Issue with the school

nomadica

We are having some issues with DS's preschool. These are issues that have arisen as we are hoping to transition DS from half days to full days. First, we come to find out that the inclusion class ends at 2:30pm, while the regular education classes end at 3:30pm. Then, aftercare is offered to the regular education kids until 4:30pm- but not to those in the inclusion class. We feel that this is discriminatory. First, why does my child with special needs get an hour less of school per day? And second, why is an after-school program offered to other children and their families, but not to those with special needs? In looking at the MA special education legal code, I have seen the following:

(5) Access to district programs. All students receiving special education, regardless of placement, shall have an equal opportunity to participate in and, if appropriate, receive credit for the vocational, supportive, or remedial services that may be available as part of the general education program as well as the non-academic and extracurricular programs of the school.

We have spoken with an educational advocate, who agrees with us. We are planning to speak to an attorney, and have a meeting with the school principal next week. I'm curious about others thoughts on this? Any similar experiences?

 

nomadica

Hi Auntie- yes, I posted about this before. We weren't considering action at the time, though, so I was curious about others' thoughts/experiences.  

All the regular education classes, including for other 3 year olds, go until 3:30pm, not 2:30pm. For those not able to make it a full day, there are half day options. Also, there is the aftercare program for all the kids (including his age/grade) who are in the regular education curriculum- but not in the inclusion classes, since they end at 2:30 and there is nothing offered in the 2:30-3:30pm time.

To be totally honest, the reason we are upset about this is that DH and I both work, and how in the world are we supposed to get him at 2:30pm? Even 4:30 would be tough (but doable)! There are potential other options (none appealing), but I'm not sure why we have to deal with those less desirable (and much more expensive) options just because our child has special needs. If all the classes ended at the same time and/or no aftercare was offered, well then we'd just have to deal. This feels discriminatory. Just curious- do you feel differently?

nomadica

Thanks so much for your input. We consulted the advocate and attorney just so that we knew where we stood in terms of the law- we aren't actually considering going forward with legal action. We just don't have the resources or the energy for that, and we hope to not create an adversarial position with the school. We meet later this week with the principal to discuss, and we're hoping that she'll work with us when we make it clear we know that this is a discriminatory practice. They had shut down the idea of DS going to the regular ed classroom for that last hour- "too many transitions" they said. We are going to suggest that he get some of his pull-out services in that last hour, instead of being pulled out for that time in the inclusion class. Does that sound reasonable?

The next step, if the school won't cooperate, would be to find someone to get and watch DS in the afternoons, but we have had a heck of a time finding any reliable care. In fact, we had a nanny for a period of time, who left with no notice, and we were stuck without childcare for a month and a half (and lost a huge amount of money with the time off of work). So we're a little gun-shy!

nomadica

Well, we had the meeting with the principal, and it went very poorly. She was not open to any sort of plan. I don't think we are going to continue to push this, with involving an attorney and whatnot. It's hard though- because it's obviously discriminatory. But since DS seems to be getting appropriate services otherwise, and we're happy with his special ed team, we just don't think it's worth making this more adversarial.

DS does get services right now in the late afternoon, that we do privately. He seems fine with that schedule. We may just not put him into full day preschool at all right now, and continue with his current plan of school in the a.m. and private therapy in the p.m. The whole thing has made me feel sad, though! I knew we'd face discrimination at some point, I just didn't think it'd start so soon.

funchicken

nomadica said:

Well, we had the meeting with the principal, and it went very poorly. She was not open to any sort of plan. I don't think we are going to continue to push this, with involving an attorney and whatnot. It's hard though- because it's obviously discriminatory. But since DS seems to be getting appropriate services otherwise, and we're happy with his special ed team, we just don't think it's worth making this more adversarial.

DS does get services right now in the late afternoon, that we do privately. He seems fine with that schedule. We may just not put him into full day preschool at all right now, and continue with his current plan of school in the a.m. and private therapy in the p.m. The whole thing has made me feel sad, though! I knew we'd face discrimination at some point, I just didn't think it'd start so soon.

That sucks. I'm sorry. It's so hard to decide if you should fight the battle. Last year DH's office sent out an email informing parents about "take your child to work day." They included a list of activities and at the bottom of the email it said that children with food allergies were not invited to participate. WTF? I was livid (DD1 has peanut/tree nut allergies). DH works in an office, not the Jif factory. She won't be old enough to participate until next year, and I'm still deciding what I'll do if they haven't changed that policy.

MaxandRuby

mrszee2b said:

nomadica said:

Well, we had the meeting with the principal, and it went very poorly. She was not open to any sort of plan. I don't think we are going to continue to push this, with involving an attorney and whatnot. It's hard though- because it's obviously discriminatory. But since DS seems to be getting appropriate services otherwise, and we're happy with his special ed team, we just don't think it's worth making this more adversarial.

DS does get services right now in the late afternoon, that we do privately. He seems fine with that schedule. We may just not put him into full day preschool at all right now, and continue with his current plan of school in the a.m. and private therapy in the p.m. The whole thing has made me feel sad, though! I knew we'd face discrimination at some point, I just didn't think it'd start so soon.

That sucks. I'm sorry. It's so hard to decide if you should fight the battle. Last year DH's office sent out an email informing parents about "take your child to work day." They included a list of activities and at the bottom of the email it said that children with food allergies were not invited to participate. WTF? I was livid (DD1 has peanut/tree nut allergies). DH works in an office, not the Jif factory. She won't be old enough to participate until next year, and I'm still deciding what I'll do if they haven't changed that policy.

Seriously? So what about those employees who may have food allergies? Are they also not allowed to participate?  Personally I'd be telling whomever was organizing it that I would be bringing my child with food allergies and that since they feel pretty strong on excluding some people that I would provide my child's food so they were would be able to participate and have fun with all the other kids.  People amaze me and usually not for good reasons....

funchicken

MaxandRuby said:

mrszee2b said:

nomadica said:

Well, we had the meeting with the principal, and it went very poorly. She was not open to any sort of plan. I don't think we are going to continue to push this, with involving an attorney and whatnot. It's hard though- because it's obviously discriminatory. But since DS seems to be getting appropriate services otherwise, and we're happy with his special ed team, we just don't think it's worth making this more adversarial.

DS does get services right now in the late afternoon, that we do privately. He seems fine with that schedule. We may just not put him into full day preschool at all right now, and continue with his current plan of school in the a.m. and private therapy in the p.m. The whole thing has made me feel sad, though! I knew we'd face discrimination at some point, I just didn't think it'd start so soon.

That sucks. I'm sorry. It's so hard to decide if you should fight the battle. Last year DH's office sent out an email informing parents about "take your child to work day." They included a list of activities and at the bottom of the email it said that children with food allergies were not invited to participate. WTF? I was livid (DD1 has peanut/tree nut allergies). DH works in an office, not the Jif factory. She won't be old enough to participate until next year, and I'm still deciding what I'll do if they haven't changed that policy.

Seriously? So what about those employees who may have food allergies? Are they also not allowed to participate?  Personally I'd be telling whomever was organizing it that I would be bringing my child with food allergies and that since they feel pretty strong on excluding some people that I would provide my child's food so they were would be able to participate and have fun with all the other kids.  People amaze me and usually not for good reasons....

DH has a couple of people on his team with food allergies, and I know that food allergies fall under ADA.  I don't know what they were thinking when they put that in the email.  If you substituted "food allergies" for a different disability it sounds so obviously offensive that I can't imagine anyone actually typing it out.  We always bring food for DD and her medication.  Whoever came up with that was totally clueless.