Another thread-sorry

[klmno]

Those who have read a few of my previous threads might recall that a couple of months ago, I had received an email from the principal that she inadvertantly sent to me- she was angry at me over pushing for IEP to be implemented and the email was intended for a teacher and gfg's case manager at school only. She sent it at 1:00am- it included a statement the she wanted to call an IEP meeting and have these 2 people from sd administration there so she could tell them how great they had been for gfg. These 2 people were listed by name- one was the middle school director of special ed and I was having trouble figuring out who the other was- turns out, sd admin website lists this person as "liason to AES school program for suspended and expelled youth with disabilities"

I have no idea what "AES school program" is, but gfg had no reason what-so-ever to be considered at risk for suspension or expulsion 2 mos. ago when this email was written.

Would this be enough to prove that they planned to get him out of school the first chance they had, leading to his current situation where they filed criminal charges against him on top of the suspension?

Is that illegal on their part, when according to school policy and by law, they could file criminal charges? In their code of conduct manual, there is a list of possible punishments for each violation. these various lists are basicly the same for each violation and runs the full gammet from "teacher or principal conference" to "suspension" to "referral to court" to "recommendation for expulsion". Last year, they tried the long term suspension and refferal to disciplinary review officer after the asst. principal ALONE decided his latest action was not a manifestation b/c it was impulsive. That obviously didn't work b/c of his IEP status, among other violations they committed.

This year, they clearly took advantage of the suspended sentence he has for time in detention. But, do I have enough to prove it in due process? And, obviously it is morraly and ethically wrong, but is that illegal on their part?

[Martie]

You need better advice than I can give you if you are going to DP. The email does to me suggest that they are trying to "push out" your gfg. On the other hand, due to prior problems, the SD could defend itself by saying it was trying to "be prepared." I do not know what AES stands for--for sure, but I suspect the A E are "alternative education" and the S for services. The good news is the SD is acknowledging the requirement of a SD TO PROVIDE service to suspended or expelled children with IEPs. It should be VERY difficult to expel a child with an IEP and if I were your advocate, and your child is expelled, I woud push hard for EVERY single IEP item and nothing less as FAPE. It is hard to do this, and shoving a kid onto a 3 hour a week homebound tutor or putting the kid on a computer based learning program does NOT constitute FAPE IMO. However, that would be up to the DP hearing officer. The BIGGEST lac in most "alternative plans" is not social interaction with normally developing peers and therefore, no chance to improve these critical life skills. THAT needs to be addressed for suspended and expelled students..and it usually isn't.

Martie

[klmno]

Thanks, Martie! After I posted this, I found an email from an attny responding to my inquiry about his expertise in iep advocacy and if he thought it was too late to address sd issues. He claims to have experience (law experience) with iep's that include behavior issues, juvenile justice, and disability discrimination. So, I think I'll call him this week and hope for the best. The sd hasn't heard the last from me yet- whether gfg goes to detention or not. I guess they think I'll go away if he is put in there- but you know, he won't be at their school to retaliate against if he is in detention- KWIM?

BTW- it was a member of this forum who pm'd me a link where I found this attny's name. Just wanted to let people know- this site offers great support, but people here do SSOOO much more than that, too. I can only imagine how much sooner things might have been better for my gfg if I had found this site 3 years ago.