[Ohio-talk] looking for advice
COLLEEN ROTH via Ohio-talk
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Tue May 27 17:48:26 UTC 2014
Hello Nicole,
Your involvement in the union may be the problem.
Your blindness and your request for accommodations may actually be a way to make things difficult for you.
Maybe the District is unhappy with your abilities and willingness to help your fellow teachers.
Colleen Roth
----- Original Message -----
From: via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2014 9:39 pm
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] looking for advice
>
>
> Hi Colleen (and all),
> You are right that sometimes you do have to go to the next step. I do
> believe I am probably at that point.
> With that said, as you stated, sometimes there are risks involved. To
> further complicate my situation, there is something I didn't share in my
> original message...ddbbc it really shouldn't matter...ddb it is what is
> making me hesitate on this.
> You see, I am also a union president. We are negotiating our contract
> this year and negotiations are slated to be done in June and July. My concern
> is that if I do go outside the district and file a complaint, that they
> may take that and lash back by taking it out on the union during
> negotiations. Negotiations are already anticipated to be tough this year and I am
> fearful they would retaliate...ddand I think it would be difficult to prove that
> that is what they were actually doing. Does that make any sense?
> Like I sd...ddx shouldn't matter...b the reality is, the timing
> stinks. So that is what is making me hesitate. I meet with the union's attorney
> this week about negotiations and am hoping to get her take on the matter
> then.
> Thanks for your input!
> Nicole
>
>
> In a message dated 5/24/2014 3:13:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> ohio-talk at nfbnet.org writes:
>
> Hello Nicole,
> I can tell you from personal experience that sometimes it is necessary to
> go to the next step when the powers that be are not willing to work with
> you when you ask for reasonable accommodations.
> While there are some risks when you go from the Soft Approach and Internal
> Mediation sometimes you have to decide that you need to go outside the
> agency you work for even if this is somewhat intimidating.
> Sometimes people want to make it difficult for someone in hopes that they
> will give up and leave their position.
> As Marianne said a good paper trail is your best bet.
> Document, document, document.
> You are the only person who can decide what you want to do in this
> situation.
> I would like to encourage you to go to the next step sooner rather than
> later because the more you allow people to ignore their agreement and
> reasonable accommodation request the more they
> will do so.
> Colleen Roth
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Date: Friday, May 23, 2014 11:09:15 PM
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] looking for advice
>
> >
> >
> >
> > 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...ffget 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...ddand
> > 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...ddwh
> 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...ddone 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 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......dd_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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