AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
During the pandemic, many students with disabilities missed out on specialized services. Schools in Pittsburgh are trying to make up for that, but some parents say their kids have aged out and won't benefit from the new efforts. Jillian Forstadt of WESA in Pittsburgh reports.
MELISSA: See how she's doing it? Look where your feet are.
JILLIAN FORSTADT, BYLINE: Inside Ascend Climbing Gym on Pittsburgh's South Side, Melissa is helping her 11-year-old son climb down from a 12-foot boulder.
MELISSA: Don't worry. I used to be a cheerleader. I'll spot you (laughter).
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Melissa's son has been rock climbing with three other students from Pittsburgh public schools. And today, this kid who's afraid of heights just hit a milestone.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yeah. I go to the top.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Once back on the mats, he shakes off the nerves of his new feat.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It was scary for a minute there because I felt like I was just going to slip my hand off and then, like, fall.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Melissa's son has a few different learning disabilities. We're only using her first name, and we aren't naming her son because they don't want his classmates to know about those disabilities.
MELISSA: That is the very first time he made it up. I am so impressed.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: The climbing class is part of Pittsburgh Public Schools' COVID Compensatory Services program. It's designed to help students with disabilities make up for the supports they lost access to during the pandemic shutdown. Melissa's son says rock climbing has taught him...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: To have the focus on one thing, not two things, and get - have fun.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Nationwide, lawsuits and federal investigations have pushed school districts to help students with disabilities catch up, and they're trying all kinds of things. Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia is providing free virtual tutoring. Families in Philadelphia who are owed compensatory services can use private providers and then bill the district.
MARIA PAUL: I feel like we're doing the best that we can, trying to support them the best that we can.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Maria Paul coordinates Pittsburgh's program, which goes far beyond rock climbing. The district has spent $2.7 million this school year on everything from after-school tutoring to specialized art classes. Paul says some people questioned how rock climbing can help students make up for lost learning time.
PAUL: You know, in those moments, too, you're working on following directions, listening to others, getting along with peers. Like, there's so many other pieces of development that are captured in those moments.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: PPS students missed out on more than 600,000 hours of special education support during the pandemic, according to district data. As of mid-January, the district has made up for only about a tenth of that loss.
PAUL: There's so many kids, and, you know, kids are grown and gone or have moved on from then. So I don't think we'll ever be able to close out all of those hours.
RACHEL SCHLOSSER: I know it's over a thousand hours.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Rachel Schlosser doubts the district will be able to make up for the services her son, Henry, missed out on.
HENRY: I have cats. Yes, I do.
MELISSA: When I visited his home, Henry introduced me to his pets.
HENRY: That's Beau (ph). I have a black cat.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Henry has an intellectual disability, and his family asked that NPR only use his first name because he is a minor and this story discusses that disability. Henry missed nearly all of sixth grade during the pandemic, but he's 17 now, and his needs have changed. So when the district sends his family a list of compensatory activities to choose from, his mom is often at a loss. It's hard to know what would be a good fit.
SCHLOSSER: I think it's asking one more thing of parents. We already did the heavy lifting during COVID, and our students lost a lot of instruction. To then ask us to be the ones to now try to figure out what programs would be appropriate is placing the burden in the wrong place.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: Back at the climbing gym, Melissa says the district's compensatory services program hasn't felt like a burden. Her son missed out on 144 hours of services during the pandemic, and she credits the program's many offerings with helping him jump multiple reading levels between fourth and fifth grade. Shortly after he started the program, she noticed some big changes in him.
MELISSA: And he liked school, and he wasn't fighting the system. And then when you need to do practice work at home, he's like, oh, OK, instead of it always being a battle.
JILLIAN FORSTADT: She says it's that level of engagement that will help her son and other students with disabilities catch up and thrive in school long-term.
For NPR News, I'm Jillian Forstadt in Pittsburgh.
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