Burlington Parents Ask For Explanation On Special Ed Director's Unexplained Leave

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington Public School officials have yet to issue a statement explaining the leave taken by Louise D’Amato, director of the district's special education program. But parents have been reacting on social media since Wednesday, when news of D'Amato's leave broke.

Superintendent Eric Conti declined comment at the time because it is a personnel issue, and a school committee member said D'Amato's leave is not related to a recent state review that was critical of how the program develops educational plans for special needs students and the opportunities offered to students with learning disabilities.

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Most of the comments were supportive of D'Amato and came from parents who said they had children that had benefited from her leadership of the program. D'Amato was hired in 2012 after briefly serving as interim director following her predecessor's retirement.

Conti announced D'Amato's leave at a recent meeting with the Burlington Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

"We were having our annual start of the school year meeting and usually Louise and members of her department present at the meeting, but the day before we found out that she was on leave and that Dr. Conti would be there instead," Burlington Special Education Parent Advisory Council board member Robyn Magnarelli said in an interview with the Burlington Union. "I’ve had nothing but a fantastic experience, and I’m quite fond of Louise. My son has autism and is in sixth grade; we have never had a serious issue and he has always gotten everything he needs."

In an interview with the Burlington Union, which first reported the story, school committee member Christine Monaco denied that D'Amato's leave had anything to do with the state's review and said she could not comment further on the reasons behind the leave because it was a privacy issue.

A Department of Education report based on an April 2016 program review found that Burlington was not conducting special education screenings for English Language Learning students in their native language. The review also found problems with evaluators not always defining student needs and offering specific action plans to meet those needs when developing state-mandated Individual Education Plan.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).