I've been dragging my feet about posting lately. You see this is a milestone. This is my 100th post. I kept thinking I needed to be clever and come up with a list of 100 somethings. But a hundred is a lot! I am thankful for a lot of things but it would get monotonous to list 100 things. I am bummed about a lot of things but it would be too overwhelming to list them all out like that. Besides that would be a downer. This is an important post. It is a milestone of sorts but 100 somethings just isn't coming to mind.
Until last night. I was deep in thought about our continuing saga with the local school district. I haven't updated you all about it because I am still trying to process what it all really means. But last night at 2:32 am I realized what 100 symbolizes for us. One hundred is how many days it is going to take before we get any sort of resolution on our request for full time support for JP in his mainstream Kindergarten class. Are you confused? Join the club.
Here is the summary of our saga:
May 9: This was our final meeting on our IEP.
May 11: This was Kindergarten Roundup. This was a half day for all incoming Kindergarteners. This event raised questions in our minds about whether we could live with the IEP supports that were put in place for JP.
May 25: This was JP's last day of school. In talking with both of his current teachers I got the feeling that they were also a bit uneasy about the level of supports. This reassured me that my gut instinct was right and that I needed to push for a greater level of support.
(Okay...here is where the counting starts. DAY 1)
May 30: I sent an email to our Elementary team thanking them for all their support and expressing that I am excited for next year. I also laid out my case for re-evaluating our plans for classroom support.
May 31: Last day of school for our school district.
June 1: I received a response from the principal stating that she agrees with my assessment. She has put in a request for more supports but it has been denied. She suggested that I communicate my concerns with the special education administration.
June 11: I sent an email to the Special Education Coordinator who I gave the pseudo name, God because she yields such great power when it comes to our future. However, please refer to my disclaimer about the use of this analogy.
No response the first week. I figure that this was down time between when school got out and summer school started. Perhaps they were out of the office.
No response the second week. Well, they are back for summer school.
The third week I started to lose my faith. I talked to our summer school teacher and she expressed that the coordinator had visited the room the first day of summer school. She also expressed that she would "probably get herself in trouble" but she emailed the principal expressing that she felt that JP and Mrs. A would need full time support in Kindergarten.
July 1: It has been three complete weeks since I made my request directly to the Special Ed Coordinator. (33 days since my original request) I send a follow up to my email saying that if I do not get a response this week I will be calling next week to set up a meeting where we can talk about it in person. The holiday fell during this time and we were going out of town. I figured she would likely be taking some time off as well with the holiday. I tried to be polite and set the meeting after the holiday.
July 9: I put in a call to the principal to see if she has heard anything. I haven't heard back from the principal.
July 12: I call the special education office to speak to the Special Education Coordinator. I am told that she is "off contract" and will return to work in August. I can leave a message and she will get back to me when she returns to work. Huh?
So here I sit on July 13th. It has been 45 days since my original request for my school district to reconsider the level of supports JP needs for his free and appropriate education in his least restrictive environment. I have been told that it will be day 64 before the person who is needed to evaluate my request will return to her job. She isn't the final decision maker. She will have to pass on our request to members of the board higher up on the food chain.
13 days after she returns to her desk and 76 days after my original request JP will start Kindergarten. I don't see our request getting pushed up through the special education hierarchy, getting approved as well as an appropriate staff member hired within those 13 days.
Our IEP states that we will meet 4 weeks into the school year to re-evaluate our supports. Since school starts August 13, that 4 week meeting will fall the week of September 3. September 6 will be the 100th day since I made my request.
Rest assured we will not be waiting 4 weeks to have this meeting. And I will not be sitting here waiting patiently until she sorts through her entire inbox on August 1st. This is insane. I am not really sure where to proceed. A local advocate theorized that the Special Ed Coordinator is likely working the issue and we are being processed even though I don't know it. But where is the proof of that. I have not received a singe correspondence for this person. For all I know she hasn't even opened my original email! For all I know she is sitting on a beach in the Bahama's drinking Coronas.
On one level this feel like a violation of IDEA somewhere. Surely they must reply in a timely manner. I totally feel like we failed JP in our IEP. We should have fought harder for full time supports from day 1. We got lulled with their agreement for 18 hours. That is a lot but it has become apparent that he needs more. Especially during the start of Kindergarten! I can assure you that we have learned our lesson about not giving in on a fight. Without a doubt, it has to be easier to get things done during the actual IEP process!
The only thing that keep me from going bonkers is that I know that the entire staff at our elementary school is in agreement with us. I feel like it is just a matter of us going through the motions and getting through the bureaucracy. But I also worry because you always hear teachers commenting that they know children need services but the system will not provide them. Our teachers are on the front line. They see the reality. But the perspective of the administrator is much different. It is all about money not needs. I hope our teachers will have a say. Nevertheless, I know that I will have a lot to say once I get a live body to talk to!
So back to the 100. It is kind of lame but that is my spin on my hundredth post. I am not listing 100 things I am thankful for or 100 cute things my kids do. I am detailing 100 days of frustration. I find it interesting how my God analogy played out. I have decided to take it all back. The Special Education Coordinator is not comparable to God. Yes, she has power to alter the life of my child. But let's just compare efficiency. He created the world in 7 days. He took one day for rest. It is going to take 64 days before my school district will even acknowledge my request. If it takes them this long to read an email I fear how long it takes them to actually get these supports in place. And then to top it all off after a full school year of such efficient work, she is given a full month (July) of sabbath. I might be wrong but I get the impression that God still checks his email on Sundays!
DWAM warned me that I might get struck by lightning for using the God analogy for our Special Education Coordinator. I am starting to believe that my getting struck by lightning is more likely than us getting any resolution on this matter.
(If you are crunching the numbers and counting my posts, I must admit that I have pulled a few posts along the way. But I am going to still claim credit for them since they are still in my blogger account. Blogger tells me this is my 100th post. )
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7 comments:
Oh, MWAM! I feel your frustration! I think this was a *perfect* spin on 100. Let's face it, it's the most important thing on your plate right now, getting your son's FAPE sorted out.
I amalways so grateful for your posts on IEP stuff; the timing is usually just before we are about to take some course of action and I always learn something important from you that I can take into the meetings. This time it is NOT to get suckered into the school's "generosity" but to stand firm on our request for what Nik needs.
Hey, I was just thinking...since the special ed "god" is on vacation, go over her head to the next level up. A very politely worded letter indicating your concern over the lack of response (at all from this person! Sheesh!) to even acknowledge your communication. Before you send the letter, double check your state statutes on "timely fashion." If this timeline violates that, then let the person one level up know that you believe they are in violation of regulation XYZ and that you expect some sort of response. COPY THE STATE DOE IF NECESSARY. It's amazing how quickly people move if they think their @$$ is on the fire.
Amen, Niksmom! I absolutely agree that you should go over the special ed coordinator's head. If her position is only a 9 mo position, there is absolutely no reason why you should go over her head to her superior (who, undoubtedly, works a 9-5 job year-round).
I completely understand what you're going through. I've taken a bit of a hiatus on the IEP/public school fight, since I've decided to keep Conor home for the year. But, we all know that the fight isn't over. Who knows what I'll be in for as the year progresses. Pulling for you!
OK, so the good thing is that you have some people on your side. Keep printouts of every e-mail that supports your position. You may need them later.
And yes, it is totally appropriate to go to the SEC's supervisor. If she's not there, it's not really "going over her head". It's just a realistic solution to a problem that needs a timely solution.
Joe
Or maybe send a new e-mail message to the special education coordinator, with her boss (or bosses) on the CC line. That way, technically, you're not going over her head. But the boss will see it before the coordinator does. :)
And turn on the read receipt setting for your message so you know when any recipient has read your message.
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