More complaints from parents have prompted the state to again scrutinize the Worthington school district's treatment of disabled students.

The Ohio Department of Education reviewed the district's special-education practices last school year. After that visit, the state ordered Worthington to make changes and train teachers.

This time, the department will examine how often disabled students are learning alongside peers who do not have disabilities. It also will probe how well Worthington writes and follows disabled students' federally required learning plans, which was a problem raised last time.

The district said it welcomes the review. "We really believe we have a quality program," said Shirley Hamilton, who oversees special education in the district. "We have quality staff, dedicated staff. We think we're on the right track and are moving forward."

What the state describes as a "selective review" will include a public meeting on April 13 and three days of staff interviews and reviews of records. The state has conducted four other selective reviews since the process was begun in late 2008.

"The complaints that were filed were filed by an extremely small minority of parents in Worthington City. We hope to hear from a broader scope of parents," said Ann Guinan, assistant director of the state department's Office for Exceptional Children.

A group of about 40 parents of special-needs students called "Many Parents, One Voice" remains critical of the district. Some parents say Worthington hasn't done enough and is moving too slowly.

Since 2006, 23 complaints have been made about Worthington, which has about 9,500 students. Those complaints are more than were made about the Columbus school system, the state's largest, with more than 51,000 students.

The state investigated 13 complaints about Worthington last school year. Four more have been made since fall.

About 1,300 Worthington students are considered disabled.

A flood of complaints doesn't necessarily mean the district is mistreating disabled students, Guinan said.

"I'm not saying Worthington doesn't have issues," she said. "Are they a terrible district? No. Do they have issues that need to be addressed? Yes. And that's what we're assisting them to do." Some of Worthington's deficiencies are common among school districts, Guinan said.

Parents acknowledge that the district has responded to some concerns. "I've definitely seen a willingness and almost an urgency" to change, said Brenda Louisin, a special-education advocate who helps lead the parents group. "It's happening, but very slowly."

Last school year, the state visited the district and found that Worthington had violated several federal and state laws. Federal law requires schools to write individualized education plans for students with special needs that set specific goals and detail what services they need to help them learn. In Worthington, those plans often either weren't followed or weren't well-written, the state said.

Worthington was ordered to train staff members right away. That training happened in January. The district brought in a couple of regular-education teachers from each school for training because the cost to pay 200 teachers to attend and substitute teachers to fill in for them was too great. The teachers who received the training were to train others in their buildings.

The training and changes came too late, some parents say.

Beth Hill's son, DJ Hicks, who is autistic, deaf, blind in one eye and developmentally delayed, is a senior this year at Worthington Kilbourne High School. For years, the 19-year-old has received once-a-week therapy at school to help him learn to get around, as in crossing streets safely and navigating unfamiliar places.

He never left the school grounds for the training until Hill filed a formal complaint with the state, she said.

"Had he had the opportunity to receive that training in a real-world situation, things could have turned out so differently. They're really doing an injustice to these kids," Hill said.

Hamilton said the district trained staff members on working with students who have autism or Asperger's syndrome this school year. Special-education teachers are meeting quarterly for training and discussion, and the district is meeting with parents monthly, she said.

"We do have an active parent group, and they have some issues from the past, and I think it's going to take time to change perceptions," she said.

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com