The whole public school system seems to be incredibly inefficient and not at all designed to be parent friendly or even geared to best help the children enrolled in it. To be blunt about it, their customer service sucks. I've spent days on the phone with them. I've been down there in person. The people at the school district are doing the Hungarian D*ck Dance.
You don't know this term? It comes from a grandmother I know. She went to Europe on vacation and came home with tales of Hungarian male folk dancers who stand with their hands folded over their crotches and look musical while the women dance around them. (I've googled it and it looks nothing like this. I don't know what country she was actually in. It's not my saying. I just use it.) Standing around, looking busy while other people make you look busy and you pretend to be doing something. The Hungarian D*ck Dance. The people at the school district are experts at it.
People wonder why I despise the public schools. They get offended by my loathing. I like the teachers I know. I hate the system. It is a phenomenal waste of time and resources. It is sucking up my energy and stressing out my son who just wants to know which school will be his. It seems like an easy question but it turns out that it s complicated.
He will have to start on Day 1 at a school without the resources he needs. If there is room at a different school, he will be transferred on Day 2. They do the testing he needs there. In the third week, and not before, they will begin testing him (repeating many of the tests his psychologist already did) to determine what kind of services he actually needs. These tests will take 30-45 days to complete. (They've had 70 days since I enrolled him, but nobody was available during the summer to test him. This makes no sense to me.) Then at the end of October or mid-November when the results are in, they will at last transfer him to the school he should have attended all along. They will have wasted an entire semester of his time.
I've tried to explain anxiety disorders. I've begged for them to just start him in the school which the head of Special Services admits he needs to attend. They have procedures which must be followed and what is best for my son's mental health is irrelevant.
I'm not sure exactly what is going on at the school district offices, but I'm pretty sure that there are Hungarians there and that they're dancing.
12 comments:
Oh dear. I imagine homeschooling is looking REALLY good right about now...
I agree with Kim. Please tell them to go do the "Dance" and get your child out of there. (Here in Idaho, one reason the system is like this is so that the local district can keep sucking money from the State.)
Here is what we have learned over the years:
*Don't be afraid to threaten to sue (even if you have no intentions of doing so).
*Don't be afraid to contact your local and state representatives and senators and the State Board of Education (or equivalent) and maybe even your governor.
*Remind the school district employees that you pay taxes and they are civil servants. You are technically their boss.
*Let them know you will be watching for any form of retaliation against you or against your son.
In short, make them very "afraid" of you.
This sucks. :(
If we had contact information to the public schools superintendent of your area, I'm sure a lot of emails of protest would be sent his/her way!
I have seen all this before and is one of many reasons that I am homeschooling. It sounds as though they will harm your child WAY before they start helping him.
Love, Suzanne
I don't suppose they would let you keep him home until they get all the test results in and then you could send him to the school he really needs? Nah, that'd be too simple.
I'm going through the same thing with a virtual school (public school at home).
I've spoken to 5 people. 3 were dancing with your friends. 2 acutally LISTENED to my question and then ANSWERED :gasp: it. Didn't keep repeating the answer to a question I didn't ask like the other three.
With the exception of those two it was like I was saying: "Do you have the time?" and they answered "Go three blocks north and turn left"
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Come with me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4
psst - you've been tagged.
@LarryD-I know. Don't be a nag.
Only doing my part to protect you from the Meme Police. :-)
Sigh. I feel your pain.
Patience, my friend. I've been down this road before with Nub. We recently had him "re-evaluated" to enter Kindergarten and receive his special services. What?! Can't you see he has Down Syndrome? Of course he needs special services!
It doesn't help. They're only doing their jobs as they've been told they must. Play the game for a little while longer, it will smooth out eventually.
And then you can threaten them with not signing the IEP if you don't like their services. That puts the fear of God - well, the Government anyway - in them.
I will offer one of my "5 favorite devotions" for you.
Don't read anything by John Gatto. You'll end up homeschooling.
We are homeschooling. Oh hell yeah.
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