Pulling the 504c card

[peggyfromwastate]

So, Luke received his track assignment for school next year. They do year round school at the middle school only, because they need to accommodate too many kids in one building. The track schedule allows them to only have 3/4 of the kids at any given time, so the kids get larger breaks in between quarters, typically. The twins are on a track this year where they get 6 weeks off between q2 and q3, including Winter Break followed directly by their quarter break, so about 5.5 weeks off. Luke has been assigned to a track where there is no break between quarters at all, but they have a 2.5 week break during each quarter. It's horrible!!! It doesn't match at all with the kids' schedules, as the elem and the high school follow the typical academic year schedule. Luke gets one week off over the entire summer. That's it. One week between grade 6 and grade 7. So he's basically in school all the time, and when he's off of school he's going to be tutored or studying so that he doesn't forget anything that he needs to recall to jump back in for school when he returns, so as to finish the quarter.

This is a disaster, guys. The kid falls apart about learning new stuff, and everything is new after a week or so of not doing it. I could work with him over every single break, but that would mean never a break for me, and that would mean never a break for him. He absolutely hates school, and this will do nothing to help him.

I already contacted the principal to tell her that I want him assigned to one of the tracks where the break follows the quarter due to his 504c plan which says he needs to be accommodated by class scheduling... I hate using the 504c, but I'm going there. Yes, I am.

I also contacted his counselor who will write a letter on Luke's behalf attesting medically why this would be bad...

Luke has the neuropsych eval coming up later this month, but results won't be in until February or so. By then the class schedules are out.

Sigh.

I'm ready to pull him from school, which sucks, but I'm not putting him through 3 years of nonstop school. No way in hell.

Anything I'm missing? Do I call a meeting with people from the middle school? We've had the 504c meeting with the people here in elementary school. My sense is that they don't really believe ADHD is a hinderance, but since I had the 504c from CA they allowed it. They also didn't even know what Tourette's is. And as I learn more about Tourette's I think that interruption of thought process to tic is really a huge hinderance.

So... Frustrated.

Suggestions? Am I way off the mark here? Does it not matter?

Peggy

[Pollyanna]

No advice, but lots of support. I'd be pissed. I cannot even imagine having basically zero break from school. Blech!!! How would Luke feel about homeschooling for the rest of middle school? Since dd12 has started I have heard of more and more people that just homeschooled for middle with really positive results.

I'd for sure go balls to the wall to get what he needs. Sounds like the school needs an education of sorts. Keep us posted.

[diggitydot]

How the fuck so they not know what Tourette's is?!

[peggyfromwastate]

DD I know right?? Tourette's is not that unheard of. They should definitely know what it is.

Pollyanna I'm not opposed to homeschooling, but this kid is hard to teach. Very hard. But I'll do it if the school proves itself to be rigid. I don't have much experience with this school district yet. Luke needs lots of work with social interaction in a classroom setting, but it may be that this is just not worth the price of him spending 99% of his time doing something he hates. Seriously, the only thing he likes about school is the final bell. I need to discuss the whole idea of socialization in a school setting with his counselor. I know there are lots of outside homeschooling groups and what not as well.

[Sheherezade]

Absolutely pull the 504c card. Sounds like he is getting lost in the shuffle of their system and if momma doesn't make a big stink, they'll just run him over. That can't happen. Go give them hell, unapologetically.


Angie

[Phoebe]

Pulling the 504c card

Pull the 504 card. Get everyone on board that worked with him like the counselor etc. Go higher up in the school district if you have to. do it's best for your child. They have a legal obligation to do so with the 504. did you have a meeting with the school regarding his 504 at the beginning of the year? it is supposed to be renewed every year.

[peggyfromwastate]

I had a 504c meeting at the start of this year with his 5th grade teacher. Next year is the middle school and I think they don't communicate much. It's a different process. The school here wanted to set up a 504c in the fall with his 5th grade teacher and his core teacher from 6th grade plus any admin from 6th grade. But it will be too late in the fall to address schedule and track changes.

[peggyfromwastate]

Well that's bullshit. The vice principal just emailed me back some nonsense about how they try to be fair to everyone by using the lottery system, and his advice is to enter the lottery for the track reassignment.

I replied telling him that's completely unacceptable, I quoted to them the section of the 504 plan where it specifies that students may require changes in schedule, and I pointed out the obvious that my son is not a standard, typical kid and he needs some unique treatment. I requested a 504c meeting with whomever deals with 504c's at the middle school.

Well, I cc'd dh on the email and dh is pissed. He's really pissed. He is calling them now, and he says he's just going to work his way up the chain until he gets someone who will listen and be competent.

I feel sorry for the school. My dh is a bulldog. He got a cell phone company to return the activation fee. Like, bulldog.

So looks like we are going to war. I'm getting documentation from Luke's doctors, and I will go to the 504c meeting, but honestly I'm so pissed at this school and their response that I think I may just homeschool.

Ugh.

Why can't people be individuals instead of numbers? He said, "we have no way of weighing one family's track preference against that of another." um, yes you do. It's called figure out who your IEP and 504 kids are, talk to those families separately first. If I said, "Gee we wanted a family vacation" which is true, then that's not as valid a reason from an educational standpoint as, "Gee my son will be at a huge academic disadvantage to have the quarter interrupted and have him return to school from a break to take his quarter exams."

So. Pissed. Off...

[diggitydot]

Um, they're dangerously close to violating federal laws. Dumbasses.

[Pollyanna]

Um, they're dangerously close to violating federal laws. Dumbasses.

This. What complete assholes!!

Loving that your hubby is going after them. Keep us posted!

[Phoebe]

Jerk. That is probably the vice principal's blanket answer when parents call and complain about their track assignment. I'm sure lots of parents are dissatisfied with what their child gets. However your son does require special treatment and they should be used to doing so. I would find out who your sons counselor will be and call them. I would also talk to other parents and find out how they've handled it in the past. That is great that your husband is jumping on board too. In my experience the squeaky wheel usually gets the grease.

[SoonerTexan]

I'm thrilled to hear the dawktor is jumping in!!

[peggyfromwastate]

The doctor is pissed. He left 2 messages for the principal to call him (didn't even deal with the VP) and finally she did call back. She will not yield. She says that she needs to be fair to everyone, and this is the only way to be fair. He asked her about Luke's protections under his 504 and the accommodations that the school is required to make, and she said that every track has kids with special needs, and that it wouldn't be fair to consider the kids special needs when making the track selections. Say what? Mac said that they should treat all the kids with IEPs and 504s separately from the other kids, as they have unique paperwork saying that they are supposed to be treated separately. That's a federal thing... She said that was impossible and that this is the only fair way to form the tracks. Mac said that Luke's counselor has drafted a letter explaining why this plan to break up Luke's quarters would be especially hard for Luke, given his difficulty with transitions. When they come back from the end of the break, the schedule is all different and they are in different classrooms and a different part of the hall. Everything is different, but they are not done with the quarter yet (as in they are supposed to adapt right away to the new schedule and new classes, but that the course material continues on as if they were only off for a weekend.) So, the principal said that no one wants the red and blue track, so she needs to treat everyone fairly... Back and forth. She doesn't understand the 504.

I requested a 504 meeting with the VP and he blew me off. Now I'm going to draft a letter for a 504 meeting to the ppl and drop it off in person tomorrow. They have 30 days to grant us the meeting.

Mac told her he was unsatisfied with her response and her approach, he suggested they form a panel of administrators, parents, and teachers to take each 504 and IEP track assignment request on a case by case basis, and let this impartial group decide if the parent's request is valid. She said that would be... unfair. You got it.

Mac told her he was going to take this to the superintendent, and she basically said to go ahead, but that the superintendent would just send it back to her and her answer would be unchanged.

So, Mac will call the superintendent tomorrow, and let him know that the ppl at our school says she has more power than he does lol. He can be diplomatic, which is better than I would be, because I am losing my shit over all this nonsense.

In the meantime, I'm going to research who to contact here to advocate for us, and look into filing a grievance. Good times! We have nothing to lose because Luke's not going to that school. I can tell that's a place where they don't want special kids, with special needs. They don't want to help all the students. Mac told her that if they don't work with us to accommodate his needs, that we will have to switch to homeschool or to private school. She basically said to do what we feel we need to do...

Ugh.

There's a charter school that does a basic homeschool curriculum (it's the online school that the govt sponsors I think). You have a lot of leverage with your free time and you can take a flipping vacation when you want to, and I can hopefully from somewhere garner the patience to deal with Luke and his moods!!! The charter school (home school) has meetings with faculty every week and other students, so he'd get a little social interaction there. I'm just sad for him, really. And I'm so pissed on behalf of all the other kids who are being screwed over by the principal's one size fits all mentality, where she blatantly ignores 504s. A lot of other parents don't have the luxury to stay home and homeschool. They have to work like dogs to afford to live in this backwards place...

So that's our update.

Dh is so fired up. He's bored out of his mind at this military training thing so this is giving him a lot of juice. Helping him stay awake lol.

[diggitydot]

Pulling the 504c card

What an idiot that principal is being. I would also consider getting an attorney involved. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to need to get one involved to get even great districts to do the right thing.

And if all else fails, I would LOVE to have an excuse for a meet up. I'm totally down to fire up the motherfucking bus.

Don't mess with my peeps.

[Pollyanna]

Holy crap Peggy, I'm pissed on your behalf. Wth is wrong with that school?! You're right that it sounds like they purposefully treat children with special needs this way hoping they leave.

Thanks for the update. Will be interested to hear how the superintendent handles this.