PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Claudia Galicia on Special Education Transportation Issues
5:38:46
ยท
4 min
Claudia Galicia testifies about the challenges her 14-year-old daughter with autism spectrum disorder faces in getting to school on time due to persistent transportation issues. Despite numerous complaints to the Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT), the problem remains unresolved, affecting her daughter's ability to receive necessary educational services and succeed academically.
- Galicia's daughter is consistently late to school due to bus delays, causing her to miss important services like SETSS for geometry
- Despite filing 70 complaints with OPT and providing necessary documentation, the transportation accommodations were not added to her daughter's IEP until recently
- OPT's response suggests that no better route is available, leaving Galicia feeling that litigation may be the only way to resolve the issue
Claudia Galicia
5:38:46
Good night, everybody.
5:38:49
Councilwoman, Joseph, thank you so much for, this hearing.
5:38:56
My name is Claudia Galicia, and I'm here on behalf of my 14 year old, Dora Mikaela Galicia.
5:39:05
She is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and she also suffers from anxiety.
5:39:16
It's been very difficult.
5:39:17
She was in a nest program, but then there were not enough seats, at nest.
5:39:23
And then we were accepted to a reg to a regular high school.
5:39:29
So we are in a regular high school.
5:39:31
And I've been here a couple of times, and you've been you have helped me in the past.
5:39:37
Nevertheless, it's been 8 years, and it's been very difficult to get my child to school.
5:39:47
This year, specifically, geometry has been has been a very difficult subject, so she got sets.
5:39:55
But, unfortunately, our boss gets to school late every day.
5:40:01
So, she's failing geometry, and then she can't get the sets help because she's not in school at the time of these services.
5:40:11
And I've been, you know, I've been advocating with OPT.
5:40:15
I have, 70, complaints, placed regarding the bus being late.
5:40:22
And at the beginning, it was like, oh, the the accommodations are not in your IEP, miss Galicia.
5:40:29
So I went and I provided all the I provided all the documentations 4 years ago, and there were never a place in my IEP until today.
5:40:40
So then, you know, I when I put all the all the documents, I went to the doctor, I lost multiple days of work.
5:40:48
And then at the end of the day, I got an email from Ethan Perez, who's head of OPT, saying that, well, you know, we understand, that that, you know, that you're having issues, but you your child, this is the bad the the bad route that she's gonna get because we don't have any other route.
5:41:15
So I I asked, like, why can I if if OPT doesn't have a route that can get my child to school, why don't I get the, you know, like, the the the Uber voucher for my daughter to be able to go to school?
5:41:31
And they were like, well, that that we can only give you that if you don't have a route, but you have a route.
5:41:39
So, it's like the chicken and the egg problem, where my daughter is losing instruction, and the bus is not arriving.
5:41:47
The bus is not arriving on time, and then, unfortunately, the only route that I think my daughter is gonna get to school on time is gonna be through litigation.
5:42:00
And I have done it in the past.
5:42:02
My lawyer was paid, like, a $100,000 last time because my daughter was losing, you know, academic time, and and she was not getting the services.
5:42:13
And this is the same thing all over again.
5:42:18
I I'm not sure what else to do.
5:42:19
You know?
5:42:20
Like, I I I I've been in communication with OPT, but I don't get a response.
5:42:25
And then I realized today that I'm not the only one not getting responses because I saw the the Department of Education today not not being able to pull apart any responses.
5:42:37
So, hoping that, you know, that my daughter can get to school on time, sometime this year.
5:42:47
Thank you.