Retained child fighting for IEP

[ADHD]

Hello,

The district I am in forcibly retained my child in kindergarten for social/emotional/maturity. There was no testing of any kind, no IEP tests and no discussion an entire year. The decision was made 2 days before a school started, they forced him to repeat Kindergarten. I requested a special education evaulation. They did an IEP and found no disabilities, I requested an IEE and they recommend parameters for the classroom. The district denied the IEP. My son was just evaluated by a psychologist she diagnosed him with ADHD. He does not have social/emotional issues, but ADHD. He is very smart but has slower processing speeds. The psychologist recommends that with his IQ test that he be placed in his proper grade before the retention occurred and that he get an OHI IEP. I thought once I received a doctors recommendation that the school would have to follow. I am findkng out that is not the case. I am in Wisconsin. I emailed the school for a special education meeting to re-evaluate for and IEP. My son is bored being in a lower grade level and will act out more and concentration is much harder. At every meeting g with them during the school year I have stressed that he is bored, that he works on harder curriculum at home. My son has been a grade level ahead of school with his work at home. The psychologist agreed that he will be able to learn better techniques once he is in the proper grade because he would be less bored. The school sees my child as "dumber" than he actually is, if that makes sense. They have had him at an "I" reading level the whole year and last year I had him tested at an "L" with a private test. They said he doesn't "understand " the math. But the issue is it takes him longer to process. He Will come up with the correct answer but if it is easy he doesn't want to do it no matter what. The stuff they give him he did last year, so he gets mad and he doesn't want to do the easy stuff.  Concentration itself is difficult and if you add something boring, it will take forever to complete. I typically have him wear headphones and play music. With music and being able to stand and move,  he will conceteate better. He is not good with a lot of stimuli.

I have also had my son with a private tutor all summer working with him. She agrees with the OHI IEP. She has her master's degree in teaching. This school district is not a fan of me. I have been pushing since they retained him. Searching for answers on how they can retain a child without prior testing or evaluations. Since they wouldn't do anything, I have paid privately to find answers. Now that I have them, how do I get an IEP for my child? I know it will be a battle. They do not want him to have an IEP or advance to the next grade. Both the tutor and psychologist plan on being at the meeting. I am also getting a state Cesa advocate to join the meeting. What do I need to have prepared? Has anyone had a district deny and IEP suggested by a psychologist? I plan on having a list of my sons strengths, meausurable goals and tools.  This district is very backwards, one teacher said my son needed the gift of time,  that is why he needed to be retained. Another said that he would go from a follower to a leader by being held back. The principal wrote in her letter social-emotional-maturity.  But in fact my son has ADHD and no social/emotional issues. Please help,  my son needs resources and I feel like the district has made their decision before we even have the meeting. How do i argue the importance of the dignosis and the support he needs? 

[Carolyn Rowlett]

First, a bit of clarification.  When you say "they did an IEP and found no disabilities," do you mean they did an evaluation?  Also, just to confirm the timeline...  Last school year was the one where he repeated Kindergarten, and this year he will be going into 1st grade (unless you can win your argument to move him ahead a grade)?  Lastly, I'm not completely sure what happened with your request for an IEE.  Did they deny that and so you paid for your own evaluation by the psychologist?

With respect to the retention, have you contacted your state department of education to see if procedures (if any) were followed?  Usually a parent must be involved in retention discussions.  If they didn't follow state procedures, ask what can be done about that now.  And ask what can be done moving forward to get him back into the proper grade.

With respect to the denial of an IEP, did you get a Prior Written Notice with the reasons why it was denied?  If the IEE was denied, did they take you to due process?  That is required when an IEE is denied.

But regardless of past actions and a probably insufficient school evaluation, from this point on you are definitely moving in the right direction.  Hopefully they will agree to your request for another evaluation.  If so, make sure he is evaluated in all areas of concern.  It sounds like ADHD is your only concern, so make sure to request an evaluation in the area of social/emotional/behavioral (I understand you do not think it is a social or emotional issue, but sometimes all of these are lumped together into one category).  But I would also ask for an evaluation in the area of academics, since they seem to be pointing to that area as a reason for retention (reading level, doesn't understand math, etc.) - though even if that were the case, it's not necessarily a reason to retain.  If you don't have data to support his slow processing speed, you might need to request an IQ test that would encompass this.  If you do get the school to do an evaluation but you don't agree with it, you can then request an IEE. 

It sounds like you are very prepared for the meeting with data and participants.  Some additional suggestions:  1. Would his teacher from last year have any good feedback regarding the fact that he should not have been retained (maybe not that blunt) and if so, would s/he be willing to speak up?  2. During the meeting, every time the school says something you don't agree with, ask for the data to support that position.  And when you make a request, show them the data.  It's all about the data.  Don't accept anything without asking for the data to support it.  3. If the principal (and others) still think it's a "social-emotional-maturity" issue, again, ask for the data.  But also ask why, if they saw concerns in those areas, weren't supports put in place rather than retaining him?  4.  Record the meeting.  It appears that Wisconsin is a two party state, meaning you only need one party to consent to recording (that party being you).  But sometimes school districts have policies against recording.  Tell them you're going to record the meeting.  If they cite a policy prohibiting this, ask for the WRITTEN policy.

In the meantime while you are fighting the IEP battle, I would suggest concurrently pursuing the 504 Plan route so you can get him the accommodations for his ADHD (allow for slow processing time, accommodations to lesson stimuli and increase concentration, access to headphones, ability to stand and move, etc.).

If you still do not get anywhere with this school district, you could consider filing for due process.  It is usually recommended to have an attorney for this, but you seem to understand the data and could probably represent yourself.  You might also hire a paid advocate to look over all the documents and make further recommendations and give an opinion on your chances at due process. 

 

[JSD24]

That's one thing that can shock parents but the school follows their evals and considers an outside eval.  Outside experts in person at a meeting - same thing.  They will follow what their staff says.  Did they say no to an IEE at school expense?  Tell them your child is bored and it going to be a behavior issue if his slow processing and ADHD aren't taken into account.

The 1st rule of special ed is to do it in writing (email is OK) so you have a paper trail.

I feel a 504 to accommodate the disabilities the outside eval found is a good 1st step.  You can't force them to give your child an IEP & put them in the grade you want him in.  An attorney & due process is the way to get them to do things.

[Lisa Lightner]

By and large, retention doesn't work. The data doesn't support it.

The school has to provide you a PWN with what they deny in regards to the IEP stuff. Look at your school website for appeals or grievance procedures regarding the grade retention.