At 77 years old, Elaine Gray knows she isn’t going to be around forever.
What she wants more than anything else is to make sure her 12-year-old great-great grandson, James, can take care of himself when she is gone.
Elaine has legal guardianship of James and the two live together at Birchcrest Estates in Niles.
Elaine fought James’ mother for legal custody of James about 10 years ago. James has several disabilities, including cerebral palsy and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
“He needed special care and I didn’t think he would be getting that with his mother,” Elaine said.
With that battle behind her, Elaine is fighting another one. She wants James to get the type of education that would allow him to live on his own, or with little assistance, when he is an adult.
James currently attends a fifth grade special education class at Howard Elementary. Elaine says he is “two, three years behind” in his learning level compared to other children. She said he is in a class with 14 other special education students, one teacher and a teacher’s aide.
“When you have 14 kids with all different types of disabilities and two people trying to teach them there is no way they can learn everything they have to,” she said. “I’m worried they are just going to push him along.”
Michelle Wruble, special education supervisor for Brandywine Community Schools, said special education class sizes are regulated by the state.
“They have to be compliant and if they aren’t, someone would be there to make sure that they are,” Wruble said.  “If I had a child in a special needs program I would want the class size to be as small as possible. It would be great if we could have one teacher per student, but unfortunately there isn’t enough funding or staff to go around for that.”
Although James goes to Howard, which is part of Niles Community Schools, he is enrolled in the Brandywine district.
Wruble explained that Brandywine offers special education programs that are sometimes housed in other school districts. Students, like James, are placed in the program that is the best fit for them. Educators determine the best fit by collecting academic data on each student and developing a student’s individual education plan, or IEP. These are done annually.
None of this information provides comfort to Elaine.
“Someday he has to be out on his own and how is that going to happen if he doesn’t learn the value of money and how to read?” she said. “How’s he going to get a job if he can’t read or drive a car?”