Parents' struggle with public schools

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach family is fighting the public school system for a private education. Caught in the middle, their 5-year-old autistic son.

For three years, the Grazianis gave Virginia Beach Public Schools a chance. Even when their 5-year-old autistic son Alex was left on a school bus all day, they hung in there. Even when life inside the home turned into a nightmare for the family, they hung in there. Alex's mother, Elizabeth, said he would bite her, his father and his sister.

"He bit her severely many times. Bit us a lot. It was just chaos. He was unhappy, we were unhappy, she was frightened of him," said Alex's mother, Elizabeth.

Alex had spent three years in a developmentally delayed classroom at North Landing Elementary School with little to show for it except for page after page of teacher evaluations showing Alex was regressing.

"We were hearing that our child didn't even have the most basic of skills. He had lost the ability to point, that he had completely lacked joint attention. We felt like this child was struggling so much we had to do whatever we could for him. We felt forced to have to find him another alternative on our own."

In March, the Grazianis found the alternative at Rivers Bend Academy, a private school, home to 41 students specializing in autistic children. Alex began to improve his behavior and his skills. The family says it's a fact lost on Virginia Beach special ed administrators at a recent September meeting.

"They presented their goals and objectives for Alex and we had the Rivers Bend teacher with us and she said he's done all these things. He's mastered this, he mastered this. I think they would have known that had they gone out and looked before they developed the IEP (Individualized Education Program)," said Alex's father, Chris.

However, the Graziani's quest to keep Alex moving forward has hit a snag so they called 10 On Your Side for help. The school district wants him back and refuses to pay for his education at the private school.

"It seems to be a power issue," said psychologist Dr. Mike Buxton. He serves as Alex's advocate during meetings with beach administrators and said the Grazani's battle is all too common.

"When I meet a family my first advise to them is: if you want to go further with this, it's going to feel like you're going to war." A war to educate a child? Buxton said when it comes to special needs children like Alex, a one size fits all public plan doesn't work.

"They represent that they're obliged or required by law to provide a public educational solution, but the Community Services Act or CSA is explicitly clear. It's designed to provide for private placements if those are required for the unique needs of the child," Buxton said.

Alex is unique. Besides autism, he suffers from mitochondrial disease. A cold could require a hospital visit. The Graziani's say letters from two doctors stating "Alex would do better in a smaller restrictive environment" have been ignored.

10 On Your Side contacted the Virginia Beach school district. Unable to comment on a specific child, a spokesperson e-mailed the following statement regarding special ed programs:

"Each student's special education program and placement is determined on an individual basis. Each student receiving special education services has an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, developed to specify the specialized instructional services and supports, along with individually determined goals and objectives, that are appropriate to meet the student's educational needs. The IEP is developed by a team, the IEP team. Decisions for students receiving special education services must be made on an individual basis according to federal and state regulations.

These regulations mandate that the IEP team must make placement decisions for students receiving special education services in conformity with the least restrictive environment. This regulation requires IEP teams to determine first whether a student's needs can be met in a school as close to home as possible and within the public school environment before considering other educational settings such as private school settings.

Therefore, VBCPS would only consider paying for a child's placement in a private school setting when the IEP team has determined that the student's educational needs cannot be met within the resources available within the public school setting and based on the review of less restrictive educational settings that may be available as defined by the federal and state regulations."

School officials say a preschool classroom opened April 20.

However, the Grazianis say Virginia Beach had its chance with their son and for her family's sake, Elizabeth is not willing to turn back now.

WAVY.com has learned a state mediator has been assigned to the case. A meeting with the Graziani's should take place in the coming weeks.