Cottage

I spoke to a Special Education attorney, and he said "school of choice" meant nothing to him. He said a charter school has to comply with the same special ed laws as public schools. I also spoke to the county SELPA representative and she also said an administrative withdrawal by the school sounded inappropriate. I emailed the superintendent with this information, and the SEPLA specialist spoke to the head of the school's SPED department. The school reversed the withdrawal, so my daughter is able to stay. I'm so relieved because her Special Ed case manager at the school is magnificent!

Hi My 15 year old is attending a virtual charter school of choice. She has just been diagnosed with ADHD so it explains why she has struggled so much the past 3 years. She was not able to keep up with the school work according to the school rules (she was doing the work but basically one subject at a time or avoiding the assignments that involved writing and completing all the quizzes and tests first.). The school has said it is time for them to do an academic withdrawal (again they are a school of choice). They are allowing me to withdraw her if that is what we choose. I think that would look best going forward when applying to other schools, but I want to make sure I am not missing anything. She does have an IEP. Any thoughts?

Thank you. Yes we switched her to independent study to do 4 classes instead of 8. Her IEP already had modified work. We have enrolled her in a homeschool program for next semester so that she can focus on her therapy. She will have hundreds of classes to choose from to help find classes that better fit her needs.

Can a teacher fail a student or lower their class grade while they are completing an IOP, Intensive Outpatient Program? My daughter has an IEP and is in 9th grade in a public school. She could not complete this semester because she had to focus on her mental health and her weekly IOP therapy hours. Her grades were lowered in some of her classes.

Hi My 9th grade daughter just started a virtual IOP. It requires 3 hours of group therapy 3 times per week plus 1 hour individual per week. She has an IEP for her OCD, and anxiety. She has been very school avoidant on and off for the past 2 years. Does anyone have any thoughts on Home and Hospital vs Independent Study while completing an IOP? The school is supportive and understands she needs to focus on her mental health first. We also need to come up with a plan along with her therapist before determining when and how much school to add back to her schedule. The school is recommending Independent Study because she can do 4 classes instead of Home and Hospital which they say still requires 8 courses. 4 classes sounds much better but I know the main high school staff will no longer be responsible for her so I do wonder if that was part of the reason they suggested independent study. Any thoughts?

We had this exact scenario with my daughter. 4 months of theater practice and they were not going to let her perform in the middle school musical because she wasn't at school that day. And that was just the very beginning of her missing school. They said it was against Ed Code to allow a student to do an extra cirriculat if they did not attend school that day. I told them they were beating a kid who was already down. I told them they were discriminating someone with a disability (She has OCD and anxiety.) I had been asking the school for weeks for help because I knew things were ramping up. Later, when I helped create her IEP I had that put in specifically in it so that this would not happen again. It says she will not be excluded from school events and extra curricular activities due to absences or grades related to her disability. When I brought it up the Special Ed director said she would have to talk to Legal. I was ready for a fight but didn't need to. It was so important to me that my daughter would still be able to attend school functions and participate in things that she thrived on and showed her talent even if she wasn't attending her classes every day due to her OCD and anxiety. I hope you were able to work things out with your school!

We are changing school districts so my daughter can attend a theater performing academy high school. It is a school within a school. (We are not moving, it is just 4 miles away.) So she will have all the same class requirements as the typical public high school, but the theater academy only has 132 students. The academy will focus on theater electives that earn college credits (along with the other required academic classes). What are the best steps to transfer my daughter's IEP from 8th grade to the new high school? They have requested a copy of her IEP. I have one final IEP meeting with her current school. I am trying to figure out if I need to make any changes to that IEP because of her changing schools. She has OCD and high anxiety, which has led to a lot of tardiness and absences. The current IEP accommodations include allowing credit for work turned in late and mandatory assignments highlighted by the teachers to make sure she is complete the assignments to show her understanding of the course. She is also allowed to be tardy or absent if she is having difficulty with anxiety, and it is excused and does not count toward truancy. I call the school to let them know she is late or absence due to illness. She thinks she will be more inclined to go to this new school everyday but I am trying to be realistic about it and prepare the new school and my daughter with an appropriate IEP plan. I am not sure if it is best to start with a broad plan or a more specialized plan and adjust after we see how she does in the new school.