Re: Stepparents and Schools
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What's under all of this is that the director of Special Ed got caught backdating a letter to comply to a legal deadline. We have the envelope proving she backdated it by 5 days to make it look like she was in compliance. She is also in law school and thinks she's already a lawyer.
Since she's in law school, it shouldn't be a surprise to her when her superiors act on the complaint you should file with the school board as well as the state. I would personally send them copies of the proof that you have.
When there is a child who has an IEP, it suddenly becomes a matter of money. The longer your kid stays in it, the more money they collect. I went around and around with my youngest. She had an IEP for reading and they insisted that they read to her all of her tests. Now, how are they going to test her reading and comprehension if they do the work for her? In this state, having an IEP also keeps that kids scores off the list for caculating how well the school is. Anyway, regarding your quesetion...
Does the school still have copies of the authorization allowing her to act as guardian? Provide them with one if it was lost. Then ask them WHAT document that they require since "their research" what is acceptable since you have already given them permission. Send emails with cc's to all the board members. This should be easy for them to tell you. It maybe something simple that you can do without going thru the adoption process. Until they tell you what is acceptable, I can't really help you.
Maybe some of the Michigan folk out here can help with the rules of your state.
Re: Stepparents and Schools
The Special Ed director actually tried to keep us from reopening our son's IEP. I requested in writing last November that they test him for Math problems. He was already certified Special Ed for Reading. Bt the Special Ed teacher said he was ok (even though he was getting straight D's and E;s). They covered up that she wouldn't process our request in the time required. The Special Ed director hated that we went to the county's ombudsman to force them to do the new IEP. My wife is great and went through everything by the book. But things started disappearing from his file at the school. When I gave them a copy of the letter requesting the IEP, they said it wasn't a good copy because I didn't xerox it AFTER I signed it. We have them dead to rights on everything. But we don't have copies of the forms they had me sign to let her act as their guardian because in the very beginning we didn't realize this was all going to happen. Now they dn't want her involved because she's keeping everything and even records their meetings.
Re: Stepparents and Schools
Quote:
But we don't have copies of the forms they had me sign to let her act as their guardian because in the very beginning we didn't realize this was all going to happen. Now they dn't want her involved because she's keeping everything and even records their meetings.
Again, call the Board of Education and ask them WHAT form is acceptible. They have to tell you.
Re: Stepparents and Schools
You could also check with MDE as to whether or not they can refer you to a special education advocacy group along with whether or not they may offer any IEP Facilitation programs. You could also check the following links for advocacy help.
http://www.causeonline.org/
http://www.bridges4kids.org/Rules.html
http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/mi.htm
I’m not in Michigan, but I can certainly feel your pain. Obtaining an appropriate education for our child has been an ongoing battle. I can tell you that immediate progress was made the first time we attended an IEP meeting with an IEP Facilitator and an advocate in tow.
This is a what our state offers as an IEP Facilitation Program:
Individualized education
program (IEP) teams that
have deadlocked progress
because of sensitive issues,
clashing personalities or
turbulent histories can now
navigate these impasses by
utilizing a trained IEP facilitator.
IEP facilitation provides teams
with a skilled, impartial third
party who conducts meetings
in a manner that maintains
focus on the student and
establishes a foundation for
future non-facilitated meetings…
and it’s free!
I also agree with the other posters in contacting your state dept. of education in ref. to issues surrounding your wife’s involvement. I don’t believe this should be a big issue and possibly you have already covered that area and the school is simply being difficult due to their own inadequacies. Best of luck to you and your famil!