For families of children with disabilities, navigating the special education system is always a challenge. But in Essex Westford, that challenge is compounded by a lack of accountability, a leadership vacuum, and a school district that seems more invested in protecting itself than in supporting the students it serves. Our story is just one of many, but it highlights a deeply systemic issue that families like ours face across Vermont.

The System Is Not Built to Support Families

Post-COVID, securing special education services in Chittenden County has become a nightmare. Federal laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are supposed to guarantee a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to all students, yet the reality in Vermont falls painfully short. The Essex Westford School District (EWSD) has shown time and time again that it is more concerned with meeting the bare minimum of legal requirements than actually providing meaningful support to children with disabilities.

Many parents move to Vermont under the illusion that this state values education and inclusion. But after spending time in the system, they realize that Vermont's special education services are vastly underfunded, poorly managed, and, in many cases, adversarial towards the very families they are supposed to support. It's no wonder that when parents ask for advice, they're told to leave—head to Massachusetts, New York, or New Jersey, where special education services are far superior.

The Struggles with Dylan McNamara: Barriers Instead of Solutions

Our daughters, both diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), need services that should be their right under federal law. Instead, we've encountered an administrator, Dylan McNamara, who seems intent on erecting barriers rather than providing solutions.

From the beginning, our interactions with McNamara have been frustrating. Rather than working collaboratively, he has repeatedly positioned himself as an obstacle to securing the services our daughters need. One of the most disheartening moments was his insistence that the previous year's actions were out of compliance with Agency of Education rules. Instead of correcting those mistakes in a way that benefited our children, he pushed for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that stripped away critical supports.

At every meeting, we come prepared with research, data, and documented evidence of what our daughters need. And yet, we are met with resistance. Requests for evidence-based interventions are ignored or downplayed. Concerns about regression are brushed aside. It feels as though McNamara, and others in the district, view our advocacy as an inconvenience rather than a necessary part of the special education process.

If you saw your child start kindergarten and noticed a huge change in her behavior—including wetting herself daily, being told by people who visited the classroom that she was putting hand sanitizer in her hair and pulling her pants down in front of other children—with the excuse that her 1:1 was burned out only a month into the school year, you would be concerned. She went from an ABA preschool to a district that told us ABA wasn't an option for Pre-K. Now, the BCBA working at the district is spread thin, spreading her time across multiple schools. ABA may not be the solution for everyone on the spectrum, but we've had success with it. It is one of many tools for folks on the spectrum and is the gold standard as an evidence-backed approach. Instead of addressing these concerns directly, multiple administrators are required to sit in our meetings simply because we raised concerns.

A Lame-Duck Superintendent and an Unresponsive School Board

While we battle administrators like McNamara at the IEP table, the larger issues within EWSD persist. Leadership at the district level is weak at best, nonexistent at worst. Superintendent Beth Cobb, in her lame-duck status, has failed to provide meaningful leadership. Instead of addressing our complaints about McNamara’s handling of our daughters' IEP process, she reassigned us to Erin McGuire—while simultaneously placing the blame back on us as parents. This kind of deflection and refusal to take responsibility exemplifies the district’s approach to special education: avoid accountability at all costs.

Attempts to reach out to the school board have been met with silence. Concerns about special education are either ignored or given vague reassurances with no follow-up. Parents who push too hard risk retaliation—communication becoming more difficult, and an overall sense that the district would rather they just go away.

The Special Education Parent Advisory Council: A Token Effort

The district’s own Special Education Parent Advisory Council is another example of its failure to support families. The council doesn't even have enough members to routinely meet. The one in-person meeting that did happen promised childcare for parents, but the provided childcare was inadequate and completely inappropriate for children with special needs. The experience was a disaster. When I reached out to the district, I was told that the childcare offered was not designed for children with needs like ours. I somehow missed the caveat that childcare for a special education meeting was only for children with fewer needs than ours.

What Happens to Families Who Can't Fight?

We are fortunate to have the knowledge and the time to fight for our daughters. But what about the families who don’t? What happens to the children whose parents are working multiple jobs, who don’t have the educational background to navigate this complex system, or who simply don’t know their rights? The answer is terrifying: those children slip through the cracks, their potential squandered by a system that refuses to prioritize their needs.

The reality is that special education in Vermont is not designed to support families—it is designed to minimize costs and shield districts from legal liability. Parents who don’t fight back often find their children placed in inadequate programs, denied essential services, and left to struggle without the support they need.

The Need for Transparency and Advocacy

EWSD—and Vermont as a whole—must do better. It is not enough for administrators to check boxes and claim compliance. We need real accountability. We need a school board that listens to families, a superintendent who leads with integrity, and special education administrators who prioritize children over bureaucracy.

The coming year brings budget cuts that will only worsen these issues. Federally, the weakening of public schools and protections for students with disabilities is terrifying. These trends make it even more critical for parents to push back and demand better.

This website will serve as an ongoing record of our experiences because silence only benefits the people trying to sweep these issues under the rug. We will document every barrier placed in our way, every failure of leadership, and every moment where the district chooses to protect itself rather than the children it is supposed to serve.

We are not the only family going through this. And we will not be silent.

If you are a parent struggling with special education in Essex Westford—or anywhere in Vermont—reach out. Share your story. We are stronger together, and change will only come if we refuse to accept the status quo.