what do you make of this?

Princess_Lily

So, as some of you know there was an informal meeting last week discussing what the school saw with DS last week. The "dean" told me that she put a behavioral Intervention Plan (a pretty term for a reward chart) in place, and she would show the packet (which contained the psych eval & speech eval) to the school psych and "go from there.". Many of you said not to wait and to submit the letter ASAP.

So, today I dropped off a formal letter stating that I am requesting an evaluation for DS to obtain support (IEP/504). I cc'd both DS' teacher as well as the "dean"/ESE director since I mentioned I submitted the packet to them at our meeting.

Not an hour later I get an email from the "dean" saying she is confused by my letter because she said in the meeting that she planned on giving the school psych the eval - that we had already planned a course of action for DS.


She reitterated in the email, "Based on her (school psych) review, she will determine how we will move forward. "


Was I wrong to submit the letter, or did they try to give me lip service in the meeting, and now they have to "sh*t or get off the pot?". Are they ignoring my formal letter? How would you respond?

hopecounts

Yep, I think they are trying to turf him out. 

They would "try a BIP' and when that didn't work kick him out. 

Now they are on notice and actually have to do the eval and potentially set up an IEP and give him appropriate supports that will give him a real chance to stay in the school. 

Princess_Lily

We will be responding with a short & sweet email stating that we are still formally requesting for the evaluation to be conducted.

Princess_Lily

I wrote to her that while their (the schools) plan is good for the short term, it is not a long term solution to DS' difficulties - that the request letter was/is still active.

I wanted to be as forthcoming as possible but also show I will not back down to their suggestive undertones...respectful, but not a pushover.

MirandaHobbes

Ditto what @fredalina said- this process is very difficult to ascertain when you're first starting out; even when the process is based on a federal act, it seems to vary so much geographically. Whenever I engage someone at our school they always have the undertone that I'm being unreasonable, or asking for something that is outside of what they are obligated to provide. If you don't know anything different, it can be downright impossible to figure out.

@Princess_Lily I think your followup sounds good. My approach would be the same. I like to "kill them with kindness" but not back down if I think there is something they can/must do. This year I may look into the district's special ed advocate and see what type of services they can provide. They are obviously a district employee but at least I can say I've availed their services if the need should arise.

Princess_Lily

Okay, let's all put the pitch forks down. We all Iove each other, even though we may not all agree at times. . Xoxo


So...the Dean called me again, still confused.

After discussion, she said she has her steps that the school puts into place. An RTI (Response to Intervention)she said. The following is what she told me today.

Step 1. Meeting with the parents to discuss behavioral problems. - Done.

Step 2. Move child to temporary behavioral intervention plan (IE. Reward chart.,etc.) -Done

This is where it got murky. She kept saying "these things take time.". Was this to pacify me? IDK...but this is where I submitted my letter requesting an MFE...JIC.


Step 3. Meet with Psychologist to go over child, if a case needs to be opened or not. Get sign off from the parents. Then a FAB & BIP (functional assessment of behavior, and a behavior intervention plan) goes into place. Evaluations are conducted if needed. - In our case, our medical evaluation is thorough but unclear if enough for psychologist


Step 4. A meeting with the psych, SLP, staffing specialist (aka home district school), an LST (aka learning support teacher) and LEA. - this is where an IEP is put together.


The conversation was like pulling teeth. It could be just me over thinking things, but I felt like she was trying to placate me and using very vague answers until she couldnt anymore, or until she was asked in various ways until she painted a clearer picture. She wasn't too happy with that - more annoyed I would say.

I was concerned that by not writing the letter, it would allow them to delay the evaluation process. I told her, while it may have been easier to go through fdlrs, that isn't our stack of cards...but I don't want to ignore that there isn't a problem, or keep the school in the dark.

She said that most parents balk at the signs of interventions/evaluations - even placement in other schools (yup - their getting us ready to move out.). I told her at the end of the day, I want DS to be successful...if that means has support, we're okay with that.

thefuturemrskudla

RTI cannot replace your request for an evaluation. Many schools do not understand this. If you want a full evaluation, including FBA, don't bother with half measures.

Princess_Lily

I'm wondering if I should still reiterate in another email that irregardless of the RTI that is in place I am still expecting an MFE to take place in the expected time frame.

Or is the above action too pushy? Should I wait the 60days and see what happens?

WWYD?

Fred, on a side note a letter seems to put the wheels in motion. I don't regret waiting on the child find eval. What are you doing with Char this year?

thefuturemrskudla

What's important for us to remember is an IEP is a legally binding document. Behavior charts, conferences with the school psych do not create obligations.

funchicken

Unless there is an incident at school, I think I would back off and see how the rest of the week goes. On Friday or Saturday, I would send the teacher an email asking how things were going. DD's teacher would usually get back to me even if it was the weekend.

When you begin this process everyone is kind of on the defensive, and it's tricky to navigate that. @MirandaHobbes mentioned "killing them with kindness". We tried to prove to the teacher that we weren't expecting her to do all the heavy lifting. DH and I volunteered in the classroom, helped with parties, helped with field day, sent in extra supplies when the teacher requested them, that sort of thing.