My son is in 4th grade in a Catholic school that is not federally funded and we beleive that he has a learning disability. We are going to have him tested by an independant testing facility. I am looking for some insight as to whether or not a private catholic school is bound by the same laws as public schools are once we get the results.
Re: Forgot to mention
that in some states, the public school district will provide services to children enrolled in private schools. This is true in MN. However, because of a state court decision that went against them, school districts in MN typically will not risk sending a specialist to provide services at a private school. Instead, the child is bussed (at school district expense) to a public school for services. This is extremely inefficient and disruptive to the child (I know, because we tried it), but at least a child can get services this way. We ended up homeschooling.
Mary
No.
The public school system is required to make available to your kid a “free appropriate education.” Private schools do not have that obligation. They may accept whom they choose on their own terms.
That said, many Catholic schools do their best to make their school work for kids with LD. Some have resource teachers (though often there’s one person in charge of everybody from K-8) and are familiar with accommodations. There were several kids in my 6th grade class at Catholic school who switched from public to that school that year (we had two sixth grades that year so there was more room, too) who’d been getting sped services. The structure and clearer expectations made a big positive difference for these kids and the school nurse was completely current on ADHD issues, so for the most part the response to ADHD behaviors wasn’t what you’d expect from the stereotype Catholic school (but then, I’m not exactly a stereotype Catholic school teacher — but it wasn’t just me).
So you’ll probably not get far at all trying to get the Catholic school to do things because of the laws. They *do* have to abide by 504 laws — so if you can prove the need for accommodations they’re required to provide them. However, lots of folks still think 504 accommodations are limited to wheel-chair-accessible bathrooms or letting a kid wiht poor eyesight sit in front. There are often battles about “fairness” as soon as academics are the issue.
Re: L.D and Catholic School
Hi
We just recently switched from a Catholic school to a public school. We tried very hard to make it work. My son was provided with services in a trailer one time a week. We supplemented with twice a week tutoring by a Learning Specialist. It was not enough. They were willing to try, but the teachers just did not have enough experience or guidance in dealing with his LD. We miss the atmosphere of the Catholic school, especially in light of the Sept 11th incident, but he truly is receiving a more appropriate education from the public school. No, they don’t have to provide LD services, but depending on your child’s issues they may be willing to provide accomodations- sometimes it is tough for them to know all the accomodations necessary. I wish success for you and yours. Good Luck.
It depends on your state, but in most states private schools are not required to provide services. Some schools will provide services anyway. Most parochial schools do not have the funding to provide services, however.
In most states you can get evaluations done for free through the school district, even if the child is in private school or homeschooled. Then, if you don’t agree with the evaluation, you can request an IIE — which means the child is evaluated by outside professionals that you and the district agree upon, with the school district footing the bill. I’m not saying that this is the route you should go. However, it’s something you may want to be aware of.
Most of us have found that even the services provided by public schools are inadequate. We end up paying for private services and/or homeschooling our children. When personal funds are limited, it’s imperative to carefully pick and choose how you spend your money. Many children need a sequence of interventions for optimal benefit, not just one type of help.
Mary