Almost Had school board paying for private school

Diane,
Don’t kick yourself so much. I think you need to provide the school board with proof that the private school is the most appropriate place for your daughter. I’m not sure what a matrix is … we don’t use anything like that here. The school year is almost over so you really could put her back in public school, ask for an IEP meeting and during the IEP meeting mention the fact that you pulled your daughter out because the class was not considered appropriate placement and you now feel that the charter school placement was a mistake. As part of the IEP team, you are permitted to make that judgement call …. I would suggest having something strong to back that up. Bottom line is that you need to determine what is appropriate for your daughter and do not make the decision based on what is available …. try not to think about what is available. Is she up for re-evals ? If so, you can request a re-eval and then gather a team meeting.
Are you anywhere near Ft. Lauderdale/Coral Springs ? We met with a group there last Feb. (we drove from PA to meet them) and spent a week learning how our children learn. It’s a great program. If you’re near that area, look up 3D Learner. I know they know alot about charter schools down there! Good luck (I hear FL is very hard to deal with!)
Susan

Diane:

I know how you feel in regards to your daughter. Please let me tell you my side of the “private school” dilema. My daughter is in a “private” school for LD/ADD kids. She has been there for 3 years. I call it private only because they accept only kids with learning difficulties, or so I thought. The school district pays for it. Acutally the school district doesn’t pay a dime for it, although they want you to think they do. In effect, the state pays for it and the district doesn’t lose a dime. The district though, has to answer to the state as to why they can’t teach these particular kids, and as you know or will find out their egos are bigger than their concern for these kids.

Anyway, she has been going here for 3 years and I cannot WAIT to get her out of there after this year. This school in particular has built on more classrooms which in turn means that they are allowed more kids to come in which means money in their pocket (and after all money talks). In letting in more kids, they have begun letting behaviorally disturbed (is that what you call it) in and that in itself is creating big problems. Another thing that is going on in this school is that many of the teachers are ADD themselves. That is not a good combo (ADD kids/ADD teachers). Many of the teachers are young and just out of school, and have no clue how to deal with ADD/LD/ED/BD (behavioral problems) so therefore the school is basically a free for all. The teachers don’t have to be certified, which isn’t a huge deal in any other teaching situation but when you have all kids of behaviors you need teachers who are trained to deal with these kids.

I could go on but I won’t. I just want you to know that just because this school is private does not mean that it’s the best place for your child. I believe that homeschooling is the best place for these and any child and if you have a way to homeschool you might want to check into that.

What state is the school located in? I am curious because we are sort of considering the same sort of school in our area in Illinois. The reason why we are not totally committed to the idea yet is because of the information the school put out about themselves. The thing that troubles me is that they state “most students remain for 1 or 2 years before being able to return to their home school.” I question that if the school is so terrific, why would the students WANT to leave? What other facts play into the plan?

One other school in Illinois, (Brehm) presents itself as a whole 4 year high school with continuing help for the student in their local community college if needed. This sounds like a more secure plan with satisfied parents. Our problem is not only the financial aspect but also the fact that it is in southern Illinois and we live in northern Illinois. My kid would have to be a resident student of which he would not be capable of doing right now. Besides, we couldn’t afford the cost of the school anyways. So…

Okay,
weird as this is going to sound ,I was in the EXACT situation. This is what needs to be done. I went weeks toe to toe with the dept of education in Florida,both of my boys are on an opportunity scholarship. My private school and I went to the district recieved training through FDLRS on matrix.Redid the matrix on my two and others at the school,most went up,some did not. Anyway,we resubmitted a new matrix on the direction from the State Dept of Education.All is not lost,e-mail me if you need specifics will be glad to walk you through it.:-)

The private school I want to send my daughter to is for children who have emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities. It goes from 5th through high school. I know someone who’s son goes there and he has been doing great. My daughters doctor recommended I check into it for her. Her main problem is she has Bipolar Disorder besides the OT and LD problems. The local school board is all for this school and has sent 40 kids there this year. The school is one county away but the school busses the kids. The school board is trying to get this school to open one in this county which they are in the process of doing. There is no other school anywhere in this area like it.
Thanks for the posts.

I have been a staffing specialist in Florida so I understand the matrix. I don’t understand the 252 score when you listed her required services.

1st and foremost - You are a part of the IEP team - the team which develops an IEP which drives the funding. If her needs went down, why was she in a self-contained setting?

Your staffing team should explain the matrix choices category by category. This is not to enable a higher score, that is cheating and immoral, it is to have you understand and agree concerning the necessary interventions. Your agreement is not essential to the process however, the needs of the child supercede the needs of the parents in these meetings. (This may sound cold, but let me give you a short example. A student’s services sometimes earn a family extra gov’t benefits. If the child is successfully worked with, the gov’t benefits are lessened or removed. The parent needs the money and won’t agree to a less involved IEP. The student however needs to be in a lesser restricted environment.)

Now back to the funding. If your child needs personalized tutorial help - more matrix points are awarded. Remember, it is the needs, not what the district is willing or is providing.

Second - does the student require very close supervision? If so, more pts. are awarded. If not, the pts cannot be generated.

Third - Does she qualify for speech or language services?

Fourth - Are there medical concerns that require the school’s monitoring?

If the needs are not there, the numbers cannot legally be generated. Yet, they just may be. Find a parent advocate. There are many ethical people working for parents in Florida. There are also ambulance chasers who hate the public schools.

I hope this has helped and wish I had more time to write. Ken

Dear Ken,
just so you know. Specificly about the opportunity scholarship. When the State accepted inadequately written IEP’s as documented proof of lack of progress,this generated lack of adequate funding for a lot of children. What the DOE is instructing parents to do it this:
1. Because the child is now enrolled in the scholarship they have no right to an IEP,because IDEA doesn’t apply. They are considering this a Parentally placed private placement. So therefore no IEP.
2. As unbelievable as this may sound,they have instructed us to resubmitt a new matrix without an IEP. We are to use whatever documents we have to show a need for services.
3. Even though the State handbook for services states specificly that to generate a matrices you must have an IEP,the DOE said,no you don’t?
4. My warning to any parent considering participation make sure you have a good IEP before you participate.Before you enroll into a private school.
5. Even though the State is a recipient of federal funds the scholarship kids apparently are not,so they have no individual right to F.A.P.E. which also includes related services.
6. When I enrolled I submitted my sons IEP expired for a year,no OT,Hearing device, tech assistive devices,or language therapy was included into his IEP. I was told that based on the inadequacy of the IEP he qualified to participate.So instead of fighting at the last IEP I just simply enrolled him,only to find out later,I no longer had the right to an IEP.

To make a long story short you can resubmit and without an IEP,I have written proof of this,if you would like.
Now back to the this would be illegal and inmoral statement. My district really doesn’t understand the Matrix. They are afraid if they put it down, they are now required to show more accountablitiy,they don’t realize how it works. Part of what we did was become formally trained to do the matrix,this was a real eye opener. It took an hour and e-mails from the DOE to convince them that we didn’t need an IEP.

I would love to know where all these ambulance chasers are though,can’t seem to find them,haven’t run into one yet:-) I will tell you after a whole school year we finally recieved are increase in funding,and with all the districts own evals as documentation of need,wonder what the State thought when none of these wound up on the IEP? BTW,I got Diane a volunteer parent advocate trained by STAND.Her next IEP will be much better.