ANN ARBOR, MI - At first, Cathy Peterffy brushed aside her concerns that her daughter Johanna, who has autism and is nonverbal, wasn't making much progress at Ann Arbor's Burns Park Elementary School.

She met with school officials to discuss her daughter's education, but after several meetings, Peterffy grew frustrated. Eventually, she filed a formal complaint with the Michigan Department of Education's Office of Special Education.

Peterffy alleged that Johanna's teacher had not properly covered the special education curriculum or allowed Johanna to spend enough time in general education classes. She also argued that the school did not provide her with Johanna's special education services notes when asked and Johanna had not received the time she needed with a school social worker.

Three other families also filed complaints with the MDE about the special education services at Burns Park Elementary in the 2015-16 school year. Their concerns were similar to Peterffy's.

The state investigated and concluded Ann Arbor Public Schools violated some special education regulations in Johanna's case. The other families resolved their concerns through mediation with the district.

In Peterffy's case, the state found:

The school district violated part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that says parents should be able to obtain educational records within 45 days.

The teacher did not adequately document special education curriculum covered or sufficiently document that Johanna had spent the proper amount of time in general education classrooms.

Johanna did not receive the time with the school worker her education plan said she needed.

The state subsequently issued a "corrective action" order to the district. The district made changes to satisfy the order and the parents' wishes, including moving the teacher involved and providing a full-time social worker at Burns Park. The corrective action said Johanna needed to receive individual instruction and extra time with a school social worker for make up for the time she missed last school year.

"It's extremely rare in the Ann Arbor Public Schools for us to resolve an issue through that venue (of state intervention)," Superintendent Jeanice Swift said. "When that occurs, we absolutely do work through that process."

The MDE Office of Special Education also found one case of non-compliance with special education requirements in Ann Arbor Public Schools among 120 statewide in the 2014-15 school year, the most recent data available.

Peterffy says she's still angry about the decision in her case - even though it validated her concerns - because she doesn't think the state's corrective action order fully compensates Johanna for the learning she missed out on last school year.

'She doesn't appear to be learning anything'

Peterffy's daughter Johanna is now in fourth grade at Burns Park. She had the same teacher - who has now been transferred to another school - from kindergarten through third grade, Peterffy said.

Johanna started having more behavioral issues at school last school year, Peterffy said.

"It started with, 'Well, she doesn't appear to be learning anything, but as long as she's happy,'" Peterffy said. "Last year, things just became unmanageable. ... My gut kicked in and said I need her out of here until I know what's going on."

The Student Intervention and Support Services department oversees Ann Arbor Public School's special education services. It suggests parents with concerns raise the issue with their child's teacher or case manager, then the school principal, an SISS administrator, the SISS executive director, the district's assistant superintendent and finally the superintendent.

Peterffy says she communicated with all of those people except the superintendent, in addition to seeking advice from parents involved in the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education and other parent advocates.

She didn't feel her concerns were addressed, so in June 2016, she filed a formal complaint with the MDE's Office of Special Education.

"I want accountability for SSIS to own up to what they do and what they don't do," Peterffy said. "What is the point of safeguards and procedures if they don't work?"

In their complaints, the four families asked that Burns Park have its own full-time social worker. Three of the families - whose children were in the Autism Spectrum Disorder classroom - also asked the district to hire a new ASD teacher for Burns Park.

The school district has now met those requests, Swift said, even though the MDE order did not require those steps. The school social worker involved declined to comment on a situation involving specific families, and Burns Park's former ASD teacher could not be reached for comment.

The teacher is now a teacher consultant at another Ann Arbor elementary school. Peterffy says that upsets her.

"I'm very disappointed that (the teacher) still be allowed to continue providing services to children of special needs," Peterffy said.

The teacher's personnel file does not reference any disciplinary action, the MDE's findings or any concerns about her job performance.

Swift declined to comment specifically on the teacher involved. But she said there are many people involved other than the teacher when it comes to managing educational plans for special-needs students, and they hold each other accountable.

Swift said providing special education services for one student can include a dozen people. Special education encompasses a spectrum of services, and it can be a complex process to determine how best to meet each student's needs, she added.

Since the Department of Education's findings, the district is dealing with new problems associated with special education at Burns Park.

A new ASD teacher hired for the 2016-17 school year was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 13 pending investigation into an alleged incident that occurred that day, according to a letter from the district obtained by The Ann Arbor News. A teacher assistant in the classroom also was placed on administrative pending investigation of an incident on Oct. 11.

The district does not comment on internal personnel matters, school officials said in response to inquiries about the new Burns Park ASD teacher's employment status or what may have happened.

State demands changes

The three Burns Park families who resolved their complaints through mediation have confidential agreements with AAPS and cannot discuss their cases.

Peterffy sought a state investigation rather than mediation, which led to the MDE's finding of several violations of state and federal special education regulations, which are outlined in a decision issued July 26, 2016:

In November 2015, Peterffy requested records of her daughter's school attendance and time with the social worker and other service providers. At the end of March 2016, Peterffy finally got a response saying the records would be available.

That delay violated the part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that says parents should be able to obtain educational records within 45 days, according to the MDE.

The teacher could not provide sufficient documentation of special education curriculum covered in the 2015-16 school year nor sufficient documentation that Johanna had spent the proper amount of time in general education classrooms.

"The district was able to substantiate the presence of the student in the special education program from September 2015 through June 2016; however, no documentation was submitted relating to delivery of academic content from September 2015 through May 5, 2016," the MDE's report states.

That violated the requirements of IDEA and Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education.

Johanna did not receive the time with the school worker her education plan said she needed, which violates MARSE. A district administrator told the MDE there were too many demands on the school social worker's time, as the social worker served two high-needs schools last school year.

The MDE report noted that Johanna's absences from school added to the difficulty of scheduling time with the social worker and in general education classes. She was absent 125 half days over the course of the school year.

Peterffy said she took Johanna out of school to attend Applied Behavior Analysis therapy every other day at the start of the 2015-16 school year. By the end of school year, Peterffy said Johanna was attending therapy every afternoon because Peterffy was concerned about the lack of services being provided in her Burns Park classroom. Johanna's older brother's death in June also contributed to her missing some days of school.

The MDE ordered AAPS to take corrective action, which included providing 16 hours of individualized instruction for Johanna. A social worker also will provide 332 minutes of service for Johanna to make up for what she missed out on this past school year.

Also, AAPS is required to develop, review and/or revise its procedures for following special education regulations, with input from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.

Today, Peterffy continues to watch over her daughter's progress at school. Swift said the district is working internally to make adjustments to serve students and meet their needs.