Once again, with caution...

[Shari]

Tho this meeting did not go nearly as smooth (the advocate and the lawyer never lost their...um....edge...today), it went every bit as well. (My advocate was really the bulk of the problem...she had a major chip on her shoulder today...)

We have a good IEP. We have an outside agency coming in to do an FBA. They agreed to consider the recommendations of the agency, including personnel training, if that's what they suggest. In some fashion or another, they addressed all but about 3 of my parent requests! I backed off the full day request in the name of the FBA and training, and the othes will be addressed, I think, by the FBA. Wee will have all academics in the sped room, and 2 half hour increments per day in the mainstream room, plus specials with his peers.

Now, that's not to say its the end all/be all that solves all the problems, but its a dang good place to start.

(and the lawyer was equally as helpful today...it truly was a benefit to have him there. He said he will be back for the FBA results, which will be started next week, by the way! but he doesn't anticipate having to come back for the remainder of the year.)

I am reserved. I've felt "good" about a "plan" before. But maybe this time there is hope...either they step up and do it, or they'll get what is needed to place him elsewhere. I Think.

Oh, and the 2 highlights of the meeting...in the accommodations, under additional support for personnel, I wanted para training. Mr Lawyer was against writing something that wasn't specific; he felt it was too general. BUT he agreed that th epara situation needed to be addressed. He wrote a paragraph about para training following the FBA, by the outside agency.

AND at the end of the meeting, he slid his chair back, and addressed the school personnel, and said that any time Wee is sent home WILL BE DONE BY THE BOOK AND COUNTED as a suspension, so that the magic 10 days will be met sooner rather than later, so that his out of school time is limited.

He agreed if Wee can't stay til 1 and make progress til a full day, its a support issue, not a Wee issue.

AND he said sending him home is NOT fixing anything. We need to work on and consider, with the folks doing the FBA, an immediate response to problem behavior that does not remove him.

Ok, so that was more than 2 highlights. But who's counting.

 

[klmno]

It sounds like another small step forward was made so being cautiously optimistic is probably a good thing. I'm sure you know you're probably in for a continuous struggle with the sd so any battle where something is gained for Wee has to be considered a success. My heart goes out to you- honestly- and I would love to see him get the support he needs to really excell. I haven't given up on that but I feel for you having to constantly keep warrior mom armour on to fight for it.

 

[JJJ]

Did they address the multiple para issue?

 

[susiestar]

Oh, and the 2 highlights of the meeting...in the accommodations, under additional support for personnel, I wanted para training. Mr Lawyer was against writing something that wasn't specific; he felt it was too general. BUT he agreed that th epara situation needed to be addressed. He wrote a paragraph about para training following the FBA, by the outside agency.

AND at the end of the meeting, he slid his chair back, and addressed the school personnel, and said that any time Wee is sent home WILL BE DONE BY THE BOOK AND COUNTED as a suspension, so that the magic 10 days will be met sooner rather than later, so that his out of school time is limited.

He agreed if Wee can't stay til 1 and make progress til a full day, its a support issue, not a Wee issue.

AND he said sending him home is NOT fixing anything. We need to work on and consider, with the folks doing the FBA, an immediate response to problem behavior that does not remove him.


Wow!!! I want to clone your school's lawyer so that more of our kiddos can have good IEP's and the staff will be held accountable!!!!

I think, if this lawyer follows through, that you just may get a few more days at work or wherever without calls to pick up Wee or worrying about keeping him supervised because he isn't in school. in my opinion they flagrantly broke the law in the past with sending him home - and the lawyer wants to keep it from happening in the hope you won't sue over it.

He also seems to care that Wee gets support and an education, which is awesome!

I think you are an incredible Warrior Mom and deserve a wonderful weekend out shooting with your friends!!!!

You truly have achieved something incredible if the school follows this.

SOMEONE with the school finally sees the problems are with the staff and support and NOT with WEE!!!!

 

[Shari]

Sorry, yes, JJJ, I should have mentioned that! He will have 2 paras. I am ok with that as long as they are people that will work with him. I'd prefer 2, in the event one has to be gone, which has been such an issue in the past, but it may be too many to start off, and they are willing to address that.

The paras also have time built into the IEP to consult and work with the Occupational Therapist (OT).

I don't for a second think its over. I think its going to be a fight all the way. But I think we have a good IEP now and a chance. We'll see what happens on Tuesday when the rubber meets the road.

I also think its entirely possible that we threatened legal action, and didn't lose the collaboration of the team. Again, we'll see.

 

[Jena]

wow, i'm not up on the entire issue yet i know how you have struggled for years and you have come a long way and that lawyer sounds AWESOME!!

u should feel somewhat better. good for you!!

 

[KTMom91]

Keeping fingers crossed and millions of good thoughts for you!

 

[Marguerite]

I think it's ironic - the school calls in their lawyer, and are probably greatly regretting it now!

It's the best thing they could have done for you. And for Wee.

Marg

 

[SRL]

AND at the end of the meeting, he slid his chair back, and addressed the school personnel, and said that any time Wee is sent home WILL BE DONE BY THE BOOK AND COUNTED as a suspension, so that the magic 10 days will be met sooner rather than later, so that his out of school time is limited..

I'm curious--Was this your lawyer or the district's? What the district did in this regard was so illegal that both lawyers should have been concerned. Yours in protecting Wee's rights and the district's in protecting their rears. Parents have won some significant lawsuits against districts that grossly violate IDEA and don't meet their goals year after year, and when that happens it really costs them big time to remediate.

 

[Shari]

This was the district's lawyer, and I have no doubt that he saw some gaping holes that I could drive a truck thru. We all saw some gaping holes. I'm not interested in suing them, tho. I'm interested in getting Wee educated, and at the very least, I think he got that.

Now it becomes a matter of whether or not they'll follow the plan. That's an entirely different ballgame.

 

[SRL]

If it was the district's lawyer, be sure and made a written record of the instructions and keep it on file in the event you would need them down the road. I sincerely hope that they're on the right path with Wee this time, but this is the kind of violation of law that would give you leverage for school paid summer instruction, special tutoring, etc. to help him catch up because of all the skills that weren't learned when they were sending him home illegally.

 

[Fran]

Shari, I commend you for following through and keeping the team focused on your difficult child. Sounds like a very fruitful meeting. I know how you feel about thinking this plan will put to rest all the issues you had before only to find that there continues to be glaring holes and some new ones to replace the plugged holes. It's still a baseline for your difficult child's educational team to work with.
I'm a big fan of walking softly forward and saving the big stick for when there is no other choice. Way To Go! warrior mom.

 

[nvts]

Woo-hoo! I'm having an IEP on Tues. that I KNOW that they're going to be looking for me to home school difficult child 3. My planned response? "Well, we could do that OR she can stay alive, because I'll kill her!". I'm going to use that like of "every time she comes home, it will be counted as a suspension". By the time the last month of school was here (most of May and all of June), she came home an average of 3 days per week. When I demanded to know why she was doing it, she told me she'd rather be home than stuck at school (I told the school MONTHS before that this was happening).

Way to go Shari! Nicely handled!

Beth

 

[Shari]

Beth, I sure hope your meeting goes well, too.

I have no idea what to expect tomorrow. Wee's not the best right now, he's had a hard time playing with friends lately, and I know being out of school plays into it, but I don't know how much. I truly doubt he'll honeymoon long, but we'll see.

He's very excited to go tomorrow, tho.