Lawyering Up To Start Kindergarten Special Education ?
My son just started Kindergarten in August of this year. I spent all summer trying to get him as ready as he could be, to prep him for success and the highest level of achievement he could attain. He had already been enrolled into Pre-K with an IEP and the Pre-K school registered him into the Elementary school of my choice.
I chose the school for which we are zoned. We live, literally, a one minute drive away from this school. In fact, the purchase of our home was made partly because we liked the close proximity to this school. For years, as we strolled through the neighborhood, we had been telling our son that he would be attending said school as he would look with wonderment at it.
About a couple weeks before school started, I received a call from Mr. Bannon, my son's Special Education Kindergarten teacher. He had called to schedule me in for the open house. When my son and I attended open house, I did not see Mr. Bannon. I saw Ms. Merritt. So, all the rehearsing with my son that his teacher's name was Mr. Bannon, to prepare him for school had been a waste of time. I had to now explain to him that his teacher's name was not what I previously said, but something else. It was confusing for him, of course. Nonetheless, I really should not have been surprised. Mr. Bannon did say he was getting married about a week before school started. I can only assume that the nuptials interfered with his returning to work.
At any rate, at the open house, we saw my son's name on the class list which was posted. There would be five students and two paraprofessionals in his classroom along with the teacher. We saw his desk, and he got to sit in it.
We were both pretty excited about starting the new school year. I exchanged information with the teacher in person and by e-mail. I had donated classroom supplies. On the second day of school, it was mentioned to me by the para that there were now 10 kids in the class and it was obviously too many for them to handle. By the way, the paras don't generally offer a lot of information when you drop off and pick up your child. You have to ask them directly to get any information. If you don't ask, you won't know what is going on.
About a week and a half in, I was pulled to the side by various staff members in the main office where I was to pick up my son after school. I was informed that I would soon receive a letter because they were splitting the class to five students again. Sounded good, except that they were making my son go to another school. Now, the other school was not terribly far away or anything, but it was outside the zone for which we were assigned based on address.
My issues with this were:
1) No one discussed anything with me before they reassigned my son. So, no one cared to know our situation and feelings to be able to factor them into their decision-making. It went from asking me which school I wanted my son to attend, to no giving a flip what I thought about it and telling me what school he was going to regardless of hardships and protests I raised before his actual first day at the new school.
2) It seemed more fair to me to require those coming in later to have to go to the school with the available space, instead of asking someone who was there first to leave.
3) If the school knows they have a certain class capacity, why did they continue to allow kids into the classroom only to kick a kid out who was there earlier?
4) Not going to the school we are zoned for and having to travel to this other school means less sleep for my son, less time to eat breakfast ( it takes him a long time to eat adequately, he is a picky eater, and he's thin), and more stressful mornings, which will not help behavior issues with him and can make them worse.
5) The change would make it impossible for my husband to drop him off to school in the morning. He was enjoying being able to leave his son at school before going to work. My son seemed to like it as well. I thought it was great that they could spend that time together. Now, though, they were being denied this bonding opportunity.
Very unhappily, I spoke to the school's Special Education Administrator and the Coordinator of Special Education. Their verbiage sounded apologetic, but their continued intent to send my child to another school indicated that they didn't really care about the issues I raised. My son started at another school with yet another teacher, anyway, two weeks into the school year. He had stated that he wanted to stay at the current school. He kept asking me why he couldn't go there. Probably, he thought he had done something wrong. When I took him to the new school on the Friday before the Monday he was supposed to start, he didn't even want to be in the building. When we got there to see his new classroom, it wasn't even set up yet. It looked like a messy storage room.
Really, I didn't feel like this was fair to us. The reasons given to justify my son being required to leave instead of another child were:
1) My son did not have a sibling at the school like the others who joined the class later but were allowed to stay. (Why was my son and our family being penalized and grossly inconvenienced because he doesn't have a sibling at the school? We were in the class first.)
2) My son requires a lot of activity and they tried to pair him with other students they felt would balance out the class. (Or make it easier for the teachers? Forget about my son having to readjust again and our family incurring hardship.)
My stance remains: My son was in the class first, is zoned for the school I originally chose which is only 1 minute away from our house. The school is in our subdivision. The school should have gotten whatever staff or resources it needed if it did not already have them, and they should have figured out how to manage a classroom of 5 right there in that school that included my son instead of shoving him into another school causing stress and anxiety for us.
I posted my experience and disappointment on nextdoor.com. I got a lot of responses. One lady responded that she used to be a teacher and has a 27 year old son who was in Special Education classes. She said a lot is going on behind the scene at schools. She suggested that I inform the administration that I wouldn't be moving my son until we had an IEP meeting, that I should get any therapists or doctors involved, and to document everything I say and do, doing as much as I can by letter or email. Incidentally, it seems that everyone in the school system hates to communicate any relevant information by e-mail. They would respond to my detailed e-mails with a request to call them. And of course, it is often difficult to contact them when you call. You end up play phone tag for a while.
Additionally, the aforementioned retired teacher said that not all teachers and administrators want what is best for your child, and that not all changes require a parent's approval. She said that, at one point, her son's Special Needs class was to be moved to a different school due to transportation costs, but that the Special Needs teacher wasn't going to transfer with the class as it was well known that the principal didn't want 'those kids' in 'his' school. (How charming...).
Several people suggested that I get a Special Needs Advocate. One suggestion was to go straight to the Board of Education and speak to the Superintendent. Some suggested that I get a lawyer. I was warned that the only thing the school responds to is a law suit. A different retired teacher said that the parents with a lawyer or special advocate gets further in the system. Homeschooling was an option brought up by some. On the other hand, it was mentioned that school isn't just about teaching academic subjects like Math for Special Needs kids, but it's also about learning social and life skills, so interaction with teachers and other students would be beneficial.
I received several private messages. One of these messages stated that "education is a tight group and going against the 'powers that be' can hurt a teacher's career." This person who had been a Special Education teacher for 8 years said, "The school is trying to pull a fast one on you. They cannot change your child's placement without an IEP meeting. They are required by law to provide all services listed in his IEP. If a school is unable to do so, a meeting must be held to discuss options which should include transportation as well as providing staff. Their screw up with allotments is no excuse. Please connect with a Special Education Advocate and a lawyer. The advocate can probably help find one. Also, contact the state special education department and file a complaint."
Now, when I spoke to the Coordinator of Special Education, I did ask her if it was appropriate that they changed my son's placement without an IEP meeting. I was told that it was not really a change in placement because they had moved him into an equivalent learning situation. It just happened to be at a different school. Also, very nicely, she asked if I would like to have her file a complaint in my behalf. That is to say, they made the change and they were sticking to it and if I wasn't happy with it I could file a complaint.
A retired school administrator responded to my post. I was told to "schedule an appointment with the Associate Superintendent for Instruction and the Special Education Director. Ask them for a 'stay in place' order for your child's original school assignment. Otherwise, you will seek legal counsel. Trust me, they don't want that because it may expose many other scenarios like this one that didn't get noticed."
Well, I'm certainly glad I reached out. My local community gave me much to think about. It was definitely a rude awakening about what the next 12 years are going to be like. Ultimately, I reluctantly decided not to further dispute the transfer of my son to the new school. I had expressed my discontent, but did not know if his going to the new school was not actually better for him. Basically, I just wanted him to get situated somewhere so he could start settling in and learning something. I was told by the Coordinator of Special Education that my son had been transferred with another kid with whom he got along well. My son is autistic. Of course I want him to have every opportunity to learn to socialize and make friends. With such a limited view of all that is going on, limited time, energy and resources, it sometimes seems easier or the best thing to just go along with what they are telling you. And who wants to immediately become adversaries with the people with whom you entrust your child for most of the day. Yes, that is what they want, I'm sure: for us to be in the dark, agreeable to anything and everything they decide. No, it is not a comfortable spot to be in. If you do happen to be in a position to lawyer up, it seems it may be in your best interest. If nothing else, a lawyer can help shed some light on the situation.
Shortly after my son started at the new school, I was told by the Coordinator of Special Education that she sat in the classroom for one hour and had observed my son. She assured me that he was doing well. It calmed me down for the time being, but I couldn't help but wonder if her optimism was premature.
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