This is an excerpt of On Assignment, education writer Theresa Harrington's blog on Contra Costa County schools. Read more and post comments at IBABuzz.com/onassignment. Follow her at Twitter.com/tunedtotheresa.

July 31:

Although a June 20 letter to some Mt. Diablo district parents appears to attribute details about upcoming transportation changes to an outside agency, I have found that the district actually generated some of the information itself. The letter includes changes in special education busing procedures, including one that is being implemented "immediately," one that will go into effect Aug. 26 and one set to begin Jan. 7.

According to the letter, the changes were based on a "Financial Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) study to assist with identifying more effective and efficient means to provide special education transportation." Yet, the district didn't receive FCMAT's draft transportation report until July 18 -- nearly one month after the letter was written. The district had, however, received a June 5 letter from FCMAT outlining some of its preliminary findings and recommendations, which it had not publicly disclosed.

The June 20 letter to parents states: "The study revealed that we are significantly overidentifying transportation as a related service for special education

students. For example, the district currently provides transportation to 26 percent of our students with an IEP (Individualized Education Programs); however, in most districts reviewed by FCMAT the average was approximately 10 percent. The FCMAT team found that the district has an inordinately high number of parents who receive reimbursement in lieu of transportation services. One similarly sized district has only two parents who are paid in lieu while we reimburse 144 parents. In response to the FCMAT findings and recommendations, the district is modifying special education transportation services as follows."

First, the letter states that parents will only be reimbursed for transporting students if the district is unable to transport them. Second, it says that special education students who attend their neighborhood schools will no longer receive transportation unless they have unique needs. Third, it says some students will be picked up and dropped off at nearby schools, instead of at their homes, beginning Jan. 7. According to this "cluster model," students would then be transported to and from schools that are farther away, the letter states.

But when I read FCMAT's June 5 letter and July 18 draft report, I didn't see any mention of the "similar sized district" referenced in the Mt. Diablo letter. So, I sent an email to Bill Gillaspie, chief administrative officer for FCMAT, pointing out that the information did not appear in its letter or draft report.

" ... we did not give the district the 'similarly' sized district," he wrote in an email. "We don't know what district they are referring to ... The district must have that information that they are referring to in their letter to parents."

The draft report attributed the "cluster" idea to an analysis the district received "from a third party expert in special education law, compliance with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and best practices."

"As a result," the draft report states, "Mt. Diablo Unified is working towards clustering special education students at group stops where appropriate and training special education staff members in the IEP process and in determining whether transportation should be a related service. That same expert has developed a checklist that can be used in IEP meetings to help appropriately direct the provision of service."

I asked for a copy of the independent legal analysis on which the clustering idea was based. Gillaspie said it was FCMAT's belief that it was a public document, since the district had provided it to FCMAT.

I also asked Gillaspie to name the districts FCMAT reviewed, when it determined that "most school districts" transport about 10 percent of special education students. "The figure that we use has no basis in any statistical report or data that is available from the state," he wrote in an email. "Over the years we observe that most districts that control their transportation placements seem to transport about 10 percent of the total special education population...."

Gillaspie said it is important for districts to involve those who are affected by changes in discussions before they are implemented.

AUG. 2 UPDATE: FCMAT has denied my request for the third party analysis, reversing its previous opinion that it was a public document by now claiming that it is protected under the district's attorney-client privilege.

Do you believe the district is committed to open, transparent dialogue with parents in a spirit of working together for the best welfare of each child?