My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Minnesota

My question involves the strength of the case I would have to make to a court. My ex and I currently have joint legal and physical custody. Our agreement is that we each have her for two weeks at a time, throughout the year. My nine year old daughter currently attends the public school district in the town where her mother lives. I live about 30 miles away but work in the same town, so when I have her I bring her to school in the mornings.

My daughter, 'A', has had some struggles in the school district which have gotten progressively worse over the years. Her troubles have stemmed to a certain degree from her behavior - she is a strong-willed child who sometimes talks back and doesn't like to follow rules that don't make sense to her. My ex and I have worked with her school and teachers on various behavioral modification techniques over the years, with varied success. Unfortunately, I believe this has led to A ending up with a reputation in the school as a difficult child. In the past couple of years, A has complained about being picked on by her classmates, but when I've talked to the principal or teachers I get the response, 'she's not picked on any more than anyone else'. We've encouraged her to speak with the teachers when she feels she is being picked on, but this has led to the teachers seeing her as a something of a drama queen and they tend to brush off her concerns, even going so far as to call her 'annoying'. It is my feeling that A has gotten to the point where she does not feel that the adults in the school are a good resource for her any longer. This past year she has ended up being suspended from school twice due to altercations with another student - the first time it was stated that she pushed the student, the second time it was alleged that A punched her. To make a long story short, the first suspension was questionable, the second one was based entirely upon a report filed by a para about what she thought she saw on the playground. No one at the school ever questioned A about the incident or got her side of the story. Neither my ex nor I were informed about the incident on the day it happened, and the suspension was given almost a week later. I could go on and on about how poorly I feel the school has handled this situation and the miserable responses I've gotten from them, but that's not my question.

My question is - I've talked with my ex about having A change schools. A's current school is closest to my ex, obviously, and is most convenient for her. She was initially somewhat responsive to the idea, but wanted to change A to a private, religious institution which I do not favor. Now she says A should stay in her current school. I said fine, then we need to meet with the teachers and principal and get a strategy in place where we feel the school is dealing with A fairly. My ex said she would schedule a meeting with the school, but never did. So I set one up myself and let her know when it was. She then said she couldn't attend. So I rescheduled it and once again let her know when it was. She didn't respond and didn't show up to the meeting. At the meeting, I was completely unimpressed with the principal and the school's response and I once again feel strongly that A will be better served in another school. However, given my ex's past behavior, I doubt she will agree to this. If necessary, I am prepared to go to court and get an order that A will change schools - which may require some changes to the parenting time agreement as well. But before I put anyone, most importantly A, through the stress that that will cause, wondering if those experts out there feel that I have a strong case?

Thanks.