Suspended preschooler

[GinAndTonic]

I just got off the phone with the administrator at my son's school. He hit a substitute teacher yesterday, and hurt her eye -- she had to go to the doctor. This is awful. I don't know yet how she is.

The school is suspending him for two days. He's FIVE. He's in preschool. It's a public, Special Education program. Is it even legal to suspend him? Any advice?

 

[slsh]

Yes, unfortunately, it is legal to suspend for up to 10 days per school year. in my humble opinion, it's utterly ridiculous to suspend a 5 y/o. I would expect it to have zero impact on him or his behavior - developmentally, he's just not mature enough to get it. Really silly move on SD's part, in my humble opinion.

If you want to fight it, a couple of things come to mind immediately. Was this sub a certified Special Education teacher - in other words, did she have any business being in a Special Education classroom or was she just a body filling an empty space? Was his IEP being followed? Does he have a behavior management plan (BMP) and was *it* being followed?

Personally, I wouldn't waste my energy on fighting the suspension. I absolutely would request an IEP mtg. If your son already has a BMP, it needs to be revised. The specifics of the incident need to be reviewed and a plan needs to be documented so that this hopefully can be prevented in the future. What was the trigger? New teacher? Change in routine? etc.

If he doesn't have a BMP, you need to request (certified letter) a functional behavioral analysis (FBA) so that a BMP can be developed by the IEP team. Remember that you are a member of the team and that you probably know your son best in terms of triggers and ways to effectively manage his behaviors.

Just my lay opinion - I'm no expert.

So very sorry you're going through this.

 

[slsh]

Just caught your response over in early childhood forum - actually, a 1:1 aide was my first thought. I think you've got a better arguement now (don't know what your original one was ) in that he didn't adjust well to sub. A 1:1 would at least provide continuity if teacher is out - on the other hand, you then have to deal with upheaval if 1:1 is out.

 

[GinAndTonic]

Thanks for your answers. We're not going to bother fighting it -- it's not worth the energy.

He doesn't have a one-on-one aide because I'd never heard of such a thing. Sigh.