Last year I had an IEP with Doodle's previous teacher and her therapists' to get Doodle placed on the waiting list for this special school that is geared the same way that her fantastic teacher taught from so many years ago. Two nights ago I finally got a call back from the principal of this school, which was a shocker to me because I wasn't expecting a call at night from a principal, especially since Doodle didn't attend this school at all. I was informed that she had never received any paperwork for Doodle to be evaluated so she could be placed on the waiting list. But she would request it again if she couldn't find the paperwork.
So I did what any parent would do, I contacted Doodle's current teacher to let her know what all had been discussed on the phone as she knew about the IEP from last year and she had been trying (unsuccessfully) to follow up. What I discovered was there is a Resource teacher at the school board who took it upon herself to disregard after the fact the IEP. Now if you are not aware of this, you need to be. An IEP is a binding corner to corner contract and once all involved sign it, it can't be broken, disregarded or dismissed.
So what's the next step. That would be my advocate. Which I promptly called the next morning and they contacted me back the following day. I was never given a written notification as to why Doodle was never allowed to be evaluated. I sent an email to all involved including my daughters teachers supervisor and the Resource Teacher at the board a letter stating that I needed a letter from the school board regarding a decision made after the fact of an IEP as to why Doodle being evaluated was denied. I also stated that they had 30 days from the time of my email from me to get that to me. And in my last paragraph I stated that there was to be a board certified behavior specialist at my next IEP meeting that is to take place on Tuesday this coming week.
The woman with the God complex was the first to respond. She stated that this special school is over crowded. Well, heck the school Doodle attends now is over crowded and not to mention Doodle's class. 14 kids, 1 teacher and 2 para educators. That's a lot of children to keep up with especially when one is having a bad day and that just flows right to all of them!
I've also been informed not through this resource teacher but from a credible source that Doodle is being denied access to a continuous learning school. One that is geared to children on the spectrum with behavioral issues. Okay, on a serious note here, I don't notice Doodle having behavioral issues other then the incident that took place on Monday and that was because of something that was out of my control (no, I'm not a control freak) and Doodle was having a hard time dealing with being angry over it. Emotions are something children on the spectrum have a hard time with.
This womans' response via email is not complying with my asking for written notification to be mailed to me. And I don't care what the excuses are that someone at the school board gives. Schools are crowded I get it but no child should be denied to be on a waiting list at a school that could better met Doodle's needs regarding her education. So as of this time I'm letting my advocate handle as much of this as possible before they basically jump out and say surprise! I love a good surprise when I'm in on it. You never want a school or the school board to surprise you, it's best if you have surprises for them. And that's how I roll.
So since I'm not sure how to go about handling this situation it's best if I am just the puppet and the puppet master is revealed later. When you need help, true help in battling a school board, take the help. Seriously, take the help. For the benefit of your child, always take the help.
Well, as this all develops I will keep you all posted. Have a great day!
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