getting school to pay for private preschool

September 23, 2004

I am posting for a friend who is attempting to hold her school district in

North Carolina accountable for providing her 3 year old speech-impaired son

with placement in a preschool class. The long and short of the situation is

that the county (which comprises the " school district " ) doesn't currently

have a preschool classroom for children ages 3-5 with language delays . From

what my friend understands, children deemed eligible under IDEA who are ages

3-5 are provided with a few hours a week of home instruction and then

whatever therapies are deemed necessary.

Her son underwent a speech-language evaluation conducted by the school SLP.

Although my friend doesn't have the official report/findings, she said that

the SLP had a pretty accurate view of her son's speech-language deficits.

His speech becomes less intelligible when he has to string several words

together. He has some language deficits (noun-verb agreement, etc) and

consequent social deficits. Other than speech-language and social, the

child's skills are age-appropriate.

The parent feels that the traveling teacher and the SLP (during their home

consultation) could not provide adequate exposure to some of the educational

experiences that her son needs for a FAPE. He needs opportunities for total

immersion in a speech-rich environment as well as social opportunities to

practice his speech and language among his peers. Apparently the district

does have Headstart programs with limited spots however the programs are

over 25 miles away from the family's home plus there is no guarantee of

obtaining a spot in the Headstart program. Also, the school district

wouldn't pay for the child to attend the Head Start; they simply recommend

the program and the family has to pay.) My gut reaction is that her child

would have to be lower-functioning to get referred to Headstart anyway.

According to IDEA, shouldn't the school have to provide an appropriate

education at the child's home school? That being said, because there is no

preschool program available for the 3 year olds, the family is seeking a way

to hold the school accountable for paying for a private preschool placement.

Any and all advice would be much appreciated!!!!

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

September 23, 2004

Dear Tricia, I'm not sure this will be helpful but it's worth a shot. I

live in New Jersey so I'm also not sure if it works the same in every state but

in New Jersey every school district has what is called IDEA funds. This is

money that the district can decide how to allocate based on the various

requests of parents. In my particular experience, we needed to take our child

out

of public school because it was very important to us to have him begin

religious studies in a private, parochial school. Therefore, we were no longer

eligible for the shadow he had in school or the OT he received. He would

still

get speech services through the county but it would be limited to articulation

and not pragmatic language which is what he really needs to focus on. He

was also entitled to some resource or 1-1 academic instruction through the

county from someone who comes to the school. We were requesting IDEA money to

be

used for a shadow for him in the private school. The money comes from the

state first and is allocated to all the school districts so every year the

amount is different. I know of several parents in my district who requested

IDEA

money for various services such as OT which once you leave the public school

system is not provided (if you go to a private school). I made the request

in May at the last IEP meeting and stayed in close contact with the director of

special services in our school district. I am always polite but very

persistent. I would call once a week to ask if there were any decisions made on

the allocation of money. Finally, in August there was a closed school board

meeting where it was decided and luckilly we were approved for a shadow for 1/2

day 5 days a week which is perfect. The other thing is if the school

district can't provide an appropriate program, you are entitled to an

Independent

assessment from an outside agency that your district is responsible for paying

for. If they state that the public school is not appropriate and can't

provide what your son or friend's son needs than your friend should find a

program

that does meet his needs which you've said they've done and advocate for

that child in whatever way she can. If she can't do it alone she should hire a

parent advocate to help her negotiate the system. The parent advocate I used

was invaluable and worth every penny.Often times they are volunteers or work

on a sliding fee schedule. So just to recap 1.get a parent advocate

2.explore possibly getting an independent assessment, that the district is

responsible for paying for to bolster your information that there isn't an

appropriate

program provided by the district 3. learn everything you can about IDEA

funding in your state and district and how to access it 4. it can't hurt to

introduce yourself to the board members of the school district, go to the open

meetings and see if they have any influence on how the money is divided. Good

luck mother of Aryeh 6 years old and been around the block a few times!

September 23, 2004

Headstart is not only for " lower functioning " kids - the program was designed

for lower income kids (originally) and, by federal law, they are required to

hold aside a number of spots for kids with disabilities - the number depends on

the size of the program. Our headstart in our little town had two spots open

for kids with needs. Technically, the kids with needs do not have to be lower

income, either. In fact, when we were so angry with Easter Seals and their

daycare program, we applied for headstart (I have an aunt who used to teach for

headstart in New Jersey - years ago - it was a great program) but then

(temporarily) worked things out with Easter Seals so kept Josh there. The

severity of the disabling condition should have nothing to do with whether

headstart takes the kid.

As for whether the school district has to pay - does the headstart program have

the facilities available for this child where the district doesn't? If so, the

district should be required to pay, ditto for private preschool. Why doesn't

the district have the facilities? Is there no preschool at all through the

district? If there is, then why aren't therapists included in the services the

same way they would be for kids at the elementary and upper school levels? If

there isn't any preschool (and there are a lot of districts who do not have

preschool at all, admittedly), then, certainly, the district should be paying

for all kids with needs, who meet the criteria for special services ages 3-5,

through private or headstart programs, or through home programs.

Just my two cents.

Sherry

Tricia Morin <tricia@...> wrote: