504 Plan Review
Thursday, May 28, 2009 8:33There are those times when the review goes really, really well. Historically, with this school, it has ONLY gone really, really well. This year was different though.
Usually, the school sets up a 504 plan review meeting at least annually as part of the 504 plan process because it’s their responsibility. I had to request this meeting. Ethan and I went to dinner last night and discussed the items at length and came up with some good action points. I wrote up a structured report and request list.
When everyone showed up, out of 6 people, NO ONE was prepared for a 504 plan review except Ethan and I. There was confusion, no one brought anything, there was no sense of cohesion. Then we start ticking off the items and running down the list. Sitting across from me, Ethan’s teacher says “He’s been completing his classwork just fine.” BUT WE JUST HAD A MEETING A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WITH YOU, ME, THE SPED COORDINATOR AND ETHAN BECAUSE YOU SAID HE WASN’T COMPLETING HIS SCHOOL WORK. I SAW his workbooks with massive amounts of blank pages JUST NOT DONE. He spent hours at home making it up. Am I in some sort of alternate reality?
That wasn’t the only item like that either. This meeting was truly an act of having documentation out my ears of each and every item to convince the people who witnessed it along side me to fess up. Whether or not he acted up in class, he acted up at recess, he completed school work, the school followed up to make sure I signed something… everything, every last thing… it was like it never happened. And on it went.
California schools are being cut way back. I can understand there is some pressure on them to not expect quite so much from teachers because teachers will probably have additional responsibilities as staff is cut. But give me a break!
I had the proof, thank the gods. Never show up to an IEP or 504 plan unprepared, that’s for sure. Walk into every one knowing that they will dispute every last thing you say and ask for because that’s their job. They HAVE to try to not spend any more money on the child than they have to. YOU have to know what your child needs and YOU have to know the intricate history of what’s in his past down to the daily details and YOU have to know how this disability specifically applies to your child. If you don’t need all of the scraps of paper, dates and times that you’ve collected, then good on them. If you do, though, don’t be caught without it.
Also may have been crossposted to my Asperger's Syndrome blog on Trusera.com, a site where people show health related stories. Check it out!
