NLDline
Subj: THE SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE,
OCTOBER 21, 1999 (V. 2, NO. 25)
Date: 10/21/99 5:53:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: webmaster@wrightslaw.com (Wrightslaw / The Special Ed Advocate)
Sender: owner-special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
To: special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
==================
The Special Ed Advocate
The Online Newsletter About Special Education and the Law
October 21, 1999 Vol. II, No. 25
Visit us today at: http://www.wrightslaw.com
===================
The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal issues,
cases, tactics and strategy, effective educational methods, and Internet links.
For a "printer friendly" copy of the newsletter, go to
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/nwltr/1999/nl_99_1021.html
Contact, copyright, and subscription information is at the end of this newsletter.
==================================
1. CREATIVE SOLUTIONS CONTEST: THE INSIDE STORY
2. 3RD ANNUAL COPAA CONFERENCE
3. ADVOCACY INFORMATION: PROGRESS REPORT
4. SUBSCRIPTION AND CONTACT INFORMATION
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1. CREATIVE SOLUTIONS CONTEST: THE INSIDE STORY
“What happened to Georgia Mom?” readers ask. “What happened to the little
boy with cerebral palsy who had to walk down a long dirt road to ride the school
bus?”
Last month, we sent a newsletter to subscribers about the Creative Solutions Contest. We
described the Problem:
“I have a 3 year old son who has cerebral palsy and is autistic. He attends a special
needs Pre-Kindergarten program at our local school in Georgia. He is supposed to ride a
special ed bus back and forth to school.”
“The superintendent won’t let the bus driver pick him up at our house and makes
him walk 3/4 of a mile between the house and the main road. The reason they give for
refusing to pick him up at home is that we live on a private road so they don’t feel
it is safe.”
You sent Creative Solutions and we posted them on the Wrightslaw site. We asked you to
read the Creative Solutions and vote for your favorite. We tallied your votes.
The winners were Dr. John O. Willis, a New Hampshire school psychologist, and Becky
Milton, the mother of a 16 year old boy with ADHD.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/creative/vote1.htm
What happened next?
THE INSIDE STORY BY BECKY MILTON
Within hours, John Willis and Becky Milton were communicating by email. They brainstormed
about ways to solve Nancy’s problem. John understood the power of negative publicity.
He wondered about turning the Wrightslaw file over to the superintendent, advising the
superintendent that the country was watching.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Becky Milton wrote to Nancy:
“Understand that you are not alone anymore. A lot of people are keeping a close eye
on this situation.”
“An advocate told me that I should look at these people as NOT being my friends. As
hard as it was, I had to start looking at them through different eyes. I had to stop
telling them how I felt about situations.”
“After I stopped telling them everything, they started wondering what I was doing.
What will I do next? It keeps them on the edge rather than putting me there. I ask
questions. I don’t tell them everything I think and feel.”
Nancy faxed documents to Becky, including the doctor’s letter stating that Justin
needed to be transported back and forth to school and the superintendent’s letter
refusing transportation. Nancy authorized Becky to contact the school district on her
behalf.
BECKY TALKED TO SUPERINTENDENT
On Monday, Becky contacted the superintendent on Nancy’s behalf. “I decided to
call Dr. S. because Nancy said the special ed director was helpful and understanding. In
other words, the problem was not coming from the special education department, but from
the school bureaucracy.”
“When I talked to the superintendent, I brought up his letter in which he wrote
‘Even though it (the private dirt road) can be traveled in dry weather, it would not
be safe for a bus during rainy weather. Therefore, the bus will continue to stop for the
children at the mailbox area.’”
“In other words, he felt the road was safe in fair weather.” When I brought this
up, he said he had to go to a meeting. I explained that not only did I have questions and
concerns about this, but that others were concerned too.”
“That same day, I called the Assistant Superintendent who is also the director of
transportation. I brought up the letter from Dr. S. I asked if he was aware that the child
wears leg braces. “Yes.” I asked if he was familiar with IDEA. He said
“Yes.”
THE STATE GETS INVOLVED
Nancy received an unexpected call from the state Department of Education. Later, the state
department of education staff member called back to advise Nancy that there would be an
IEP meeting the following day. She asked Nancy to “keep an open mind.”
THE SCHOOL OFFERS AN “UNCREATIVE SOLUTION”
At the IEP meeting, the school generated a “solution” to the problem which was
to change Justin's special education program from a half day to a full day program. This
meant 3 year old Justin would leave for school at 7:45 a.m. and get home at around 4:30
p.m. Justin had a 9 hour day, 4 hrs of which would be spent on a bus.
From our perspective, the school’s “solution” wasn’t creative. They
shifted the responsibility for transporting Justin onto his brothers who were supposed to
ensure that he got home safely.
The assistant superintendent/transportation director called Nancy and said he had arranged
for her older sons to ride the special ed bus so they could get Justin home. Becky called
the assistant superintendent to advise him that the oldest boy could not ride the special
ed bus and he would have to make other arrangements.
BECKY DOES RESEARCH AND FINDS GOLD
Becky began to do research about early childhood special education. She found this nugget
of gold which she sent to John:
“This is from the Office of School Readiness for the State of Ga.” “Note
the sentence "shall not be denied access:”
3.7 Children with Disabilities “A child who is eligible for the Pre-K Program and is
identified as eligible for special education and/or related services under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) shall not be denied access to the Pre-K program.
Appropriate special education and related services placement is determined by the child's
Individualized Education Program (IEP) and recommendations of the placement committee.
“When the Pre-K provider refers a child suspected of having disabilities to the local
school system, the referral request must be submitted to the special education program in
the public school system in which the child resides. Note: Dual enrollment in public
school system preschool disabilities classes and Georgia Pre-K programs is
acceptable.”
John wrote back: "Shall not be denied access" is pretty clear.”
“Section 504 also demands access. Has the Office of Civil Rights been involved yet?
“ http://www.dhhs.gov/progorg/ocr/ocrhmpg.html
Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/
“How does the Governor handle adverse publicity?”
CHANGING BUS ROUTES
The school changed bus routes, and transferred the older boys so they could take charge of
Justin. This was a disaster. To avoid a 5 minute drive to Justin’s house, the bus
driver had to sit at the end of the road for 35 to 40 minutes every day. The bus driver
was getting home late every night.
A teacher complained that the new bus schedule meant that Nancy’s older son had to
leave school 15 to 20 minutes early each day.
CONSIDERING AN OCR COMPLAINT
Becky and John decided that an OCR Complaint was the next step. Becky would help Nancy
write a powerful “Letter to the Stranger” which would accompany the Complaint.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/Letter_to_Stranger.html
Before filing the OCR Complaint, Becky advised Nancy to give the school one more chance to
resolve the problem.
“Ask them one more time to bring Justin home. Explain that it makes no sense to you
that this child, and other children, and the bus driver have to sit and wait. Explain how
many hours Justin is spending on the bus. Explain that you take him to the bus stop in the
mornings. You have met them half way and will continue to meet them halfway. If they will
not meet you halfway, you are considering contacting OCR.”
ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS: USE 5 W’S + H + E
“Keep notes on every word said. Ask lots of questions. Their answers to your
questions will help you understand their reasoning.”
“Keep your cool. Keep your requests simple. Stay on one subject. Don’t let
yourself get sidetracked. By staying on track, you start the process of advocating
effectively for Justin.”
HELP! A MEETING IN ATLANTA
A few days later, Nancy heard there was to be a meeting in Atlanta. She wrote to Becky:
“I hear there will be a meeting in Atlanta. Do I have to get an attorney to handle
this for me? I just don’t know if I can do much more of this.”
Becky said, “Nancy was tired, very tired and stressed. I advised her to ‘sit
back.’ Because she was stressed and overwhelmed, she gladly stayed out of it. When
people had questions, she advised them to contact me.”
OCTOBER 6, 1999: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
On Friday, October 6, the special ed director called Nancy and told her that the special
ed bus would pick Justin up and deliver him at home every day.
Later that day, Nancy wrote to us: “I wanted to tell you that as far as I know, the
bus situation has been resolved. I was informed by the bus driver this afternoon that she
will pick Justin up at the door and bring him back home to the door.”
“I am so grateful to each of you for your help. I met a very wonderful person named
Becky Milton who is an advocate in my state. She was very instrumental in helping with
this. Also John Willis helped very much. If it weren’t for the two of them along with
your mailing, there is no way I could ever have resolved this problem.
Nancy
We read Nancy’s letter while we were driving to Washington, DC for the CHADD
Conference. Suddenly, the date hit us. Six years earlier, on October 6, 1993, Pete had
oral argument in the Carter case! October 6 is a good day!
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/orton.html
“THE INSIDE STORY” BY BECKY MILTON
Becky wrote, “During the negotiations with Nancy’s school district, I maintained
contact with John Willis. I sent him all the correspondence and asked for his opinions and
input. He gave advice and supported our course of action.”
“As days passed and we heard nothing, we made the decision to write a Letter to the
Stranger and send it to the Office of Civil Rights. We didn’t have to do this because
they suddenly decided to do the right thing.”
During this time, Becky’s son continued to have school problems.
“Focusing on Nancy’s problems gave me a break from my son's problems. Two days
into this, my son received a “progress report” that he was failing 3 classes. He
had worked so hard and was very discouraged. He said he was going to quit school. (16 is
the legal age in Georgia).”
You can read Becky’s story at http://www.wrightslaw.com/creative/milton.htm
“As you know, I am on the COPAA list. On the advice of Brice Palmer, a Vermont
advocate, I requested an emergency IEP meeting. The day before the IEP meeting, Mr. Palmer
contacted my director of special ed. He explained that he had not planned to attend the
IEP meeting but if necessary, he would come from Vermont to Georgia.”
“The IEP meeting the next day was a great success. The director agreed to place my
son in an area Technical School.”
“During the negotiations, I felt empowered by the information and knowledge Mr.
Palmer instilled in me. I asked myself what would Brice do? He was my "Guiding
Light".
Mr. Palmer wrote “Letter from a Vermont Advocate: How to Prepare Your Case”
which is in the Advocacy Library:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/ltr_advocate_prepare_case_9902.htm
BECKY’S WEB SITE
Becky wrote, “I decided to put up a web site to help other parents. Would you take a
look and tell me what you think?”
http://homepages.msn.com/SupportSt/therose47/index.html
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2. 3RD ANNUAL COPAA CONFERENCE: MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!
The organization Becky mentioned is The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA).
The 3rd Annual COPAA Conference will be held in Houston on March 3-5, 2000. For more
information about COPAA, advocacy training, and the Houston Conference, go to the COPAA
web site at –
http://www.copaa.net
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3. ADVOCACY PAK: PROGRESS REPORT
Many of you have learned that the Advocacy Pak is unavailable. The Advocacy Pak is being
revised and will be available soon.
The special education regulations were released in March. Since that time, our time and
energy has been spent working on WRIGHTSLAW: SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/bkstore/ourbooks/Law_Book_Announce_99_0712.htm
When we began revising the Advocacy Pak, we decided to give it a complete overhaul. We are
adding several new articles about tactics and strategy. All articles are being revised to
make them consistent with the new IDEA regulations.
We will send an announcement to newsletter subscribers when the ADVOCACY PAK IS BACK!
================================
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THANKS!
=============
CONTACT INFORMATION
Pete and Pam Wright
c/o Wrightslaw /The Special Ed Advocate
P. O. Box 1008
Deltaville, VA 23043
Phone: 804-257-0857
Website: http://www.wrightslaw.com
Email: webmaster@wrightslaw.com
END