Unfair treatment by school administration ... what can be done?

Wow, sounds like someone in your state education dept. ought to hear about this. I think a congenital birth defect such as spina bifida should up a proposed 504 plan to a full IEP. Sounds like some PT (physical therapy) might be a good thing. Not sure about the state you're in, but in NY charter schools cannot write IEPs, they must be produced by the child's district of residence. If that's the case for you, then a letter to the Special Ed Dept of your local district will get the ball rolling, whether the charter school wants to acknowledge it or not. Then again, maybe your home school would be a better emotional fit given everything you've been through. Keep up all posted!

Hi,
You are a great parent to identify what is going on with this administration. It is a shame when someone else is in the position of power that controls OUR children. sometimes you want to sit back and just hope it gets better(I am so guilty of that). More than 99% it does not get better. It is horrible when the administration gets away with what they want to do. It makes you wonder why did they get into this career if they are going to treat our children this way. Unfortunately you are unaware to what is going on until it involves your child. I've been there. Thought the charter school was beyond any school out there. Boy was I fooled. Lake Norman Charter school in Huntersville, NC is not all it claims to be. The administration will only talk with you if and only if you set up an appointmant and it has to be at their convenience. you can't discuss anything else but the reason for the meeting. It is all a power trip for them to have that much control. Most charter schools ahve the attitude that if you are not happy-then leave. They don't try to help you or look into why you are not happy. They don't care because they have a list of unsuspected people wanting their children to attend their'School of Excellence'. I don't have the answer but the parents need to take the pwer away from the administration or at least give them no choice but to work with the parents. I truly hope everything works out for you and keep us posted. It is a site like this that we get to see what is going on and that we are not alone. Stay strong for your child. Keep being that great parent you are.

regards,
Jenni

Your further description is at once disturbing and help to clarify your concerns. Thank you for taking the time to share with us what is causing the difficulties. Clearly, I misread your first post, please accept my most sincere apologies. In your position, I would be utterly enraged.

As a child with Spina Bifida, as you already know, she is formally protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. To deny her access to the bathroom is to deny her civil rights, a federal offense.

Is she covered under a 504 Plan at this school? If not, this is where you need to start. TOMORROW. And frankly, I'm not sure she should be in school until these issues: bathroom access, latex exposures, need for staff training, denial of parental rights/access to the classroom, physical battery by faculty, to name a few have been addressed.

My daughter has several chronic conditions that require school accomodations -- in elementary school she had a permenant bathroom pass. Now in junior she has a permenant pass so that she may go to the nurse's office whenever she believe's that she needs to.

Your daughter is probably right, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone is making fun of her. Afterall, you mention that at least two staff members don't believe that she has spina bifada. These types of attitudes are communicated across a campus and from the adults to the children like wildfire.

I would be at the District offices tomorrow morning or whomever authorized this school's charter. You are absolutely correct: this situation is entirely unacceptable for your precious child.

Again, please accept my apologies for mis-reading your first post. If necessary, please send me a private message and I will be happy to send you my email address to provide you with further assistance.

Thank you very much for your differing viewpoints. However, we have a long list of problems we've been dealing with every since she was admitted to this charter school. My daughter was born with Spina Bifida and has trouble with her bowel and bladder sensation and control. Below are just a few of the issues.

1. She is not allowed to leave the classroom without signing out when she leaves. With her specific problems she has limited time to get to the restroom. She has had several accidents in her pants based on this problem alone. She is almost 9 years old and this is becoming emotionally devistating.

2. At least 2 staff members refuse to believe that she was born with Spina Bifida (despite the massive scars on her back). One many occassions they have forced her to sit through the entire lunch period. This has again has produced embaracing results and a trip to the nurse to change her clothes.

3. She is also alergic to latex - so we know all about allergic reactions and asthmatic-like symtoms. They sware they are a latex-free school, but refuse to figure out why she continues to have reactions almost on a weekly basis.

4. This charter school supposedly promotes parently involvement. However, my wife has requested to be involved on almost 25 occassions and has been told that she was not able to be included in the classroom experience. This has been hard to deal with since our daughter has been having so many allergic reactions and are used to this type of involvement.

5. My daughter has been humiliated by the Vice Principal in front of other students and parents while sitting in the office. We even had one incident where a teacher poked her in the belly after yelling at her for running on the sidewalk - on her way to the bathroom no less.

We've brought all counts to the attention of the adminstration and have not been able to resolve anything. Their treatment of my daughter has been borderline abusive and their demeanor toward us has recently become aggressive and argumentative. We need to reach out to someone else that can help us in this situation.