Hello. I am an instructional assistant at a special ed school for emotioanlly disturbed children. Recently, a number of events have occured to drastically diminish the number of facilities available to our 24 kids (second to eighth graders).
I am looking for advise from individuals with similar experiences and/or legal expertise.
The particulars:
An audit was done on our program. The facilities, even at that time, were found to be inadequate in many ways. One problem identified was that our staff room was open to the rest of the building and so off-duty staff (not that there really is any such thing as “off duty” at our school) were observable to the students. The area in which group therapy was conducted was also a thouroughfare and when in use, others had to go around the building to access some parts of the facilities. Sometimes it was impossible to avoid interrupting though. The solution was to move the staff room and group room to one closed off room and split it with free-standing panels. Also, a kitchen island was removed. Now the only hot running water in the facility is in a bathroom and we no longer have the stove and oven. Our children had been participating in a cooking program for activity, but now this has to be done with hot plates and crock pots.
Secondly, the building we are in never had any of its own outdoor facilities. We used facilities that belonged to adjacent campuses. Both campuses started construction to upgrade their facilities during the spring break. This has meant that a field and a blacktop with basketball hoops, etc. are no longer available to us. We do not expect to have access to these facilities after they are upgraded. So, at this time, the students have access to a baseball field and a gym only 3 times per week for activity and nothing more than a small concrete paved walkway during recesses.
Other things to note:
The students also have to travel a long distance to get to the bus pick up and drop off area (about a five minute walk) now.
All the gates leading to the building were locked and chained. Now everyone has to cross a black top and go through a gate that is partially obstructed by bushes to get to the building. Wheel chair access follows an even more circuitous route. Luckily, the fire martial deemed that this wouldn’t endanger anyone in the event of a fire.
We have never had access to a playground or library.
The local paper ran an article on the upgrades to the fields that are now unavailable to us. It acknowleged other people who are losing use of the facilities, but not us. The teacher in whose class I work wrote the author, telling him of our plight and he wrote back saying, in essence, “Hey, sorry about your situation, but I am just a sports writer.”
Some parents have complained to the program managers about the situation, but no one has addressed their concerns with any plan of action.
What can I do to help remedy this situation? These are children that need the benefits of physical activity even more than others and they are way to familiar with neglect already.
Isn’t this a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act?
Do I have any protection as a whistleblower? My contract states that I must always provide the public with a positive attitude toward my employer and its programs.
If I were to take some action, what could I do? Are there agencies, public or non-profit, who can advocate for us?
What agencies do you think exist, public or private, that advocate for the restoration of facilities in one school?
Where’s your union in this? The NEA is the second largest union in the country and the AFT isn’t too shabby either. What kind of dues do you pay every year? If your union can’t help you, who can?
I’m not sure but I don’t think any contract has the right to take away your right to freedom of speech. You can check with a lawyer on that but my understanding is that your rights are your rights. They can’t fire you for what you say.
But they may not like that you say it.