[nobe-l] need advice
lynnmlesko via nobe-l
nobe-l at nfbnet.org
Mon May 26 15:04:25 UTC 2014
Nicole,
I have only begun to substitute teach. I Too am legally blind but certainly cannot speak to the issues you face as you have been a long time educator.
My only suggestion in your situation is to somehow communicate your issues with the general public, perhaps through the media. What that school district is doing shows their concern for special ed students and the special head educators. And it is not a good signal to the public.
I don't know if you can do that legally, because of the union… But perhaps there is a newspaper or TV station that may want to know how you were being treated. I will continue to follow the discussion thread and wish you the best.
Lynn lesko
Sent from my iPad
> On May 25, 2014, at 9:47 PM, via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Tammy,
> Yes, these people have been reminded and then some. Like I said, we've
> even had meetings about it...and the district's attorney has also met with
> them. I spent 10 or so years reminding....and I didn't mind it a bit because
> those administrators acted as if they cared but it would just slip their
> mind. We're all human....I totally get it. These individuals, on the other
> hand, don't even try to make an effort. Even when we had the meeting with
> the 2 attorneys, myself, and administration, their attitude was as if they
> couldn't be bothered. Reminding does nothing with them.....they just
> plain ignore.
> Nicole
>
>
> In a message dated 5/25/2014 1:08:46 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org writes:
>
> Hi Nicole, I know we have to keep after people which may seem unfair,
> where you able to remind them about the accommodations? I work with students
> and in legally blind myself and often I have to remind the teachers to do the
> enlargements or give me materials ahead of time on the whole other
> subject, I was just going to post something myself about being legally blind and
> using a cane. Do you want to talk off-line? Best, Tammy
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On 2014 Mei 24, at 05:00 AM, via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. need advice (via nobe-l)
>> 2. Re: need advice (Gabe Vega via nobe-l)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Fri, 23 May 2014 22:59:24 -0400 (EDT)
>> From: via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nobe-l] need advice
>> Message-ID: <2c977.410d4547.40b1650c at aol.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>> I am not one to put messages on the list very often and when I do, it
> is
>> typically responding to someone else?s message.
>> I am looking for some advice from others though?to get an idea of what
>> others might do in my situation. I apologize for the length.
>> Just some quick background information first. I am legally blind. I
> am
>> finishing my 12th year of teaching in an inner city public school
> system
>> as a special education teacher. I have taught in the same school
> district
>> for my entire career. They hired me knowing that I was legally blind
> and
>> might need a couple reasonable accommodations. For 10 years or so, the
>> district?s administration was very helpful and very willing to provide
> any
>> reasonable accommodations to me I requested. I certainly wasn?t
> pushy and only
>> asked for things that were essential. They were always more than
> willing
>> to comply with my requests and never questioned anything. Even during
>> those 10 years, I had several different principals, 2 different Special
>> Education directors, and a couple different Superintendents that I
> worked under.
>> For the most part, with the exception of one principal that caused
>> problems for everyone, I had no issues with any administration and any
> requests I
>> made. The one issue I did have with the principal, the Superintendent
> at
>> the time quickly corrected the issue.
>> In the last couple years, we have acquired a new Superintendent, a new
>> Special Education director, and new principals. The response I have
>> received from the current administration has been very different.
>> At the beginning of December of last year, I made a request for a
>> reasonable accommodation to my principals. They ignored my request.
> I again asked
>> a couple more times, getting more specific and more direct each time?
>> .while still being professional and respectful. I was still ignored.
> Then at
>> the beginning of January, I contacted the Superintendent in an attempt
> to
>> resolve the issue, which had worked the one other time I had had issues
> with
>> a principal. The Superintendent also ignored my attempt to contact
> him
>> and never responded. After discussing it with our union?s attorney
> (who
>> also happens to practice disability law), it was decided that I would
> file an
>> internal ADA complaint within the district. I filed the complaint and
>> chose to have our union?s attorney act as my representation. The
> district
>> contacted their attorney who then contacted my attorney. After some
>> discussion and despite my anger, I agreed to mediate the issue without
> the district
>> having to go through the investigation process first. Although I was
>> angry because I felt that the district?s actions were totally out of
> line and
>> unnecessary, I was not going into this with an attitude of ?I?m out to
> get
>> them?. I just wanted to continue to be treated in the same manner I
> had
>> been for 10 years and be provided reasonable accommodations when I
>> requested them, nothing more. We held a meeting where it was myself,
> my attorney,
>> the district?s attorney, and administration. We came to a written and
>> signed agreement between the district and myself as to the reasonable
>> accommodations that I needed and the district was willing to provide.
> I thought
>> with the signed agreement and my dismissal of the complaint, that we?d
> all
>> be able to move on and I?d get what I needed. The agreement was
> supposed
>> to be distributed to all administrators that I work with or under so
> that
>> they were aware of the agreement and its contents. About 2 weeks
> later, I
>> was speaking to one of the administrators and I mentioned the
> agreement?.and
>> they seemed to be unaware of the agreement or its contents. This
> concerned
>> me. I asked a couple other administrators and received the same
> response.
>> So I called my attorney and told her my concerns. I said ?How can I
>> expect these people to follow an agreement that they don?t even seem to
> be
>> aware of? I mean, that doesn?t seem very fair to them.? She then
> contacted
>> the district?s attorney and we ended up on a three-way conference call.
> I
>> explained my concerns. She did have documentation that all the
>> administration had been informed of it but stated that she would make
> contact again
>> with the Superintendent?s office and tell them that they needed to check
>
>> again with their administrators to ensure they were well aware of the
> agreement
>> and expectations. Again, I wasn?t out to ?get them??I was simply just
>> trying to prevent another issue. This was like 2 months ago.
>> So, now comes today. I was at a district level professional
> development
>> meeting in which I was to be provided a reasonable accommodation that
> would
>> allow me gain the information I needed and fully participate in the
>> professional development. Mind you, this professional development is
> information
>> and training on our new state level teacher evaluation system?.which in
>> turn, directly correlates to my evaluation and ultimately, my job.
> So, yes,
>> it is extremely important stuff. The accommodation I was to be provided
>
>> today was on the signed agreement we made months ago. The two
>> administrators who ran the professional development were both people who
> were provided
>> the information?.one of which was ironically, the Special Education
>> director. Despite the agreement, I was not provided the
> accommodation. I had to
>> go through the training without it. Needless to say, I am angry and
>> frustrated. I had 10 great years with no issues. I?ve tried very
> hard to
>> work with the current administration and have tried to be understanding
> and
>> forgiving. I?ve given them chances to make things right and do the
> right
>> thing. They just don?t seem to care!!!
>> So, my question is??..what avenue would you do next? Would you try
> and
>> mediate yet again, even though they are obviously refusing to follow the
>
>> agreement that is already made? Would you file a complaint outside the
>> district? What direction would you take from here? What
> suggestions do you
>> have?
>> Any thoughts are appreciated!
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Nicole
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Fri, 23 May 2014 21:41:19 -0700
>> From: Gabe Vega via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>> To: NMPBRAT at aol.com, National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing
>> List <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] need advice
>> Message-ID: <93ADF09D-E15F-444B-A53B-53B880E18BFE at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>>
>> 1. I would take other options outside the district since it is obvious
> that they are really tending to the issues at hand.
>> 2. call the NFB, they seem to like this kind of stuff.
>>
>> Gabe Vega
>> CEO
>> Commtech LLC
>> Web: http://commtechusa.net
>> FaceBook: http://facebook.com/commtechllc
>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/commtechllc
>> Email: info at commtechusa.net
>> Phone: (888) 351-5289 ext. 710
>> Fax: (480) 535-7649
>>
>>> On May 23, 2014, at 7:59 PM, via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>> I am not one to put messages on the list very often and when I do, it
> is
>>> typically responding to someone else?s message.
>>> I am looking for some advice from others though?to get an idea of what
>
>>> others might do in my situation. I apologize for the length.
>>> Just some quick background information first. I am legally blind.
> I am
>>> finishing my 12th year of teaching in an inner city public school
> system
>>> as a special education teacher. I have taught in the same school
> district
>>> for my entire career. They hired me knowing that I was legally blind
> and
>>> might need a couple reasonable accommodations. For 10 years or so, the
>>> district?s administration was very helpful and very willing to provide
> any
>>> reasonable accommodations to me I requested. I certainly wasn?t
> pushy and only
>>> asked for things that were essential. They were always more than
> willing
>>> to comply with my requests and never questioned anything. Even during
>>> those 10 years, I had several different principals, 2 different
> Special
>>> Education directors, and a couple different Superintendents that I
> worked under.
>>> For the most part, with the exception of one principal that caused
>>> problems for everyone, I had no issues with any administration and any
> requests I
>>> made. The one issue I did have with the principal, the
> Superintendent at
>>> the time quickly corrected the issue.
>>> In the last couple years, we have acquired a new Superintendent, a new
>>> Special Education director, and new principals. The response I have
>>> received from the current administration has been very different.
>>> At the beginning of December of last year, I made a request for a
>>> reasonable accommodation to my principals. They ignored my request.
> I again asked
>>> a couple more times, getting more specific and more direct each time?
>>> .while still being professional and respectful. I was still
> ignored. Then at
>>> the beginning of January, I contacted the Superintendent in an attempt
> to
>>> resolve the issue, which had worked the one other time I had had
> issues with
>>> a principal. The Superintendent also ignored my attempt to contact
> him
>>> and never responded. After discussing it with our union?s attorney
> (who
>>> also happens to practice disability law), it was decided that I would
> file an
>>> internal ADA complaint within the district. I filed the complaint and
>>> chose to have our union?s attorney act as my representation. The
> district
>>> contacted their attorney who then contacted my attorney. After some
>>> discussion and despite my anger, I agreed to mediate the issue without
> the district
>>> having to go through the investigation process first. Although I was
>>> angry because I felt that the district?s actions were totally out of
> line and
>>> unnecessary, I was not going into this with an attitude of ?I?m out to
> get
>>> them?. I just wanted to continue to be treated in the same manner I
> had
>>> been for 10 years and be provided reasonable accommodations when I
>>> requested them, nothing more. We held a meeting where it was myself,
> my attorney,
>>> the district?s attorney, and administration. We came to a written and
>>> signed agreement between the district and myself as to the reasonable
>>> accommodations that I needed and the district was willing to provide.
> I thought
>>> with the signed agreement and my dismissal of the complaint, that we?d
> all
>>> be able to move on and I?d get what I needed. The agreement was
> supposed
>>> to be distributed to all administrators that I work with or under so
> that
>>> they were aware of the agreement and its contents. About 2 weeks
> later, I
>>> was speaking to one of the administrators and I mentioned the
> agreement?.and
>>> they seemed to be unaware of the agreement or its contents. This
> concerned
>>> me. I asked a couple other administrators and received the same
> response.
>>> So I called my attorney and told her my concerns. I said ?How can I
>>> expect these people to follow an agreement that they don?t even seem
> to be
>>> aware of? I mean, that doesn?t seem very fair to them.? She then
> contacted
>>> the district?s attorney and we ended up on a three-way conference
> call. I
>>> explained my concerns. She did have documentation that all the
>>> administration had been informed of it but stated that she would make
> contact again
>>> with the Superintendent?s office and tell them that they needed to
> check
>>> again with their administrators to ensure they were well aware of the
> agreement
>>> and expectations. Again, I wasn?t out to ?get them??I was simply just
>>> trying to prevent another issue. This was like 2 months ago.
>>> So, now comes today. I was at a district level professional
> development
>>> meeting in which I was to be provided a reasonable accommodation that
> would
>>> allow me gain the information I needed and fully participate in the
>>> professional development. Mind you, this professional development is
> information
>>> and training on our new state level teacher evaluation system?.which
> in
>>> turn, directly correlates to my evaluation and ultimately, my job.
> So, yes,
>>> it is extremely important stuff. The accommodation I was to be
> provided
>>> today was on the signed agreement we made months ago. The two
>>> administrators who ran the professional development were both people
> who were provided
>>> the information?.one of which was ironically, the Special Education
>>> director. Despite the agreement, I was not provided the
> accommodation. I had to
>>> go through the training without it. Needless to say, I am angry and
>
>>> frustrated. I had 10 great years with no issues. I?ve tried very
> hard to
>>> work with the current administration and have tried to be
> understanding and
>>> forgiving. I?ve given them chances to make things right and do the
> right
>>> thing. They just don?t seem to care!!!
>>> So, my question is??..what avenue would you do next? Would you try
> and
>>> mediate yet again, even though they are obviously refusing to follow
> the
>>> agreement that is already made? Would you file a complaint outside
> the
>>> district? What direction would you take from here? What
> suggestions do you
>>> have?
>>> Any thoughts are appreciated!
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>> Nicole
>>> _______________________________________________
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> nobe-l:
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>>
>>
>>
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