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Considering Catholic school, I have questions

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

My husband is totally disgusted by my son’s public school education and is pushing me to pull our son and put him in a catholic school in another town. He is currently getting speech therapy and has certain accommodations in his IEP for ADHD and CAPD.What is he entitled to and from which district?Is it hard to trasition from one school to another or from public to private when you’re in the system?Is a catholic school obligated to follow the accommodations in his IEP. If not, do they have to follow a 504 plan?I worked so hard to get what he now has. However, he would get a better education at the catholic school. But if he’s not getting his speech services, it’s not worth transfering him because he will surely fail.Our public school seems to be “dummied down”. Then I wonder do I take him out of his somewhat easy school where he does well and thus has good self esteem, and throw him into a more challenging school where he will once again struggle. Decisions, decisions…..Jackie

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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: I am not an expert on this and I hope you get opinions other than mine. In my state, once a child leaves public school, no other school, private or parochial is obligated to follow or even recognize an IEP or 504. We do not write them or read them at the private school where I teach. (I regret that by the way but the law does not say we must so our administrators say we won’t)Students who had IEPs, though, in my state are still entitled to receive services but not through the school. Sometimes the Intermediate Unit comes to the private schools to offer therapy. Sometimes parents have to drive the child to the Intermediate Unit. So I believe your son might still be eligible for his speech therapy but it might not be provided for him at his school.You should be able to get the answers to questions like these closer to home. Ask your building principal. Ask your son’s speech therapist or call the County Unit or the Intermediate Unit. If you need to, call to your state capitol to the Department of Education. Explain the question and they’ll put you through to the right people. As these things are state-mandated, you could also call your local state representative’s office and ask them where state law stands on special service for identified children now attending non-public schools.And if you choose the right school for your son, the transition usually is not hard. If it’s the right placement, in a day or two it doesn’t feel like a new school anymore.Good luck.My husband is totally disgusted by my son’s public school education
: and is pushing me to pull our son and put him in a catholic school
: in another town. He is currently getting speech therapy and has
: certain accommodations in his IEP for ADHD and CAPD.: What is he entitled to and from which district?: Is it hard to trasition from one school to another or from public to
: private when you’re in the system?: Is a catholic school obligated to follow the accommodations in his
: IEP. If not, do they have to follow a 504 plan?: I worked so hard to get what he now has. However, he would get a
: better education at the catholic school. But if he’s not getting
: his speech services, it’s not worth transfering him because he
: will surely fail.: Our public school seems to be “dummied down”. Then I wonder
: do I take him out of his somewhat easy school where he does well
: and thus has good self esteem, and throw him into a more
: challenging school where he will once again struggle. Decisions,
: decisions…..: Jackie

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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Happy to say that I went to an open house tonight at the Catholic school and they said that the children get speech therapy provided by the town’s school district at an off site location. She also said they honor any accommodations set in an IEP as well as 504 plans. Yippee! Now the only thing is do we want to expose him to such a rigorous curriculum while his language and auditory skills are so weak.Jackie

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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I don’t know where your son is at academically but we’re considering having our seven year CAPD son repeat second grade at parochial school where his siblings attend. Where we live (FL) parochial schools are quite a lot more demanding than public school and I know he wouldn’t be able to succeed. We see this as opportunity for him to not have to struggle all the time.: My husband is totally disgusted by my son’s public school education
: and is pushing me to pull our son and put him in a catholic school
: in another town. He is currently getting speech therapy and has
: certain accommodations in his IEP for ADHD and CAPD.: What is he entitled to and from which district?: Is it hard to trasition from one school to another or from public to
: private when you’re in the system?: Is a catholic school obligated to follow the accommodations in his
: IEP. If not, do they have to follow a 504 plan?: I worked so hard to get what he now has. However, he would get a
: better education at the catholic school. But if he’s not getting
: his speech services, it’s not worth transfering him because he
: will surely fail.: Our public school seems to be “dummied down”. Then I wonder
: do I take him out of his somewhat easy school where he does well
: and thus has good self esteem, and throw him into a more
: challenging school where he will once again struggle. Decisions,
: decisions…..: Jackie

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