Manor Senior High School and IEPs not being taken seriously

[Carlos Guerra]

Hello my friends

I am Carlos Guerra, and i am the proud parent of a student at Manor Senior High  School. Not so long ago, a wonderful boy by the name of Darrin Loving, a special needs student who was nonverbal, was killing in a horrific attack just a few weeks ago. He was the target of bullies, who lured him into a bathroom, then stabbed him cruelly with a kitchen knife. The poor boy managed to make it out into the lunchroom, where he bled out, and all the other kids took videos and circulated  them around on the social medias.

And this is not the first time. My child is in phys ed at MSHS--his coaches don't take the IEPs or 504s seriously. I have spoke to one of the coaches, and he flat out told me they don't read them.  THe principal Jessika Hearne plays favorites at school. She protects the bullies, and when they are sent to the office they are given candy. And they continue to bully my child and another special needs kids. A girl even committed suicide due to this. And before this, the dept of education investigated manor isd for discriminating against special ed students.

I'm so scared for my child. I don't know how to transfer out of the isd we live in, and I can't pay for a church school. I would like the manor administration to be removed and put in place new people who actually care, but besides starting a petition I don't know what to do.

https://chng.it/Ydh9PfBGDT

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/manor/dept-of-education-investigating-manor-isd-special-education-complaint/

[Carolyn Rowlett]

 I am so sorry for what you are going through.  I will respond as best I can, but a lot of this is out of my purview.  I would suggest reaching out to your state department of education and asking for their advice regarding these situations.

With respect to not following the IEP, you need to speak with the case manager and let them know about the teacher's failure to follow the IEP.  If that doesn't work, request a meeting with the teacher/coach present.  If that doesn't work, keep going up the chain of command - director of special education, superintendent, board of directors.  You can simultaneously file a state complaint.

With respect to not following the 504, same process as above - start with the 504 coordinator.  You can also file an OCR complaint for discrimination.

With respect to the bullying, that needs to be reported to the school whether it's being done by a teacher or other students.  (ALL of this should be in writing, by the way.)  There should be a procedure in place at your school district for filing a complaint against a teacher.  If the bullying in any way involves physical contact by the teacher, report this to the police and child services.

Finally, can you get the families of all the children you reference in your post to get together and request being put on a board of directors' meeting agenda to describe their various experiences?

[Carolyn Rowlett]

I would also send a Gebser letter regarding the bullying.  (And ask other parents with children being bullied to, as well.)  Otherwise the school district can claim it did not receive notice of the bullying.  See the link below to Lisa's sample Gebser letter.

https://adayinourshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/Sample-Gebser-Letter.pdf

[JSD24]

I'm in PA.  We have an educator misconduct complaint that can be filled out.  Also, there is strength in numbers so if you and a few other parents in your ISD make the same complaint, that's when the DOE will take action.  I wish I had better advise.