special education

Washington's legislature adjourned its 2023 regular session with a new two-year state budget, alongside dozens of policy changes focused on housing, health care and public safety – and a surprising last-minute bill failure.

Some parents with kids in crisis in Washington are making a heart wrenching decision. They’re sending their children to out-of-state therapeutic boarding schools. And taxpayers are picking up the tab. While these are outlier cases, they highlight ongoing gaps in in-state services — gaps that were laid bare during the COVID pandemic.

Civil commitments have been appealed so many times that the legal standard has gradually become harder and harder to meet. “Just because we have a mental illness and we’re symptomatic doesn’t mean we’re stupid or drooling on ourselves... We’re able to understand, if we’re before a judge, that I may lose my liberty,”

The lawsuit alleges that children with severe disabilities might hurt themselves without trained teachers and caregivers present. The school district says the suit is based on "speculation."

Evan Henniger was admitted to WSU when the school launched its Responsibility, Opportunity, Advocacy and Respect (ROAR) program, a fully inclusive special education program for students with educational or developmental disabilities.