Public School wants me to sign intent to homeschool

[Guest guest]

Dear List Mates,

I have a rather urgent request for advice. To make a long story really

short, Fulton County Schools failed to identify our disabled child,

frustrated access to evaluations and services, and engaged in VERY naughty

behavior

It took the GEP evaluators to finally render a very clear and unmistakable

diagnosis of autism for our child to which Fulton County Schools FINALLY

determine autism eligibility after THREE years.

Now the problem is....they have to their discredit, contrived another

embarrassing document - an inadequate, if not totally irrelevant IEP. I

rejected this on the basis of it's inappropriateness and have refused to

place our son in public school because of the severe regression he

experienced with the last inappropriate public school placement.

However, they state that they don't want ME to " get in trouble with truancy

issues " and suggest I immediately file an " intent to homeschool " . My

question is - Do I have to? I am still working very hard to secure an

appropriate public school placement for him. Does this " let them off the

hook? " in terms of providing supports and services? What are we going to do!

Anticipatory thanks,

Diane

[Guest guest]

You need competent legal advice on this one.

You also need to start climbing all over your state elected officials,

the newspapers, TV stations, etc.

If he is over 8, most state laws require that he either be enrolled or

homeschooled to not be truant. Filing an intent to homeschool makes

him not truant, but may also relieve them of their obligation to

provide services. Thus you need to see an attorney who knows your

local laws.

Andy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

> Dear List Mates,

> I have a rather urgent request for advice. To make a long story

really

> short, Fulton County Schools failed to identify our disabled child,

> frustrated access to evaluations and services, and engaged in VERY

naughty

> behavior

>

> It took the GEP evaluators to finally render a very clear and

unmistakable

> diagnosis of autism for our child to which Fulton County Schools

FINALLY

> determine autism eligibility after THREE years.

>

> Now the problem is....they have to their discredit, contrived

another

> embarrassing document - an inadequate, if not totally irrelevant

IEP. I

> rejected this on the basis of it's inappropriateness and have

refused to

> place our son in public school because of the severe regression he

> experienced with the last inappropriate public school placement.

>

> However, they state that they don't want ME to " get in trouble with

truancy

> issues " and suggest I immediately file an " intent to homeschool " . My

> question is - Do I have to? I am still working very hard to secure

an

> appropriate public school placement for him. Does this " let them off

the

> hook? " in terms of providing supports and services? What are we

going to do!

>

> Anticipatory

[Guest guest]

Here is a nationwide list of attorneys representing children with

disabilities organized by state:

http://www.edlaw.net/service/attylist.html

This link is posted on Dana's webpage - she probably would be the

most knowledgeable person to ask for advice in such situation.

Good luck!

[Guest guest]

www.hslda.org

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association's web page...would have the law for

your state and what you need to do (or not do as the case may be).

Tonya Dillingham

Mothersheart1996@...

[ ] Re: Public School wants me to sign intent to

homeschool

Here is a nationwide list of attorneys representing children with

disabilities organized by state:

http://www.edlaw.net/service/attylist.html

This link is posted on Dana's webpage - she probably would be the

most knowledgeable person to ask for advice in such situation.

Good luck!

[Guest guest]

When you find legal help, one option to discuss would be something

along the lines of writing a letter asking (demanding!) them to

provide (or at least consider providing) in-home services until such

time that the issue of placement can be worked out. Because I think

your hunch is right-- if you write that letter, then they are off the

hook and can take their time. I would think that calling in " sick "

every single day from now until this is resolved is enough. We had a

situation in our district and I remember this is what the mom did--

called in sick until she made the decision to homeschool. But that

helped avoid the " truancy " issue (by calling in sick). Hopefully a

lawyer from that list someone else sent can help you sort this out.

:-(

W

> Dear List Mates,

> I have a rather urgent request for advice. To make a long story

really

> short, Fulton County Schools failed to

[Guest guest]

Dear scap 64,

Thanks for the special ed. attorney contact information. I had originally

posted to my message to this list inadvertently but it turned out to lucky

for me! I forgot Dana is an attorney as well but hate directly request

advice. Maybe she would be willing to offer some " mom to mom " advice though!

Diane

: scap_64 [mailto:scap_64@...]

Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2002 9:08 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Public School wants me to sign intent to

homeschool

Here is a nationwide list of attorneys representing children with

disabilities organized by state:

http://www.edlaw.net/service/attylist.html

This link is posted on Dana's webpage - she probably would be the

most knowledgeable person to ask for advice in such situation.

Good luck!

[Guest guest]

Hi Rose, thank you for sharing. My son was molested in public school. Now

he's in a small private school which is ok and next year I hope to hs him.

>Diane, I want to offer my 2 cents' worth. I can't emphasize how vigilant a

>parent has to be once their child enters special ed. After our son became

>autistic and fearful due to the MMR booster shot at age 12, we arranged to

>have him placed in a self -contained room as he was too fearful to be with

>regular children as he used to be. He took the testing to determine correct

>teaching level. He scored at the 10th grade level in reading and very high

>in math. He had been homeschooled by me and I had expected him to do his

>best. His IEP was arranged to reflect his abilities. The first year,

>everything went great; but the second year, he had a different teacher, and

>when I went in there to see what and how they were teaching him, I was

>appalled. The children were reading out loud in a circle and it seemed to

>me they were reading 2nd grade books. She was gracious and handed me a copy

>of the books they were doing. She also confirmed the fact that they were

>doing 2nd grade reading and third grade math. He was supposed to be doing

>8th grade work; and by the way, I had wondered why she had not sent any

>papers home in a month. I approached her about her teaching him so many

>grade levels below what was expected. She smiled and said it was for

>socialization; so he could be with the other children while they read. She

>also said that the other children were fearful, also; and that is why she

>had them reading so many grade levels below their reading ability.

>

>This was his and ours worst public school experience. We had to walk into

>the room so many times to check on them and talk with them. We had a son

>who wouldn't dream of quitting the school year in the middle of the school

>year to home school. He had this sort of allegiance to the school.

>However, toward the end of the school year, he started having nightmares.

>He yelled some boy's name in his sleep and was telling him to stop; but,

>when I questioned him about it, he denied it. We found out on the last

>meeting of the school year, right after the school year was out; that the

>emotionally disturbed children had joined his room for the science period,

>so that the teachers could have a free planning period. I do think the boys

>kicked him. He became extremely fearful after that and wouldn't go back to

>public school. What gets me is that as many times as we showed up

>unannounced, we didn't see everything, including the abuse.

>

>The emotionally abused children were never supposed to be with him, in the

>first place,as he was nervous and fearful and needed his self esteem

>boosted. We filed a complaint with the federal people,and we still lost.

>If I had to live it over, I never would have put him in the public special

>ed program. He is being homeschooled, by me; and we are using an eclectic

>Christian program. This is really the best thing for him as it gives him

>the rules for life and a strong sense of purpose.

>

>I hope everything works out for the best for you and your child. Rose

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Dear scap 64,

>

> Thanks for the special ed. attorney contact information. I had

originally

> posted to my message to this list inadvertently but it turned out to

lucky

> for me! I forgot Dana is an attorney as well but hate directly

request

> advice. Maybe she would be willing to offer some " mom to mom " advice

though!

> Diane

I am very careful to NOT jeopardize my license over the internet on

public forums, but I can give you *information* [as opposed to legal

*advice*] by private email if you would like. Please be sure to

indicate your state.

I receive between 20 and 50 private emails each day, so don't worry

about asking me direct questions! But most days it will take 1-2 days

to get back to you.

One piece of general *information*. Submitting a notice of intent to

homeschool is not a good idea if you would like your child educated by

the public school. I would recommend you send a letter indicating you

are not allowing your child to attend school because the IEP you have

received is not an appropriate placement and may actually cause your

child harm to his physical/mental/emotional well-being. That you are

currently working with the district to resolve this issue, and once an

appropriate placement and IEP is agreed upon, then your child will

begin attending school. This letter *should* serve to prevent truancy

charges, but you never know with some districts. Then be sure to

request in a separate writing, further IEP meetings, temporary

homebound instruction, mediation, due process, whatever next step you

would like to take. Keep everything in writing. Tape all meetings.

Dana

[Guest guest]

Diane, I want to offer my 2 cents' worth. I can't emphasize how vigilant a

parent has to be once their child enters special ed. After our son became

autistic and fearful due to the MMR booster shot at age 12, we arranged to have

him placed in a self -contained room as he was too fearful to be with regular

children as he used to be. He took the testing to determine correct teaching

level. He scored at the 10th grade level in reading and very high in math. He

had been homeschooled by me and I had expected him to do his best. His IEP was

arranged to reflect his abilities. The first year, everything went great; but

the second year, he had a different teacher, and when I went in there to see

what and how they were teaching him, I was appalled. The children were reading

out loud in a circle and it seemed to me they were reading 2nd grade books. She

was gracious and handed me a copy of the books they were doing. She also

confirmed the fact that they were doing 2nd grade reading and third grade math.

He was supposed to be doing 8th grade work; and by the way, I had wondered why

she had not sent any papers home in a month. I approached her about her

teaching him so many grade levels below what was expected. She smiled and said

it was for socialization; so he could be with the other children while they

read. She also said that the other children were fearful, also; and that is why

she had them reading so many grade levels below their reading ability.

This was his and ours worst public school experience. We had to walk into the

room so many times to check on them and talk with them. We had a son who

wouldn't dream of quitting the school year in the middle of the school year to

home school. He had this sort of allegiance to the school. However, toward the

end of the school year, he started having nightmares. He yelled some boy's name

in his sleep and was telling him to stop; but, when I questioned him about it,

he denied it. We found out on the last meeting of the school year, right after

the school year was out; that the emotionally disturbed children had joined his

room for the science period, so that the teachers could have a free planning

period. I do think the boys kicked him. He became extremely fearful after that

and wouldn't go back to public school. What gets me is that as many times as we

showed up unannounced, we didn't see everything, including the abuse.

The emotionally abused children were never supposed to be with him, in the first

place,as he was nervous and fearful and needed his self esteem boosted. We

filed a complaint with the federal people,and we still lost. If I had to live

it over, I never would have put him in the public special ed program. He is

being homeschooled, by me; and we are using an eclectic Christian program. This

is really the best thing for him as it gives him the rules for life and a strong

sense of purpose.

I hope everything works out for the best for you and your child. Rose

[Guest guest]

, you're welcome! Thanks for sharing your plans. Rose

> Hi Rose, thank you for sharing. My son was molested in public

school. Now

> he's in a small private school which is ok and next year I hope to

hs him.

>

>

>

>