You can’t make this stuff up . . .

Having tried to resolve our situation with Robert’s school and district since November 16th, I find myself exhausted and unable to go to into work because Robert can’t go to school. I’m lucky to be able to work from home, but I don’t know how long that will last and I’ve already missed important events at the office. When the district offered placement at another school at our IEP meeting, I told them I was skeptical that it would be any better and warned that it could be difficult for Rob – both emotionally and behaviorally – to be placed in a new program with a new teacher. But I agreed to investigate the program in question. I sent the principal of that school two emails and never received a response. Today, I got this note from a representative of the district:

Ms. Stallings,

I have had an opportunity to review the minutes of the November 23, 2010
meeting and speak with staff and it is my understanding at the end of
the meeting, the team proposed homebound instruction be pursued.
Furthermore, when the option of changing location of services was
discussed, you were not interested in exploring that option. Thus, I am
unclear as to why you are contacting {principal’s name}, the {name of school} principal. The Atlanta Public School District is prepared to move
forward on homebound instruction contingent upon receipt of your
physician’s medical information as discussed at the meeting. Another
option is allowing Robert to return to {former school} where we are ready,
willing, and able to provide FAPE.

If the above is not consistent with your understanding, please feel free
to contact me.

Huh? The district doesn’t know why I contacted the principal of the other school? Maybe they didn’t read my email (in part):

November 29, 2010

{District representative} did make the offer of placement at {other middle school} in
the MOID program for the rest of the year. My initial reaction is that
this is a disaster waiting to happen. We are skeptical that the issues
we have with {current school} and APS will be any better at a different
location. Further, uprooting Robert from children he knows and a
teacher he knows could prove very difficult for him both emotionally
and behaviorally. {Other school} is farther away from home for us so I assume
the district would provide *safe* transportation for Robert. I am not
familiar with their program.

Having said that, we are willing to consider the program and would
like to meet the MOID teacher, the principal and a regular education
teacher at {other school} to determine if it would be a placement that would
work for Robert for the rest of the year. We discussed in the interim
that Robert will receive home-based instruction once his doctor has
signed a letter indicating that the anxiety he experiences in his
current classroom precludes him from being able to attend there. Three
hours per week is completely inadequate, however, and there was a
sense in the meeting that this is simply a stop-gap to prevent truancy
considerations. Never mind that our child is demonstrably *afraid* to
attend school.

Then I sent two emails to the principal of the other school, copying the district representative on both:

. . .

In an effort to thoroughly investigate our options, my husband and I
would like to meet with you at your convenience and would also like to
meet {other school’s} MOID teacher, aide(s) and a representative regular
education teacher. Robert’s teacher at {current school} has shown genuine concern
for him. It will likely be very difficult to uproot him from a teacher
and classmates he knows, but we must due to a variety of factors.

Please let me know an appropriate time that we could meet with you and
discuss Robert’s placement and please also let me (and those copied
here) know if this is something that must come from the district
instead of myself. As a mom who is getting ‘unexcused absences’ for
every day I don’t send Robert to what I know to be an unhealthy
environment for him, I am attempting to expedite things as much as
possible.

This is where it gets weird. The very same district representative who was copied on both my attempts to contact the principal of the offered alternative school sent me this on December 6, 2010 (bold emphasis is mine):

Ms. Stallings,

The email you sent on Monday, November 29, 2010 was addressed to {principal of the other school}, PrincipaL, {other school}.  I was copied on the email and not aware that I needed to respond to you regarding your request to visit {other school}. It is my understanding the principal of the school would facilitate the visit. If there is anything I can do at this point, please let me know.

Go back and read the first email in this blog. The one about ‘it’s unclear’ why I’m contacting the other principal. I have two words – cognitive dissonance.

So the reason I’m posting all this nauseating detail that is boring even to me is that it boils down to this: The school district thinks we’re stupid. They’re either betting we won’t spend the money to hire an attorney or that they can string us along, all the while providing 3 hours a week . . . A WEEK!!! . . . of education to our son indefinitely. This with the thousands of dollars they receive in state and federal funds to educate him. All that money doesn’t go into additional resources or curriculum or related services or innovation. Where does all that money go, APS?

We as parents often get mired in the day-to-day of life and before we know it, things get out of control. I was reminded of this tendency when I found another case involving APS and a student with dyslexia in 2007. Here’s the link to the text of the case: Jarron Draper (plaintiff) v. Atlanta Independent School System. From a story in the Macon Telegraph in 2007 (link to full text of article):

(Judge) Shoob ruled that The Cottage School, a suburban Atlanta campus devoted to serving special-needs students, can “provide him with the services he needs to go forward to become an independent, capable and successful adult.”

David Monde is an Atlanta attorney who represented Draper. He said his client, who was reading at a fourth-grade level when he was 17, has been working at a grocery store but wants to return to school.

Monde said the Atlanta school system’s reluctance to take him out of a restrictive class for mentally disabled students, even after the independent evaluation was completed, hurt his chances of catching up with his classmates.

“They just dragged their feet and put every obstacle they could in front of this kid and he just persevered,” David Monde, an Atlanta attorney who represented Draper in the case.

“That’s what makes this a great story.”

“Atlanta Independent Schools” sentenced Jarron Draper to life as a grocery store clerk and they sentenced him to life in special education, refusing to provide adequate supports that would have helped make him a more independent and productive adult. I was particularly struck by this quote:

“They just dragged their feet and put every obstacle they could in front of this kid and he just persevered,” David Monde, an Atlanta attorney who represented Draper in the case.

Yup, sounds about right.

Peace.

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