COLUMBUS, Ohio — Some parents of Columbus City Schools students with special needs are concerned about the number of kids assigned to their child’s classrooms.

What You Need To Know

  • Parents and teachers shared concerns about classrooms overcrowded with students with autism during Tuesday night's Columbus City Schools' Board of Education meeting

  • Ohio law limits the number of students with autism that can be served by an intervention specialist to six, with at least one full-time paraprofessional also assigned to the classroom

  • Columbus City Schools Superintendent Angela Chapman said the district is committed to prioritizing the needs of students and said district leaders look at staffing needs daily

“Are we always going to have to fight for them to get the education that they deserve?” said Stephanie Cox, a parent of twins with autism, during Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting. “Is this just going to be the beginning when they will already face too many struggles to count?”

Cox was one of several parents and teachers who shared concerns during the public comment portion of the meeting. She said because classrooms are overcrowded with students similarly diagnosed, her kids are getting hurt.

“My own son came home with a bruise on his throat,” she said. “I have a photo if anyone would like to see that. And my daughter was mildly hurt today. All of these instances can be attributed to overstimulated kids who can’t speak for themselves, don’t understand what’s happening and act out their frustrations aggressively.”

Ohio law limits the number of students with autism that can be served by an intervention specialist to six, with at least one full-time paraprofessional also assigned to the classroom.

But Molly Wood, an intervention specialist at Sullivant Elementary, said she asked her colleagues at 21 other buildings across the district about their special education classrooms and said 60% told her they have 10 or more students with autism in classrooms. Wood said her own classroom had more than double the legal limit.

“If we cannot retain teachers and provide appropriate services to these students, it is time for the district to take responsibility and consider alternative placements outside of Columbus City Schools,” Wood said.

In response, Columbus City Schools Superintendent Angela Chapman said the district is committed to prioritizing the needs of students and said district leaders look at staffing needs daily.

“We do see you,” she said. “We recognize the concerns. We are working with our building principals. They are giving us feedback on a regular basis.”

But in the meantime, Cox said her children are at risk.

“As a parent who lives in constant fear of the very real dangers of these kinds of situations, this honestly feels like a nightmare,” she said. “We simply cannot wait for the unthinkable to happen because our kids deserve more than to be ignored, to be unsafe, and ultimately uneducated because they happen to have a disability.”