September 25, 2015

Diane Wiscarson ’96 demands civil rights for special needs students

Special education attorney and Lewis & Clark Law School alum, Diane Wiscarson ’96, has made it her mission to assure that special needs kids in Oregon and Washington receive a fair and appropriate public education. Depending upon the child, this can mean a lot of different things.

Special education attorney and Lewis & Clark Law School alum, Diane Wiscarson ’96, has made it her mission to assure that special needs kids in Oregon and Washington receive a fair and appropriate public education. Depending upon the child, this can mean a lot of different things. One issue currently facing special needs students in Beaverton schools is the right not to be shorted classroom time.

According to Diane and some parents of Beaverton students, special education buses are loaded and driving away from schools before the general education students are released for the day. Diane had pressed the district to change this policy, which essentially shorts every special education classroom student in the district by 10 to 15 minutes of education per day, or roughly 30 to 40 hours of instruction per school year. Those concerned with the issue say it’s not only an injustice, but also an ADA violation.

Diane has filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on behalf of one family, and OCR is currently conducting an investigation.

For more background and detail into the complaint, read recent stories by OPBNews, Oregonlive, and the Beaverton Valley Times. To learn more about Diane and her work, visit Wiscarson Law.