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Also-- do NOT discuss accommodations until you have elgibility in writing.
Because until/unless he's found eligible,
well. You've already seen what he's entitled to, in that case. Whatever WHOever decides he gets in the way of safety and inclusion with his classmates, basically. :P
DO have a list of absolute REQUIREMENTS for him to: a) safely and b) inclusively, attend school. Don't get into the list of specifics, though, until you have eligibility established, and DO NOT be side-tracked by "policy" covering those items, or by the notion that they could be included in a "health plan." Practice saying (cheerfully/pleasantly/neutrally); "That's wonderful. Since you're already doing that, let's include it in {child}'s 504 plan, too." (As though it will be NO PROBLEM to do it-- after all, why WOULDN'T they want it in writing if they are promising it to you, hmmm?)
This could be things like him not using the drinking fountain but a water bottle instead, having classmates wash/wipe hands after snacks/meals, a special seat in the cafeteria, desks being wiped down/washed by the teacher, having his epinephrine kept WITH him (ie-- teachers carry and keep it, not having it locked in a nurse's office), etc. Inclusion means that it isn't okay for the teacher to plan to do a huge food project while your child sits in the principal's office. ~) I realize that this sounds far-fetched, but trust me, if they think him watching his classmates eat cupcakes is fine, it's a short mental step to "sending him to the office" so that the rest of the class can do "fun stuff" without him.
You'll need ADVANCE NOTICE of food in the classroom-- period. You will also need to consider how to handle subs, or days when the nurse isn't present.
Even if all the food at a party is "allergy-free" and there is no treat box the teacher still must wash his or her hands before handing out the treats. If the teacher ate allergens at lunch she or he could x-contam all the safe food.If food comes out of a treat box with a special label on it, that eliminates the worry about someone getting the wrong brand or a different size of the food that has an allergen in it, etc. My son always will have a treat box. His school doesn't allow food rewards, hasn't had impromptu passing out of food treats (thus the box came back full last year and probably will this year -- it gets used more in case I forget to send snack or something). Allergens are not allowed in my son's classroom ever. So, none of your opening paragraph applies to our situation, Carefulmom.
We all handle it differently. I like to call BS aloud when it finds me such as, "Wow, sounds like that might have INTIMIDATED a person or two in the past from invoking disability law. Good thing medical privacy and bullying students is legally protected." End with a mirthless Jim Carrey laugh.
Witness intimidation commonly takes two mutually-reinforcing forms.[5]
Case-specific intimidation involves threats or violence intended to discourage a particular person from providing information to police or from testifying in a specific case.
Community-wide intimidation involves acts that are intended to create a general sense of fear and an attitude of non-cooperation with police and prosecutors within a particular community.â€
Ok so new plan. Type up request for 504 eligibility tonight. (is it basically just a "to whom it may concern I would like to request that my son be evaluated for 504 eligibility) attach copy of dr. letter, go to school tomorrow (assuming there is school we got a whole bunch of snow today) and just hand it to the principal to get the ball rolling and start the count on the 30 days they have to comply. My guess is they'll take as long as possible since they clearly don't seem that helpful thus far.
Sadly the nurse protested the decision to change but wasn't listened to, it's the district nurse who is against removing peanuts, unfortunately
Sadly, I know they won't say unless forced as to, as the principal was extremely firm in her decision that they are already taking "reasonable" measures. I will ask that they be compliant with the doctor's request, but they won't until forced to legally, they made that very clear. I was going to go in to schedule the meeting for ASAP, but today and almost definitely tomorrow are snow days, so I'm on hold til Thursday just to even set the meeting up. Not to mention, my meeting with the school district is now cancelled too! I don't mind the snow but it picked a bad week to hit us this hard!
Mr. Malevolent Administrator,
I appreciated our conversation after school today (date). It was enlightening. I need to make sure that I have understood our conversation correctly, however, so I am following up with you in this letter/e-mail.
When I asked about including disabled children in the considerations in our new playground design, you responded that those kinds of children should be happy just to be included in the educational activities at school in the first place, and that a wheelchair ramp was going to add a lot to the project's initial costs. When I expressed surprise that the committee had not researched ADA compliance, you promised to "look into it" at some point this week.
I want to thank you for your willingness to find out more information about ADA compliance as it pertains to the new playground. Can you let me know what you learn?
My apologies if I have misunderstood our conversation, or left anything important out. If I have not had a response from you by {date} then I will assume that my understanding expressed above is correct and complete.
Thanks so much,
Mrs. Why-yes-I-AM-that-big-a-pain
I actually told them both of those things in the meeting and was told that I'm being emotional and they have to be fair to the other 399 students. That their responsibility is to have reasonable procedures in place and that was as far as they would be willing to go.
Looking forward to the little one's nap so DS and I can go play in the snow in the backyard!
Secure approval first like everyone said. Then, here is the Zirkel letter stating that reasonable is not the standard in education. They must provide accommodations to address the UNIQUE NEEDS OF THE DISABLED CHILD. Use those words. They delay is a blessing. Your child is home safe and you can prepare. I strongly urge you to tape record the meeting. They are already adversarial and you have nothing to lose. Remember to ask the critical question, "If we do not agree with these accommodations what do we do?" (Naively) If they don't provide the right answer which I pm'd you, you get OCR on speed dial and file a complaint. The failure you inform you of your rights is a violation in which OCR will get involved. :heart:
[url]http://www.dueprocessillinois.org/zirkel.html[/url]
Was Gloucester successful?
I'm not suggesting the OP should skip getting the 504 designation and skip through the negotiation process at all. I agree with what everyone has suggested. Pursue all avenues of making it work. Exhaust them all. Yes. But, sometimes, it doesn't work. Some schools are just filled with bad people who don't care about your child. I'm just saying have a game plan. Learn the system and how it works. You need to know firmly in your own mind how far you're willing to go to keep your child safe, even if it means homeschooling. Or changing schools. Not every child CAN have allergens in the classroom. That's why 504 accommodations need not be "reasonable." They must take into account the unique needs of the disabled student. Doesn't matter what they do for other children. Or have done, or want to do. It would never be acceptable for me to have a deadly allergen in my child's classroom based on her rxn history. I don't consider walking away from a deadly environment a bad outcome because I didn't get what I asked for. Sometimes a situation is just bad, and it'll be bad whether you negotiate in good faith and don't get what's needed, or go the Due Process or OCR route. The point is, we don't have to tolerate it.
Glouster was about 504 eligibility. Whole nother thing and the school has already told the OP they will grant 504.
I agree with the end of what you wrote. One possible problem for the OP is that the school made this change several months ago and her child has been fine and reaction free in spite of it. Doesn't mean the child always will be but makes it more difficult to get them to take the risk seriously.
I agree with CM.Was Gloucester successful?
I'm not suggesting the OP should skip getting the 504 designation and skip through the negotiation process at all. I agree with what everyone has suggested. Pursue all avenues of making it work. Exhaust them all. Yes. But, sometimes, it doesn't work. Some schools are just filled with bad people who don't care about your child. I'm just saying have a game plan. Learn the system and how it works. You need to know firmly in your own mind how far you're willing to go to keep your child safe, even if it means homeschooling. Or changing schools. Not every child CAN have allergens in the classroom. That's why 504 accommodations need not be "reasonable." They must take into account the unique needs of the disabled student. Doesn't matter what they do for other children. Or have done, or want to do. It would never be acceptable for me to have a deadly allergen in my child's classroom based on her rxn history. I don't consider walking away from a deadly environment a bad outcome because I didn't get what I asked for. Sometimes a situation is just bad, and it'll be bad whether you negotiate in good faith and don't get what's needed, or go the Due Process or OCR route. The point is, we don't have to tolerate it.
I would want to avoid going up that ladder unless it is necessary.
Was Gloucester successful?
Have a cascading set of contingencies in place that flows up chain of command, not leapfrogs it, for every outcome so you're not scrambling for the next move. I think that's all anyone is saying.
Due process takes a long time and will cost $$ for a lawyer. You can do this without going there. Remember, the law is on your side, and many, many schools are providing appropriate accomodations. Many of us DID have to fight administrators for them, but we ARE winning due to medical information, law, liability, deaths in school from life threatening food allergies proving the worst case scenario does happen, etc.
Think of it this way, if you DOCUMENTED your discomfort with the principal's subjecting your child to risk, and a reaction occurs, he is going to be liable. Right now he is trying to avoid documentation to avoid liability. But if you document that he is putting your child at unnecessary risk (by serving allergens in the classroom AND going against the doctor's order), then you proved that he must TRY to provide a safe environment or the environment is surely not safe and he is clearly liable because he didn't TRY to accomodate. Administrator is at MORE liability if he doesn't TRY. If he can show he did everything he could and the child has a reaction, OK...but if he didn't and the child has a reaction, he is going to be liable. By documenting, you shift the liability back to him.
Come to think of it, good idea to have your letter NOTARIZED.