Burlington Special Education Director On Unexplained Leave

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington Public School officials are saying that the leave taken by Louise D’Amato 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. Superintendent Eric Conti announced D'Amato's leave at a recent meeting with the Burlington Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

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.

D'Amato could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Burlington Superintendent Eric Conti declined comment because it is a personnel issue, but said he hoped the system would be able to issue a statement "shortly."

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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.

"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 told the newspaper. "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."

D’Amato was named interim special education director when longtime director Dr. Cathleen Estep retired in February 2012. She was named Estep's permanent replacement in May 2012

For more on this story, see the Burlington Union.

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).