Amazing, outrageous school district in Atlanta

T

TeDo

Guest
Wow. I didn't know they "got it all on tape". That SD was insane to battle it so hard. That is outrageous. But, then again, it isn't THEIR money now is it?? hmmm
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Right. But now the family, once wealthy, is broke, and the parents are divorcing. It has taken its toll on everyone. So very tragic.
 

buddy

New Member
So scary and heartbreaking. My son has been abused by a few people in the schools. It makes you feel like you didn't protect your child, and I still feel horrible. Even though of course I know I was doing my best and I handled it ok when I found out. Every time things go on too long and I dont realize it I feel awful.

It is really tricky with a child who PROVOKES people due to his disability. But their job is to be professional and listen to the message behind the message.

my difficult child has been:
1. locked in an isolation room for a power struggle over wiggling (1st grade, 30 lbs, never legal unless kid is a SERIOUS threat to self or others, and then only for a certain time period--it was never part of his BIP so would have had to be only for an emergency. I got ARC involved and the advocate helped me with all the due process. The entire district has a changed policy now because of this, thank heaven)

2. Has been told by at least two bus employees several abusive things...(sometimes hard to know if both teh aide and the driver are involved). I actually had a sick feeling one day when he got on the bus from home. I followed in my car. when I parked in the school lot I could hear his driver over all of the other busses, kids, etc. saying " That (name) is the WORST child i have ever had on a bus. He is just a rude little brat. ....on and on....I went up and noticed she was saying this to ed. aides at the school and they were laughing. Shaking I walked up and said, this is an inappropriate conversation. If you have concerns then we need to meet with your boss and the administration/sp ed people at this school, etc. She GOES OFF on me....I'm reporting you to child protection for being a bad mother!!! etc...

OMGosh, I was shaking all over, got in teh building and because she had just finished telling my kid she was going to have a party every time he is not on the bus and the he will miss out, and she will drive away at night without him --and she DID once then stopped and laughed at him for being upset....etc. (HE is obsessed with the bus, the highlight of his day!). She had no clue how she revved him up and caused the problem. Anyway so because of her rant in front of the other kids, the other kids went in school saying difficult child was "bad" so when sp.ed. behavior admin asked him to come over he yelled and refused.... I heard THAT guy then (and he really typically is difficult child's biggest cheer leader but he made a huge mistake RIGHT in front of me. SCREAMMED at him...I then had to go tell him to stop and asked him to go to his office! when I told him what was going on the EA's were in as much trouble as the driver for breaking confidentiality.

But the worst is the effect it has had ever since on difficult child....panic over the bus leaving with-o him daily so he leaves class early with-o permission. Learned behaviors and defensiveness that has not left yet.
This year, another jerk of a driver....Now again, difficult child is the one taken off the bus even though EVERYONE says the drivers are in the wrong...I just dont get it.

I dont understand folks who act like kids and treat human beings like they have no feelings just because they can't communicate those feelings clearly. I will never understand it. I suspect some of those who did it to my son would never even treat their pets as badly as they did him. I have seen adults push/shove him too, instead of using CPI methods for restraint and prevention of aggression. One was a school psychologist! Just shoved him into a chair for standing up and walking towards me! I talked to him after of course. One of his Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) workers was a former cop and took him down with his knee in difficult child's back and twisted his arm/wrist making him cry...this was over non-compliance and a little slap on my shoulder while we were in a pool...he jumped in and dragged him out and totally escallated the situation. He had just completed CPI training the previous monday and went into automatic cop mode. I had to deescalate them BOTH and his own company had to report him to cps. He had gotten a promotion but that is not happening now. so sad.

if these things happen in front of me, I know more happens when I dont see.

it is so disturbing, I am always on hyper alert now
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
Lots of sides to this story: less than perfect parents, a horrible school system, bad teachers, stupid education laws...everybody acting badly and, as usual, the child is caught in the middle. It will be interesting to see what finally comes of this.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
We've had our share of school officials pulling similar (but not as extreme, thank Heavens) bovine manure, esp with Onyxx.

Jett did get "kicked off the bus" once for not paying attention to the driver. The aide, however, reported the driver's actions to the school. Jett adores her... she now only subs on his current bus, which is kind of sad...
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
We had some things happen to Cory but thankfully nothing nearly as severe as this when he was in school. Cory was always the one getting kicked off the bus and suspended for weeks at a time for things that half the time were not even his fault. I know one time the bus driver pulled up at my yard to let the boys out and told me she was kicking him off the bus because he was screaming and yelling on the bus and wouldnt stay in his seat. Cory was crying hard and saying some boys were pulling on his ears. Cory's ears have this odd thing where if you touch them they turn bright red and one happens to be slightly bigger than the other and especially when he was little, one stuck out more. Well the kids would yank on his ears to turn them red and he would get mad. Well that day they yanked on them so hard that they actually tore the top of his ear off a little bit! There was a about a one inch tear at the top of his ear and blood trickling down but that didnt stop them from suspending him from the bus. They claimed his ears must have "caused the other boys to pull on them"...what utter bs. That was in 1st grade. I had a principals son drag him across a gravel road by his arm while he was wearing shorts leaving him with road rash.
 
Terry,

I'm so sad to say that this is my community. Fortunately our local newspaper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution. has been working on in depth articles about school issues for a couple of years now. Our standardized test "cheating scandal" is nationwide news and quite an embarrassment for us all. I'm not surprised though, when you base teacher's bonuses on how well their students perform on standardized tests - well, we all know the result. The most amazing thing was the incredibly large numbers of people who were involved. And frankly, I think this issue very much relates to the treatment of this student and his family.

I'm not at all surprised by the vigorous litigation and character assassination of the family by this school system. difficult child and I spoke about this at length. He said, spending that much money on litigation just doesn't make sense, so he guessed the district was trying to make an example of the family, so that no one else would try to get assistance. He really gets it! But he lived through it, on a much , much smaller scale. The school system tried in every way to prevent him from getting any type of service. We had to get our own evaluations, insist on 504 meetings, help the Special Education folks develop and write goals, educate the teachers about Asperger's - etc. etc. No money or time was spent except for our own. I'm not even going to get into the attitudes of some of difficult child's teachers.... some were great.... but others made his and our lives h*ll.

The funny thing about it.... he's begun his third year at one of the local universities - and he hasn't had one bit of trouble or push back. In fact, he's kept a "B" average so that he has retained his scholarship. Odd, isn't it?
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I'm so glad your difficult child gets it! He will be a great advocate as he continues to mature.

Universities are a completely different ballgame. Yes, very odd. :)
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Universities are a completely different ballgame. Yes, very odd.
Not really, when you think about it.
Universities...
- treat the students as adults
- expect that they are making reasonable requests for accommodation, and have accessible programs in place to address these issues
- are more interested in what you are learning, than the way in which the material is tested
- have tons of built-in flexibility... part-time? sure. Stack the heavy stuff to the morning? probably can do. And so on.

In case you haven't noticed, NONE of that is true before the end of high school. At least, I'm not aware of any system anywhere that IS like that.
If the description above actually fits YOUR school system, would you please tell me where you live, because we've been trying to find that for 14 years.
Thanks.
 
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