[blindkid] Putting pressure on the school district

Carrie Gilmer carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
Sat Mar 14 16:00:43 UTC 2009


Dear Holly,

Well, it is not unusual times for things to begin to "change" or movement to
occur after months of stagnation when a parent begins to put documented and
flatly reasonable (meaning non-emotional but factual) pressure on them.
Don't feel like an apology is required, that is one of the reasons we are
here in the first place.

 

I want you to understand one thing many people "new" to us and our list
don't. Some, I found recently, even in our own organization's state
leadership don't. This list is all volunteer. We are mostly parents helping
other parents. I am a volunteer. All our state NOPBC presidents, leadership
contacts, and boards are also volunteer. Many on this list are just
"regular" paid members. Many are not paid members. We NEVER hesitate to help
ANY parent or child IN ANY WAY based on their paid membership status. But
some have been confused-I guess because the level of dedication and
expertise of our leadership is extraordinary and pretty much unheard of to
be full-time volunteer. People are sometimes confused because the accuracy
and the soundness and the vastness of our responses are often vastly
superior to professional advice they have received and so they think we are
professional too.  

 

 Some like to diminish the "power" of what we know and say we are just "lay
people"--meaning volunteers and non-experts--and the advice can be dismissed
merely because of that. Many of us are professionals, both in and out of the
blindness field and our professions vary, but we offer advice here as
volunteers. Our expertise by topic varies, but if we are leaders we have all
become experts on blindness in general. I say this so you just know, that
our opinions come from real life experience, are not expressed as
professional ones, and come to the list as our volunteer times allows. Many
of us sacrifice a great deal to do this, because we want the cycle of
uninformed parents feeling powerless, and children failing to get
appropriate educations, to stop-that is our only motive.

 

That said, I address your questions in the body of your email. I don't mean
the former as a "disclaimer" really, just want you and others who are new,
to not be confused about the facts of who we are.

 

 

 

 

Carrie Gilmer, President

National Organization of Parents of Blind Children

A Division of the National Federation of the Blind

NFB National Center: 410-659-9314

Home Phone: 763-784-8590

carrie.gilmer at gmail.com

www.nfb.org/nopbc

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of holly miller
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 8:41 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Putting pressure on the school district

 

I have to apologize, things are changing before I can even come here and

respond to all the wonderful responses I'm getting!!!

I am reading it all & absorbing, I promise!

 

This seems to be a Jersey thing maybe??  Our TVI is not a district employee,

she works for the state COB and the district contracts the COB to provide

all vision related evaluations & services.

 

Holly: New Jersey is not the only state that contracts services this way. It
varies all over the U.S. In my state districts hire consultant or
professional "groups" directly, often a group will be contracted by more
than one district and cover a geographic area. One problem with this I have
found is that the individual "groups" tend to think more alike. So bad
philosophy has a Petri dish of its own to incubate and multiply in.

 

However, it does NOT in the end matter how or through what agency a school
district (known as LEA) local education agency hires its providers of
servide, IS SOLEY responsible in the end to provide the services and the
PROPER personnel to carry them out according to the law and individual
IEP's. If another agency is in partnership, and fails, the district is fully
responsible for making sure the IEP and IDEA is carried out appropriately
and any student in the LEA they are responsible for unless parent has signed
off to a private school or homeschool. I do not know the law well enough to
say without question, but even then I believe ultimately the LEA has a
responsibility to check and for some oversight to ensure any student in its
jurisdiction has FAPE (free and appropriate education.

 

I did get a response to my letter yesterday and unfortunately, yesterdays

letter seems to be far from the last letter needed :::sigh:::

Yesterday brought a brief email response from the sp.ed director saying they

 

 

did sign a new (higher level of service) contract with the COB and braille

will be provided.   His district caseworker would contact me shortly with

the how much & whens.

 

This is illegal in that they CAN NOT determine level of service without an
IEP. They can not legally change or develop an IEP without TRYING IN EVERY
WAY TO get your participation and agreement. They don't by law tell you the
how much and when's, you meet about that and that is determined AFTER Hank's
needs, and according to what is reasonable to make HANK's goals, that came
from HANK's needs. The contract should be determined AFTER the IEP team
determines HANK's needs.

 

Ok, step in the right direction.  I know better than to get too excited but

at least it's in writing that Braille will be provided.

 

Don't let them step outside the law and continue non-compliance. It is and
has been in writing all along that Braille will be provided-it is the law.
Remember they are required to do ONE OF two basic things 1. provide Braille
instruction and for the USE of it (this does not say how much, that is
determined in the IEP meeting) 2. IF they don't do #1 they must prove he did
not need it and never will through evals and have that documented and on
file.

 

Today district caseworker calls, starts out by telling me his anual IEP

review has been rescheduled for 3/26.  Then she informs me the TVI will meet

with Hank & the teachers on 3/19 to "go over things" and figure out when to

fit braille instruction into his schedule.  I ask what level of braille will

be taught and how much instruction time is planned?  Pre-braille program,

45 min once a week (he's 8 yrs old, 2nd grade, no cognitive delays)

 

Most "pre-braille" is truly pre-reading. HANK is already reading. He may
need some very slight adjustment to tactile sensitivity and learning to
follow lines and use his hands nad fingers properly, this can be done
SIMULATNEOUS with introductory Braille instruction. The meeting on 3/19
scheduled without you seems also illegal in that it seems an implementation
plan fro providing special ed services is taking place without you and
without calling it an IEP. These things are appropriate to the IEP. You need
to protest the 3/19 meeting as an IEP that is taking place illegally without
you.

 

She goes on to inform me that the TVI has ordered a Franklin Talking

Dictionary, a Victor audio book player and the TVI will review the 3rd grade

text books to see what will need to be enlarged for next year. 

 

They are major out of compliance with the law. This is all IEP stuff, and
Braille textbooks for the fall normally need be ordered by April 1 in the
spring in order to get them on time in the fall.

 I asked her

what Braille supplies/equipment has been ordered.  She doesn't see any

listed.

 

And we're off to the races.

 

I stayed calm & collected but I told her that this is not acceptable. I had

told her (verbally) on two other occasions in the last 3 weeks that I knew

this is what the TVI would be offering and she needed to be aware I was not

going to find it acceptable nor would I sign off on an IEP that did not

provide appropriate Braille instruction.  

 

Get this one straight. They do NOT need your signed permission!!!!!! IF YOU
DISAGREE you MUST give written DISAGREEMENT, that is your power to stop a
bad plan. Doing NOTHING, failing to sign a new IEP or proposed change, gives
them consent-they have IMPLIED consent at 14 days for annual IEP's if you do
nothing. Again, you MUST disagree in writing WITHIN that time or you DO give
permission for them and the IEP they send.

 

Yet for some reason, she was

surprised I was not pleased with today's news.

 

You are not asking for something NICE or for charity and favors here. Don't
act like you are or let them treat you like you are. This is Hank's RIGHTS.

 

Long story short, she kept saying the TVI is the expert, the district can

only go by TVI's recommendation

 

Illegal, iep's are TEAM decisions.

 

, there is a COB protocol that must be

Followed

 

The only protocol which MUST be followed is IDEA laws and HANK'S IEP.

 

, I (the mother) can't possible say this won't work without even

trying it, he won't be receiving pre-braille services forever, it's just a

short term starting place and he'll move on to the next level of service at

a specified time (of course when asked what that specified length of time

was, it wasn't actually specified)

 

All unnaceptable and I told her so. It boils down to appropriate services

are supposed to be decided by the IEP team as a whole, not arbitrarily made

by the TVI.  I am a member of the IEP team yet this decision was made and

implemented without me.

 

 Not to mention that I have no idea what/if any braille related goals have

been developed because none of this is written into his IEP because um...we

didn't *have an IEP meeting to amend his IEP to include braille*  His

current working IEP (written 4/08) does not even have the word Braille in it

anywhere.  Part my fault for allowing that to happen, but this time last

year I still didn't fully understand the need for Braille and was trusting

the professionals to tell *me* if Hank needed it or not.  Now I know

better...

 

Case worker is at a loss, she has to speak with the sp-ed director and she

imagines we'll have to have a meeting just to discuss this issue (ya

think??? )  aside from the regular IEP review.

 

Write a new factual follow-up letter stating all these violations of the law
and record how many more days they have been out of compliance and will need
to make compensatory service for.

 

So.  I am in the process of writing another letter to memorialize today's

phone conversation.   I have gotten excellent advice to not just doccument

these conversations/meetings in my own file but to send special services a

letter written along the lines of meeting minutes (factual recounting of

events, not emotional/opinion based and not bringing up new issues) and

state I want a copy placed in his permanent file.  Theory being they have to

either accept it (so they can't say 6 months down the road "That was never

said!") or they have to respond to the letter with their version of events

(which I can counter in writing if necessary).  Either way, it's doccumented

in the official file and can be used if it goes to arbitration/due process.

Next is a 2nd letter listing my official "parent concerns" to be included in

the IEP doccument (another thing I didn't know I could/should do until now).

 

 

   I'm not sure of the ettiquite of this list,  I'm more than happy to post

the letters as I send them if it will be helpful for other parents fighting

the fight.  If it is too much detail though I don't want to bog things

down.

 

Holly

pass the excedrin

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Carrie Gilmer
<carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>wrote:

 

> Very good documenting Holly, non threatening but holding them accountable,

> and a good start lets hope they react appropriately and it is the last
such

> letter and you do not need to take it to the next level.

> 

> I am sending vibes through the phone lines-smile.

> 

> 

> Carrie Gilmer, President

> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children

> 

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