Audit details lack of state education oversight around special ed, child safety, LGBTQ training

A new state audit finds the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education failed to properly investigate reports of alleged misconduct by teachers in the classroom.

The 52-page audit report, which covers a period spanning July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023, also finds that DESE didn't resolve special education complaints in a timely manner and failed to hold up its end of an agreement to ensure that LGBTQ training was taking place in school districts.

Specifically, the auditor found that the agency, which oversees pre-K to grade 12 education in Massachusetts, came up short by:

Both the state auditor's office and a spokesperson from DESE released statements on Tuesday acknowledging the steps the agency is taking to address these issues.

"DESE has already begun to address some of the issues we raised to them throughout this audit report and that work must continue to ensure all children, regardless of their family background, bank balance or zip code, are fully supported and protected," Auditor Diana DiZoglio said in a press release.

A DESE spokeswoman said in an email the agency is "committed to making schools safe and welcoming spaces for all students."

"The department has addressed the findings in the auditor’s report and will continue to look for ways to improve," she said.

According to the report, the DESE had not been receiving standard monthly reports from DCF of suspected abuse or neglect cases by teachers starting with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Delivery of those reports resumed more than three years later, in July 2023. But during the audit period, from 2021 to 2023, the auditor found that DESE lacked a reliable way to centrally track or follow up on reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Instead they "unofficially relied on receiving emails and ad hoc file transfers from DCF as part of its reporting process during the audit period."

DESE said it has improved its internal systems to make sure DCF reports are reviewed in a timely manner. The agency also noted that most cases come to its attention after a school administrator notifies DCF, conducts an internal investigation, puts an employee on leave and notifies the agency "once the district takes employment action."

Additionally, the audit concluded that only 28% of special education complaints were handled by DESE within the federally-required 60-day timeframe. Other complaints exceeded the timeframe by an average three-and-a-half months.

It concluded that DESE lacked formal policies and procedures to ensure these cases were handled in a timely manner. A response included from DESE in the report says it has upgraded its systems for processing complaints, hired new staff and reduced a backlog in cases by almost 40% in the past four months.

Ellen Chambers, a special education advocate and the founder of Special Education Watch of Massachusetts, has advocated for students with disabilities for decades.

She said the results of the state audit are not surprising and these findings have a real impact on students.

"A lot of these kids, when they are let left to struggle in school, become so disheartened and so angry that they will stop going,” she said." There is this school to prison pipeline that is filled with individuals who as children never received the special ed services they should have received.”

The state audit is not the only recent investigation into DESE's special education programs. The agency was the subject of a federal review back in September 2023, over whether students with disabilities were receiving adequate supports.

In January, the U.S. Department of Education provided a report of its findings, identifying 10 areas of noncompliance around the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

That federal report detailed a lack of adequate procedures for resolving complaints about special education services, identifying and evaluating children needing special education services and ensuring local school districts are properly monitoring private schools where they have placed students with disabilities.

" DESE does not fulfill its obligation to locate and evaluate and service students with disabilities in general," Chambers said of the federal review. "So that's the whole foundation of the special ed law — that you got to find the kids, evaluate them and service them, and DESE does not ensure that that happens."