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6 year old son keeps getting kicked out of school
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<blockquote data-quote="slsh" data-source="post: 700171" data-attributes="member: 8"><p>Hi Kim,</p><p></p><p>I haven't read all 5 pages of responses but wanted to suggest, very strongly, that you get a Special Education advocate involved, like yesterday. Couple of reasons: You requested (verbally, granted) a sped evaluation last spring. At that point, the district became aware that they may be dealing with a student with special needs, regardless of when they start the evaluation. You again requested IEP evaluation from school board in June (do you have documentation?). And then principal postponed it again at the beginning of school year with his/her "let's wait and see" attitude. You have had to pick son up from school how many times in the last nine months? My point is, the school has had ample communication from both you *and* your son that they may very well have a special needs student and they are *still* futzing around with the darn evaluation. There are timelines involved here - ideally should date back to your first request, but at the very least to your request to school board. They are, I believe, teetering on not getting evaluation done in timely manner.</p><p></p><p>In the future - any requests for evaluations/accommodations/etc should be made in WRITING, sent CERTIFIED MAIL. It's the best way to hold the district accountable. Also, any conversations you have should be followed up with certified letter: <em>Dear Mr. Principal - On August 30, you advised that you didn't want to evaluate Fred's need for sped services because you wanted to wait and see. Thank you for your time.</em> Short and sweet, but creates paper trail.</p><p></p><p>Secondly - since district has been aware of the <strong>possibility</strong> they are dealing with a student with special needs since *at least* the beginning of this school year (realistically dates back to your first IEP evaluation request), every time they remove him from classroom, whether it's to office or having you pick him up early, that counts towards a max allowed 10-day "suspension" for sped students - basically, if "suspension" is due to disability (which, well, obviously it is since his current "disability" is an inability to function in classroom), they can only suspend for 10 days per school year. After those 10 days are up, it counts as a "change in placement" even if he's still in same classroom. A bunch of protections kick in, including mandatory review of IEP, supports, and placement. Again, just because they've postponed and delayed evaluation horrifically, they still are aware of the fact that he's potentially a sped student, and he gets these protections. I would count up time out of classroom - I'm thinking if he hasn't been out of classroom a total of 10 days yet, he's darn close.</p><p></p><p>Bottom line - districts must provide "free and appropriate education" (FAPE) in "least restrictive environment" (LRE). They are NOT educating your son. Period. They are certainly not providing FAPE in LRE (mantra of sped students and federal sped law). </p><p></p><p>With all the foot dragging going on, I'm guessing you might be dealing with a district that either isn't fully aware of their responsibilities under IDEA (federal sped law) or they figure they'll only serve kids who have parents that insist. </p><p></p><p>I would also recommend that you become well acquainted with sped law, both state and federal. Federal law mandates bare minimum, but some states have some nice perks in their laws. Again, look for a sped advocacy group in your area. Usually they are parent run (and those are, in my humble opinion, the very best). You should be able to take a crash course on sped law. If not - study up yourself. It's really not too awful to learn, and the time you put into it now will be well worth it should your son require sped services on a longer term basis. Check out wrightslaw.com - great advocacy site.</p><p></p><p>Again, the very bottom line here is that your son is not receiving any type of an education at this point. Constantly calling a parent to pick up a kid from school is *not* a reasonable solution in any way, shape, or form - ever. At least, it's not a solution for the kid - it's a *great* solution for the district because then they don't have to deal with it. </p><p></p><p>It's crucial your son get the supports he needs - what is going on right now is setting up a really bad precedent for the rest of his school career.</p><p></p><p>A "diagnosis" would be helpful but is not mandatory for sped services. Outside evaluations are good (especially if district balks at providing services), but again not mandatory at this point. The district has ample evidence that your son needs sped services (not being able to function in a classroom is.... well, I mean, really - common sense). What absolutely is mandatory is that the district must provide FAPE in LRE. They aren't, and I'm not getting the sense they're terribly concerned about it either.</p><p></p><p>Just my opinion, hon. Hang in there, get your rhino skin (aka school-administrator-proof armor <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ) on, and remember that your son has the right to be educated, not warehoused in your home or some office for the duration of the school year.</p><p></p><p>by the way - not sure I would institute consequences at home for school behavior. He's obviously not getting the supports he needs, and it doesn't really sound like anyone has a good feel for why he needs supports or what those supports may need to be (no judgement there - some of us worked for years to try to figure out our challenging kids). You may be giving him a consequence for something he really cannot help. Kinda like punishing him for not doing his Spanish homework, except he's taking French - know what I mean? Also - I very strongly believe that what happens at school should stay at school (another reason I abhor the "call mommy" method of dealing with challenging kids at school). If you start giving consequences at home for school stuff, you may end up with a kid whose entire life is nothing but a consequence (been there done that - it was not good for my son or for us - something I would most definitely do differently in hindsight).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="slsh, post: 700171, member: 8"] Hi Kim, I haven't read all 5 pages of responses but wanted to suggest, very strongly, that you get a Special Education advocate involved, like yesterday. Couple of reasons: You requested (verbally, granted) a sped evaluation last spring. At that point, the district became aware that they may be dealing with a student with special needs, regardless of when they start the evaluation. You again requested IEP evaluation from school board in June (do you have documentation?). And then principal postponed it again at the beginning of school year with his/her "let's wait and see" attitude. You have had to pick son up from school how many times in the last nine months? My point is, the school has had ample communication from both you *and* your son that they may very well have a special needs student and they are *still* futzing around with the darn evaluation. There are timelines involved here - ideally should date back to your first request, but at the very least to your request to school board. They are, I believe, teetering on not getting evaluation done in timely manner. In the future - any requests for evaluations/accommodations/etc should be made in WRITING, sent CERTIFIED MAIL. It's the best way to hold the district accountable. Also, any conversations you have should be followed up with certified letter: [I]Dear Mr. Principal - On August 30, you advised that you didn't want to evaluate Fred's need for sped services because you wanted to wait and see. Thank you for your time.[/I] Short and sweet, but creates paper trail. Secondly - since district has been aware of the [B]possibility[/B] they are dealing with a student with special needs since *at least* the beginning of this school year (realistically dates back to your first IEP evaluation request), every time they remove him from classroom, whether it's to office or having you pick him up early, that counts towards a max allowed 10-day "suspension" for sped students - basically, if "suspension" is due to disability (which, well, obviously it is since his current "disability" is an inability to function in classroom), they can only suspend for 10 days per school year. After those 10 days are up, it counts as a "change in placement" even if he's still in same classroom. A bunch of protections kick in, including mandatory review of IEP, supports, and placement. Again, just because they've postponed and delayed evaluation horrifically, they still are aware of the fact that he's potentially a sped student, and he gets these protections. I would count up time out of classroom - I'm thinking if he hasn't been out of classroom a total of 10 days yet, he's darn close. Bottom line - districts must provide "free and appropriate education" (FAPE) in "least restrictive environment" (LRE). They are NOT educating your son. Period. They are certainly not providing FAPE in LRE (mantra of sped students and federal sped law). With all the foot dragging going on, I'm guessing you might be dealing with a district that either isn't fully aware of their responsibilities under IDEA (federal sped law) or they figure they'll only serve kids who have parents that insist. I would also recommend that you become well acquainted with sped law, both state and federal. Federal law mandates bare minimum, but some states have some nice perks in their laws. Again, look for a sped advocacy group in your area. Usually they are parent run (and those are, in my humble opinion, the very best). You should be able to take a crash course on sped law. If not - study up yourself. It's really not too awful to learn, and the time you put into it now will be well worth it should your son require sped services on a longer term basis. Check out wrightslaw.com - great advocacy site. Again, the very bottom line here is that your son is not receiving any type of an education at this point. Constantly calling a parent to pick up a kid from school is *not* a reasonable solution in any way, shape, or form - ever. At least, it's not a solution for the kid - it's a *great* solution for the district because then they don't have to deal with it. It's crucial your son get the supports he needs - what is going on right now is setting up a really bad precedent for the rest of his school career. A "diagnosis" would be helpful but is not mandatory for sped services. Outside evaluations are good (especially if district balks at providing services), but again not mandatory at this point. The district has ample evidence that your son needs sped services (not being able to function in a classroom is.... well, I mean, really - common sense). What absolutely is mandatory is that the district must provide FAPE in LRE. They aren't, and I'm not getting the sense they're terribly concerned about it either. Just my opinion, hon. Hang in there, get your rhino skin (aka school-administrator-proof armor ;) ) on, and remember that your son has the right to be educated, not warehoused in your home or some office for the duration of the school year. by the way - not sure I would institute consequences at home for school behavior. He's obviously not getting the supports he needs, and it doesn't really sound like anyone has a good feel for why he needs supports or what those supports may need to be (no judgement there - some of us worked for years to try to figure out our challenging kids). You may be giving him a consequence for something he really cannot help. Kinda like punishing him for not doing his Spanish homework, except he's taking French - know what I mean? Also - I very strongly believe that what happens at school should stay at school (another reason I abhor the "call mommy" method of dealing with challenging kids at school). If you start giving consequences at home for school stuff, you may end up with a kid whose entire life is nothing but a consequence (been there done that - it was not good for my son or for us - something I would most definitely do differently in hindsight). [/QUOTE]
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6 year old son keeps getting kicked out of school
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