This is sad, sad, sad but Duhdee and I are already gearing up for some more fights with the school system. I wonder at what point we will give up and just move. We don’t want to move. Five generations of Duhdee’s family have lived in this house. We like our neighbors, a lot. We like the neighborhood, a lot. We just may not have a choice.
The “impossible” challenges we need to resolve before the end of the school year are to convince the district to create an integrated kindergarten classroom and/or change their policy on 1-1 aides (“We don’t do them,” is a direct quote. Our advocate finds that rather amusing.) If we had sent Monkey to kindergarten this fall on schedule he had two options 1. mainstream classroom with minimal support or 2. substantially separate classroom, possibly with integrated “specials” (gym, art, etc.) Neither of those would have been appropriate.
Neither of these changes are really impossible, of course, we have a new superintendent who knows the benefits of both changes…he’s seen them work in his last district. But there is a whole layer of bureaucracy built up in this district and while most are genuinely good and likeable people there are people in positions of power that are downright hostile. One in particular causes a visceral reaction, the very sight of her creates so much anger in both of us…sigh.
Our son’s preschool teacher wants us to stand up and push for these changes but the last time a teacher used us as an example for needed changes it backfired big time and almost cost Monkey his placement. If we start this fight we will have to see it through to the end. It’s going to cost money…maybe a lot of money if we have to hire an attorney. It’s going to cost time, guarunteed to be a lot of time (we’ve yet to write an IEP with the district with less than 12 hours of face to face meeting time.) It’s going to cause stress, which is not beneficial to anyone.
I know it’s needed. I just hate that it has to be us. I don’t want to have to fight over everything. I’d just like something, for once, to be simple.
Yeah, yeah, I know…suck it up 🙂