Nuffer Elementary School has been serving children and families in the Norwalk community since 1952. With over 450 students, their vision is that “We are a school with an unrelenting focus on learning. All students are expected to succeed; no one is allowed to give up.” Teachers and parents work together through the School Site Council (SSC), English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC), and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to support their vision, to implement and monitor programs, and to ensure that all students’ needs are met.
Unique to Nuffer Elementary is the Joan Sander Memorial Unit, which is a building, dedicated to the education and care of students with special needs. The school is committed to helping all students with varying degrees of disabilities to reach their individual learning plan goals, believing that students can learn and show progress despite the various challenges they may face. Students receive some type of special education service such as speech and language therapy, RSP assistance, adaptive P.E., orientation and mobility training, visual impairment services, physical and/or occupational therapy, behavior specialist intervention, Braille/enlarged print services, nursing, and/or special day class placement. Ten percent of those students are classified as severely handicapped and receive instruction in a special day class setting in the Sander Unit. Students from the unit are very much a part of our school and students are mainstreamed for part of the day whenever possible. Typically developing general education peers can also be found in the special day OH preschool class three days a week.
However, in March parents, teachers and students received a one week notice that these special needs students would be transferred to Sanchez Elementary this coming fall 2023. There is a committee that makes decisions for the special needs children, comprised of parents and teachers, they were completely unaware of any these changes. Only until one a parent attended a board meeting on March 13 did anyone know about this move.
At the March 28 NLM USD Board meeting, a dozen or so parents, along with their children and supporters of these families convened on the school board, with signs saying “Save Our Children!” Half a dozen parents spoke at public comment.
“It wasn’t until a FaceBook page was created and the parent caused a ‘stink’ did the director agree to meet with us,” said Pearl Arreola Mother of Bryce & Brandon 3 year old twins with varying degrees of special needs, ”Superintendent Lopez approved the move on March 13” she added.
Lori Watkins special disabilities administrator, called Arreola March 24 stating that she was calling to inform Arreola that her sons was being transferred from Nuffer to Sanchez Elementary in Norwalk. “That is the Varrio of Norwalk!” exclaimed Arreola. Born at 25 weeks Arreola’s twin Bryce, suffers from cerebral palsy hydrocephalus and is completely deaf. The other twin, Brandon is Autistic. “They made a decision and pulled the carpet out from under us,” added Arreola, “We have babies who go to school with tracheostomy tubes and suction equipment!” According to Arreola no parent or teacher was consulted or notified. “The parents have not been shown any new classroom, so how do we know if it’s ADA compliant and up to code?”
Parents were told this was part of Gavin Newsome “inclusion project”. If the classroom is Sanchez Elementary is not up to code for Arreola’s sons, she said she has no other alternative than to pull her children from the district.
Adriena Chavez is the mother of Emry Roland who has Level 3, severe Autism. This stage of ASD is characterized by severe challenges in social communication as well as extremely inflexible behavior. Children with level 3 autism will be nonverbal or have the use of only a few words of intelligible speech. Initiation of social interaction is very limited, as well as response to others. Roland has only been at Nuffer for one week. The district actually recommended the placement, confirming that Nuffer was the only school in the district that was equipped for this level of autism.
Chavez was told that there was going to be one aide and one teacher at Sanchez. At Nuffer each child has an aide. “There are only four students in Emry’s class now and they want to move her to a class of 18 students. Emry is overwhelmed by loud sounds, how is she going to react to the level of noise in an ‘inclusive’ classroom?” said Chavez.
Level 3 autistic children do not adjust to changes. Individuals with level 3 autism exhibit marked inflexibility of behavior, with extreme difficulty coping with changes to routine. At this level, restrictive or repetitive behaviors interfere with the individual’s ability to function. Changing focus from one activity to another may come at great difficulty and cause significant distress and setbacks. “Yesterday I went to pick her up and she was walking hand in hand with her aide. As soon as they got to the door, she bolted. She didn’t want to leave her aide or her school! This was a significant improvement because she usually ‘walks’ on her knees. This is significant improvement in her attitude. She loves the school and her aide so much. I am afraid how this move is going to set her back” added Chavez.
The OG reached out via email to NLM USD public information officer:
We are writing an article about Nuffer Academy and the parents who attended the Board meeting. We would like to offer the board / district the opportunity to contribute to the article – if they do not wish to comment, that will be added to the article as well. Please let me know either way.
Their response was:
The Board and NLMUSD have no further comment on the matter.
Thank you.
However, in a statement sent to one of the parents and forwarded to The OG stated the following:
Dear Parents,
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the proposed classroom move. The district continues looking into the future to ensure we are meeting the needs of all of students in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), as is mandated by law. At this time, the district has decided to pause the move of the special education preschool Nuffer classroom to Sanchez Elementary for the next school year and further evaluate our program offerings.
Again, I thank you for sharing your concerns and hope that we can continue to work together to strengthen our district’s programming for all students.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Program Administrator, Dr. Watkins, or myself directly.
Respectfully,
Maricela L. Harvin
Director, Special Education
California saw a dramatic loss of 110,000 public school students, with enrollment dropping faster than it did before the pandemic. At the same time, private schools saw an increase in enrollment. In New Jersey, public school enrollment dropped to its lowest level in 20 years, losing 41,285 students. Unsurprisingly, a Household Pulse Survey by the U.S. Census showed a concurrent surge in homeschooling.
Not all parents ditched public schools, of course. Some stepped up to regain control of the districts. Keeping stepping up and showing up for our kids.
