timely evaluations that would inform his Individualized Education Program (IEP) and other educational tools in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As a result, KS’s school year was filled with behavioral challenges that resulted in the traumatizing use of restraint, recurrent suspensions, and academic regression.
Rather than attending school with his peers, KS was only allowed to stay for a few hours each morning in a self-contained classroom with his teacher and teacher aide. He was required to leave before lunch, and was prevented from participating in electives such as art, music, and physical education.
Prior to transferring to JCPS during the 2022-2023 school year, KS did well. In his previous school system, KS was making tremendous progress and succeeding. Things began to change once he entered JCPS. His progress slowed, then regressed, and spiraled downward by the end of the 2024-25 school year, according to KS’s legal team at DRNC.
“Behavior is communication,” said Ms. Hagins. “It is not surprising KS struggled with behaviors and was unable to keep up with his schoolwork, as we know he wants to do, especially when the school took away his communication device and did not provide him with the supports he needed and was entitled to,” she said.
“We believe this student and other students like him are being denied the education and opportunities that every child deserves,” Hagins said. “We filed this second systemic complaint to further demonstrate that Johnston County is failing autistic students again and again. Students have the right to learn with their peers and have the same experiences and benefits, not be segregated from them.”
KS’s grandmother is a strong advocate for her grandson and has consistently tried to get her grandson what he needs to succeed in school. “I expect the school district to do right by ‘KS’ and provide him with the full education he needs to be a fully participating member of society,” she said. “Instead, I worry that he isn’t receiving the education he needs because of his modified day and severe cuts to his time at school and the services he is receiving.”
A parent of a child centered in the March 2025 systemic complaint said, “As the school decided to place our son on a modified day, we had huge concerns that they did not properly account for his disability and his unique needs. Instead, they set him up to fail. The school did not consider additional supports to help him learn. They just wrongly labeled him as a safety risk and shortened his day.”
Another parent of a child centered in that complaint said, “Our son’s experience in school has isolated him from his peers. Last year, he was forced to attend virtually, without the opportunity to show he could be successful in a brick-and-mortar school environment. He could only return if he demonstrated perfection. That experience took our voice out of the IEP process and kept our son and our family from having key middle school social experiences, like in-person classes, school dances, and sports.”
Each of these families came to DRNC to ensure their children had access to a full education, one that could enrich them not just academically but socially and emotionally as well. DRNC’s Education Team has worked with each of the families to advocate for more inclusive and appropriate placements and services for these students and all disabled students in JCPS. “However, there is more JCPS can do for disabled students, and that’s what this complaint is about,” Hagins said.
The complaint seeks, among other things:
- Increased monitoring and oversight of JCPS
- Consultation with DPI’s Autism Team until JCPS has sufficient policies, practices, and procedures for appropriately serving students with autism
- An audit to identify how many autistic students have been excluded and what services they are owed
- Immediate compensatory services for KS and reimbursement for expenses his grandmother incurred in hiring private tutors and other supports
- Compensatory services for similarly situated students
- Requirement that JCPS allow KS’s private therapy team to observe and train his teachers on how to appropriately work with him, and use the team on an as-needed basis
- Mandatory training for JCPS special education staff in evidence-based autism supports, restorative practices, and trauma-informed approaches.
“Families should not have to fight this hard for their children to get an education,” Hagins said. “Kids with
disabilities just want what all students want – to be included and treated fairly.”
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About Disability Rights North Carolina
Disability Rights North Carolina is the federally mandated protection and advocacy (P&A) system in North Carolina, dedicated to advancing the rights of all people with disabilities, of all ages, statewide. DRNC is an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a member of the National Disability Rights Network. Learn more about Disability Rights North Carolina at disabilityrightsnc.org.
Contact:
Glynnis Hagins
919-856-2195
Glynnis.hagins@disabilityrightsnc.org