At the advice of my daughter’s asvocate I requested an iep meeting to discuss reeval. next years goals, esy and a few other issues. We requested this in letter form with a list of dates both I and the advocate were free about three weeks before school let out. There were only three days when it would have been impossible for either me or him to show up. Well after calling regually and being told that the person I needed to talk to was out. And the priciple telling me it was the head of spec. job to arrange the meeting. On the last day of school I got a note stating that they were refusing my request for a meeting due to no need to change goals for next year, as my daughter was being retained. Also stating that she had been approved for speech therapy for two hours, two days a week for three weeks in July part oe esy, but not for acedimic studies, and I should call the super intendant if transprtation was required. I have been calling the office every day but am told the super is out or in a meeting. My advocate has called several times. And is now suggesting we file a former complant. My question lays here my daughter already has a hard time with the staff of this school because they see me as a trouble maker is there any way to keep this from affecting her or the way she is treated.
Re: School avoided my iep request
The school MUST honor your request for a meeting. Do you have a good special ed. teacher? He/She will fight to help you if so. Contact that person. If that person won’t or can’t get results, call the special ed. department in your county and tell them you are in contact with an attorney over this matter. They will surely act then. People in the administration positions in spec. ed. work all summer and one of them could meet with you and a principal after school is out, even if you can’t get the teachers to come in the summer.
Re: I'm the parent from heck!
I agree. The squeeky wheel gets the grease.
I caused a lot of trouble at my son’s school a couple of years ago due to inappropriate programming ect. The district level got involved and there were threats made. I focused on my goal of getting my child an appropriate education and decided to pull him partly out of school to homeschool. I was threatened with a home visit from state social workers if I brought him in late everyday. I politely wrote a letter asking exactly where it said that tardiness was defined as truancy. In the end, I did what I wanted, because even the distrinct’s attorney couldn’t stop me (and it went to that level). I managed to maintain a cordial relationship with the prinicpal (who was new that year).
Fast foward to this spring. In a conversation about something else, the prinicipal tells me that she knew that the resource teacher of several years ago was a bad apple but “do you know how hard it is to get rid of a teacher?” I was right all along, and she as much told me so.
In another IEP meeting, I fought against my son being released from OT. Eventually the OT backed down and at another meeting, the district audiologist told me that my son was going to be just fine with me as an advocate.
Beth
I was always civil and polite
Re: School avoided my iep request
Of course I agree with your advocate. This is an incredible violation of your right to be a fully informed participent in the IEP process.
I have never enocuntered a district retailiating against the student for the parent filing a state complaint. I suppose it is possible. What I have seen more often then not is the attitudes of school personnel toward a student ,who they feel,parents who will allow them to continue. In other words,let them have their way out of fear,and it WILL continue.
And by the way,my nickname around school? Can’t say it here! But I am living proof,four state complaints,two OCR complaints,and attending many other parents IEP’s later,my kids were treated well.
Re: School avoided my iep request
State complaints get attention. My friend filed one and things changed drastically for her and her son. The district, for the next 4 years, has to provide “proof in writing” to the state DOE that accommodatoins are being made. They will also have to provide proof to the state DOE on several other areas.
I would file a state complaint and, being the kind, considerate person I am, send a cover letter enclosing a copy of it to the local SD. Makes the complainant appear very considerate. After you do this awhile, it becomes a game. You just have to know how to play it.
Re: School avoided my iep request
the best one to date:-) We sent a systemic state complaint on behalf of 27 families,totaled almost 1000 pages. It was sent via email to the DOE;-0
I know what you mean, maxine!
I worry about the same thing. Remembering three things have helped me.
1) The school admin may see me as the parent from heck but I’m not sure the teachers see it the same way. The school admin deal directly with my son so little that I’m not sure it’s important what they think. As long as I support the teachers, they support my child.
2) I always thought the elementary principal saw me as a trouble maker. She since has told me that she admired how hard I worked for my child. Of course, that’s easy for her to say now that my son has moved on to middle school! The point is that I saw myself much more harshly than she did, maybe its the same in your case.
3) My son would surely fail if I didn’t stand up for him. If its the lessor of two evils, I would rather risk them being unfair to him than him graduating without learning to write. I can keep an eye on how they treat him, I cann’t do much if he fails at life if he gets a poor education.
Good luck!
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