School closings have impacted urban school districts across the nation. There are important things that parents of students with disabilities should know if their child’s school closes.  State and federal law unquestionably require that the needs of the student drive special education services and instruction—no matter what changes are happening at the school or school district level.  This presentation provides an overview how this issue impacts students with disabilities along with strategies for students who have been or will be affected by a school closing or other form of district restructuring.

About Katherine Gladson

Katherine Gladson is an Equal Justice Work Fellow at LAF, and is currently working on a two-year fellowship project that aims to protect the educational rights of students who were adversely affected by the 2013 Chicago school closings and other types of school district restructuring within CPS. Through her fellowship project, she represents parents and students in special education, school discipline, and other education matters. Before becoming an attorney, Katherine taught middle school math in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, during the time period when around half of the district’s neighborhood schools were closed. Katherine graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law magna cum laude and is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu. While in law school she was a Civitas ChildLaw Fellow and represented children in education matters, family law cases, and in abuse and neglect proceedings. She has a B.A. in English Writing from Depauw University.