special education

The abrupt shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic upended K-12 education across the country, particularly for individuals with developmental disabilities, and one state representative from Boston pitched a strategy Tuesday to repair some of the damage: allow any student who will soon graduate to stay in school for an additional year. Legislation filed by Democratic Rep. Edward Coppinger…

“Right now I’m dealing with three kids, in three different schools, with three different needs,” said Hillary Minicucci of Methuen, Massachusetts. Minicucci is like a lot of parents right now, juggling her work schedule and her husband’s while trying to prepare for whatever school will look like for their three children in the fall. But her oldest son, 9-year-old...

Parents of children with special needs are worried they won’t be able to get the usual amount of support if schools go remote.

Mona Roy’s 19-year-old son, Aloke, has autism and lives in a residential program in Randolph, Massachusetts. “We were separated, I think, for 130 days,” said Roy. “He couldn’t come home. He’s really mostly non-verbal, he didn’t fully understand.” She also has a 16-year-old son with special needs who attends Lexington High School. She knows being in school would be...

Parents are raising concerns about what’s next for schools for students with special needs.

Gov. Charlie Baker is urging anyone who sees a business violating Massachusetts’ guidelines to report it immediately.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced Monday that Massachusetts is launching a new online portal where residents can report any businesses that are violating the state’s reopening guidelines. Anyone wishing to submit a report of non-compliance can go to mass.gov/compliance or call the state’s 211 COVID-19 hotline. Baker said investigations can result in enforcement measures if violations are discovered. He did...

Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker announces new testing sites in communities who have seen high rates of coronavirus cases in recent weeks.