Meeting Public Comments

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SF 2181

A bill for an act requiring the department of education to develop and administer a pilot program that requires certain specified school districts to establish attendance centers for students requiring special education and students with behavioral issues.(See SF 2404.)

Agenda

Subcommittee members: Gruenhagen-CH, Donahue, Evans

Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Time: 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

Location: Room 217 Conference Room

Comments Submitted:

The purpose of comments is to provide information to members of the subcommittee.

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

02-16-2026

Teresa Wellman

OPPOSED. Im old enough to remember how mainstreaming children with special needs was our collective national goal. Decades of evidence now show this to be the best way to approach special needs childrens education. There is no reason for Iowa to go backwards and effectively warehouse these kids.

02-17-2026

Robin West

This is segregation, and it would be harmful for our students. Students with disabilities need support within the general education classroom to help them continue to grow. Separating them will only hinder their growth and prevent community building between all students. Students with disabilities are not problems to be hidden away from the public. They are assets to our community who need to be embraced and properly supported.

02-16-2026

Jessica Patterson

As a parent of a child receiving special education services, I am alarmed that this bill would require selected districts to redirect almost half of their special education support services funding to create separate attendance centers. That funding currently pays for contracted specialists, therapies, and direct supports students rely on every day.Special education dollars are already stretched thin. Diverting nearly half of these support funds to an unproven pilot risks reducing services for the very students this bill claims to help.Our children need fully funded, stable supports not funding shifts. Please vote no.

02-16-2026

Maralyn Schulze

Opposed to SF 2181 Segregating special education students doesnt help anyone, it just makes them feel more isolated. Regular education students miss the opportunity to learn empathy, compassion and acceptance of students who have different challenges. What could help these students is fully finding our public schools so we have adequate resources and staff to support our students. Do your job, support the people of Iowa and not special interests groups who only want to push their own narrow religious views!

02-16-2026

Norma Ewinger

I strongly oppose this bill and encourage you to oppose it as well. Special education students and students with special needs would be much better served if they are included in classes with "normal" students. It would benefit these special students much more if you would reinstate the AEA things that have been cut recently.

02-16-2026

Stacy Volmer

I strongly oppose Senate File 2181. This bill moves Iowa backward by segregating students with disabilities and behavioral health needs into separate attendance centers. Students who require special education are entitled to inclusion in the least restrictive environment, not isolation. Creating separate centers risks stigma, lowers expectations, and removes students from their peers and community supports.This proposal also diverts nearly half of special education support services funding away from Area Education Agencies, undermining the very infrastructure districts rely on to serve students effectively. Iowa should be strengthening inclusive practices, investing in schoolbased mental health supports, and fully funding special education, not experimenting with forced segregation in handpicked districts.Students with disabilities and behavioral challenges deserve evidencebased supports within their home schools, not separation. Please vote no on SF 2181.

02-16-2026

Gretchen Eastman

Opposed. Kids with behavior issues are challenging, but we need to keep them in a least restrictive environment. We have a student that cleared a classroom several times in elementary. Through counseling and teachers working with him, he is now an outstanding high school student that participates in school activities and is doing well academically. I have concerns that kids will be labeled as "bad" and get tracked that way forever. Fully fund public schools so they have the resources to provide the supports and services so kids with behavior issues can turn things around like my student has.

02-16-2026

Mary Airy

As a retired Iowa educator I strongly oppose this bill. Vote No. Students learn from each other socially, academically, emotionally, and behaviorally. Separating students into different attendance centers limits the learning of all students.

02-16-2026

Jenny Turner

Opposed. I had seen kids who have major behavior problems have them sometimes but do great others, and be able to mainstream. Other kids need something immediately and the level of deciding to send them to a separate school would take a lot of time and proof. A highly trained teacher whos prepared to deal with that both in a the community school and the special school is going to be hard to find and expensive. What we need is way more mental health beds for kids in crisis. A separate classroom with good supports is excellent until that point.

02-16-2026

Anna Burnham

I strongly oppose this bill, SP 2181. This bill is taking education backwards. Including special education students in the classroom not only helps the students in need but also the entire classroom. I have seen our students show more empathy and leadership towards our special education students. The students work together and help each other be successful learners. Please vote not work to segrate students with special learning needs.

02-16-2026

Kelli Hunter

Strongly OPPOSE this bill as the mother of a disabled daughter! We find that the individuals who stare and comment on my daughter in her wheelchair are almost always older adults who likely never interacted with the disabled because they were segregated. My daughter has flourished because she was in a general education setting the majority of time. She accomplished more academically than was expected due to her being challenged in a general education setting. Her friends look beyond her disability and appreciate her because they have always had special education kids in their classrooms.

02-17-2026

David Anderson

Segregation of special needs students and those with behavioral issues has already been demonstrated to be harmful to those students, and therefore this pilot program is unnecessary. Furthermore, exposure to people of differing abilities is useful life experience for all students, especially if we're trying to prepare them for the 21st century economy. Vote No on SF 2181.

02-17-2026

Chad Webb

Please vote NO for SF2181. First segregation is already happening, this is why these kids are having behaviors. What we need is strong enforcement of these kids civil rights, in the educational setting and in the private sector (daycares and any other establishment that's open to the public). This notion that everybody that comes into contact with these kids needs to be trained is a manufactured concept, who's goal is to expand government and control over our kids. Its not a theory. These kids deserve a life that GOD has given them. How can we argue no abortions given the rate of disabilities and then force them to live a life in solitary. Especially in such a world where people are less tolerant then ever before. Institutionalization is never an option. every decent person should reject.

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