
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994                    TAG: 9406180229 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B4    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940618                                 LENGTH: NEWPORT NEWS

PARENTS' GROUP SAYS SCHOOLS DISCRIMINATE

{LEAD} When a staff member last December took notes at a faculty meeting at Watkins Elementary School, included in the minutes was a note to ``limit ages and restrict attendance of children we know are ADHD'' in a baby-sitting service the school provides during PTA meetings.

That note is now focusing attention on the entire school system.

{REST} Mark Jacob, president of the Peninsula Attention Deficit Disorder Association, a parents' support group, said the remark reflects the school system's continued discrimination against children with an attention deficit, a common behavioral disorder.

And now Jacob has filed an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and a complaint with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

``The law says that, if they are going to restrict kids with ADHD, they had better restrict short kids and black kids and fat kids,'' Jacob said. ``My problem now is not with the individual school or the principal. My problem is with the school system.''

Rosalynne Whitaker-Heck, a spokeswoman for the Newport News schools, said Wednesday that the note was written when a child diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibited behavior that was beyond the control of the person in charge and the incident was discussed at the staff meeting.

She said the faculty was told that in the future parents should be called to remove a child if that child's actions were out of control.

``The intent was never to restrict ADHD children from this service,'' Whitaker-Heck said.

If the complaint is founded and his office is unable to resolve the issue, said John Bilinski, a regional spokesman for the Department of Education, it could lead to the Newport News schools losing federal funding.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurological problem that causes hyperactivity in some children, making them impulsive and unable to sit still in class or pay attention to their lessons.

Jacob said that 45 percent of all referrals to children's mental health professionals today are related to an attention deficit. It affects from 3 percent to 5 percent of the population, or about one child in every classroom in Virginia. It is a disability under the guidelines of the Office for Civil Rights and is listed as a separate category under Virginia's special education guidelines.

On Jan. 4, Watkins' principal, Pat Yoder, issued a staff memo saying that the way the memo was worded, ``when taken out of context, is inflammatory and discriminatory.''

Jacob said he doesn't believe it was taken out of context but reflects the school system's attitude toward attention deficit as a disability. Four years ago, when legislation was introduced in Virginia to provide a special education category for attention deficit, Newport News was the only school division in the state that lobbied against the legislation, Jacob said.

Whitaker-Heck said that school personnel routinely take part in inservice seminars, local, regional, state and national conferences on the subject of attention deficit.

``Newport News schools have not and will not intentionally participate in any discriminatory practices,'' Whitaker-Heck said.

Phone calls to Superintendent Eric Smith were not returned.

by CNB