Need Help-School refusing to change teacher

[palpluto]

Has anyone been in a situation of having a child with many needs with a teacher that is not giving him what he needs and having their request for a change in classroom denied?
My son is medically fragile, has a progressive disease, and although on grade level currently needs many modifications. The current situation is not working out and I have requested a change and the administration has denied it. It is going to the educational administrator, but her office mentioned the school usually makes this decision and the school says they can't meet his needs in the other class. My son does have a nurse and a special ed teacher comes in for a small part of the day, which could happen in another class. Any advice? Can they refuse to move him even when I feel it is a terrible situation and he is unhappy? The teacher does not seem to include my son as part of her class and he knows it. I have tried to be very reasonable and state the facts but am very discouraged.

 

[bookwormde]

Assuming you have an IEP the approach is to put forward that your child’s needs are not currently being met (not that there is a need for a new teacher, even if that is the functional outcome), and ask how they are going to meet your child’s needs in the least restrictive environment. If your child needs a paraprofessional to allow for as equivalent a participation in the classroom then that is a possible direction. Call an IEP meeting.

If you do not have an IEP I would start the evaluation process, it may be that a 504 would do but an IEP has a lot more clout.

bookwormde

 

[polineedyan]

Dealing with a school and special needs is tricky. Like the PP said, there should be an IEP or 504 in place. Im assuming there is. However, the school is only obligated to do 'the best they can'..for example the term 'least restrictive environment.' It doesnt necessarily mean meeting his needs. It just means to make accomidations, the most accomidation, that they can. IDEA uses the term 'full access' but sometimes thats not what happens. We'd all like to think that the schools have our kids' best interest in mind, but at the same time, like any government agency, theyre there to do the minimum required under law. Its a tough fight. But as long as the kids can pass the proficiency tests and meet the state standards..thats really what theyre looking at. I wish I could be of more help, but ive run into this roadblock a few times. Both with a student who under performs, and one who scores in the 98th percentile. they dont care, so long as their school gets that rating..

 

[semo233]

assuming you have an iep the approach is to put forward that your child’s needs are not currently being met (not that there is a need for a new teacher, even if that is the functional outcome), and ask how they are going to meet your child’s needs in the least restrictive environment. If your child needs a paraprofessional to allow for as equivalent a participation in the classroom then that is a possible direction. Call an iep meeting.

If you do not have an iep i would start the evaluation process, it may be that a 504 would do but an iep has a lot more clout.

Bookwormde

ditto!!!

 

[jmartinez1895]

I also agree taht you should set a meeting for a review of your childs ISP. If you dont have one get the paper work you need from your doctor and get one in place ASAP.

 

[Schmeck]

If an IEP is already in place, you need to be able to document which accomodations you believe are not being met. You state that "The teacher does not seem to include my son as part of her class and he knows it." You need to find a section of his IEP that you have this covered under, and figure out how that is one of his accomodations.

You chould also check each modification and accomodation listed, to make sure you don't have any 'catch-22's in there. If he is medically fragile, he may not be safe in certain settings, and that's why he feels left out.

Another thing to check - I've witnessed children who have been given certain special attention from previous teachers have a big problem when the present teacher doesn't cater to the child in the same way. One child was always allowed to be first in line, and then would have tantrums the next year when she had to take turns being the leader. Another child always got to pick where he wanted to sit at meeting, even if someone else was already there! Imagine how that plays out later on!

Can your child express the ways in which he feels left out? That would go a long way at a meeting too.

Also, be prepared that you will not get your way - if they can meet all of his needs with the present teacher, then that's where they get to place him.

 

[Schmeck]

I also agree taht you should set a meeting for a review of your childs ISP. If you dont have one get the paper work you need from your doctor and get one in place ASAP.

Here in MA, an IEP does not come from a doctor's diagnosis. It comes from testing done by the school to check for failure to improve. That's the only reason an IEP is created - the child has to be shown, through testing, that some basic academic standard is not improving. A child can have diagnoses up the yin-yang from a doctor, and show improvement in the academic setting, and thus not qualify for an IEP. Of course, a 504 is different.

 

[kellyw8863]

Here in MA, an IEP does not come from a doctor's diagnosis. It comes from testing done by the school to check for failure to improve. That's the only reason an IEP is created - the child has to be shown, through testing, that some basic academic standard is not improving. A child can have diagnoses up the yin-yang from a doctor, and show improvement in the academic setting, and thus not qualify for an IEP. Of course, a 504 is different.

This isn't necessary true. Children can qualify for an IEP under "other health impairment" (OHI) as long as the diagnosis requires a change in instruction (not to be confused with modifications). My daughter has mitochondrial disease and as soon as she had a firm dx from her doctor and a letter of recommendations for maintaining her health in an academic setting, the school was falling over itself to make sure they got her on an IEP that included all of the suggestions from her doctor. And this is with a child who has NO developmental delays - her problems are strictly medical.

So if your child does not have an IEP but does have a progressive disease, I would speak to his doctor(s) about documentation to get him on an IEP due to OHI. Especially if what happens in school is critical to slowing of the progression of his disease/condition. But as for changing classrooms, I would say that you are probably out of luck if the only reason is that your child is unhappy. As a classroom teacher (I teach regular ed, so a little different), I regularly have students who are unhappy with me for whatever reason, but it's not feasible to change classrooms for that reason alone. If his needs aren't being met, that's a different issue all together.

Best of luck to you and your son.

 

[persimmondeb]

Needless to say, it depends a lot on the school, the school system, and the state. Some are much better than others about making accomodations and taking that "least restrictive" stuff seriously. If, however, his needs are really not being met, and it's not just an issue of a teacher not being an absolutely great fit, you should have some clout with the district.

I cannot stress enough, you must be SPECIFIC about what is not happening for him that needs to happen. A vague "he doesn't feel like part of the class" is probably not going to do it. A specific "on Nov 2 the class made X (or went to Y or was assigned project Z) and my son did not take part in it" should go much, much farther. Especially if you can cite multiple instances. Missing significant classroom participation is an issue, and most school systems will address it, whether or not you have an IEP in place.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Has anyone been in a situation of having a child with many needs with a teacher that is not giving him what he needs and having their request for a change in classroom denied?
My son is medically fragile, has a progressive disease, and although on grade level currently needs many modifications. The current situation is not working out and I have requested a change and the administration has denied it. It is going to the educational administrator, but her office mentioned the school usually makes this decision and the school says they can't meet his needs in the other class. My son does have a nurse and a special ed teacher comes in for a small part of the day, which could happen in another class. Any advice? Can they refuse to move him even when I feel it is a terrible situation and he is unhappy? The teacher does not seem to include my son as part of her class and he knows it. I have tried to be very reasonable and state the facts but am very discouraged.

I was a regular classroom teacher that team taught with the special ed. teacher and I always had the spec. ed. kids in my class.

Here are some questions:
what grade is your child in?

what specific *academic* needs is your child's teacher not meeting?

what specific goals or accomodations that are listed on his IEP or 504 plan are not being worked on?

what part of the plan is "not working out"?

is there somethihng that is going in in the classroom that would medically endanger your child? (you stated that he was medically fragile-I assume all of that has been documented and the school has a pln on how to help him since a nurse already comes in for him)

when did you 1st request a change-and was it 1st requested as a change or requested as "can we work on XYZ..."?

I am sorry you are feeling frustrated.