Do you have a child in special education that has lost services in DVUSD?

Thank you so much for your response Teachmom. We have taken a completely different route. We have lost all trust in this school district. Our main concern was his safety forget the education part. I do whole heartly agree with you on the inclusion approach. This is more harmful than useful for our kids. They(administrators) will get away with it because they view parents as mindless uneducated idiots. If you don't walk into the IEP with a PHD and an attorney your pretty much chop liver. My heart goes out to the parents and students left behind in this so called educated solution at Deer Valley Unified School District.

I'm assuming that you mean Deer Valley Unified School District in Arizona? I have no specific information to the district, but know something about how neighboring districts are approaching special education services, at least at the middle school and high school level. The movement is towards inclusion classes--large classes with both gened and sped teachers supposedly team-teaching core subjects. Those classes next year will be huge given what budget cuts have done to our state. Many teachers, including sped teachers (usually saved in past cuts) were RIF'ed. While the state budget is not finalized, it is not looking good for public education in Arizona.

Furthermore, IMHO as both a sped teacher and parent of a child with dyslexia, inclusion is not an effective means of delivering special education services. Our kids need specialized, intensive, repetitive, and research-based intervention to succeed. You will not get that in an inclusion class where the content is delivered at grade level and having a sped teacher present glosses over the fact that effective services are not being provided. I may be biased--I now teach at a private school for students with learning disabilities--but I would be most wary of putting any child with learning issues into a public school when there is no funding and teacher morale is at an all time low.

Your last line caught my attention, too. If an administrator really said that you should find another school district as things would not get better, you may want to consider your legal options to get the district to pay for services elsewhere. IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act--a federal law) requires that all students receive FAPE (free and appropriate public education). You may want to consult a lawyer or advocate to help you assert your rights.

i'M SORRY I DIDN'T SEE THIS POSTING SOONER. DVUSD STANDS FOR DEERVALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE SPECIAL NEEDS PROGRAM IS GEARED TOWARDS THE HIGHER FUNCTIONING STUDENTS. AS A PARENT , WE WERE MORE THAN DISSATISFIED WITH THE PROGRAM. YOU WILL FIND ANY COMPLAINTS ON YOUR PART (PARENTS) FALLING ON DEAF EARS SINCE IT IS ONLY THE OPINIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF THAT MATTER AS I WAS INFORMED BY AN ADMINSTRATOR. FIND ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT ASAP. THINGS WILL NOT GET BETTER.

I didn't know what DV meant either. Too bad we didn't see this earlier.