The Squeaky Wheel
Little Bug was 5 years old when we moved to California. We got him in a kindergarten class at the school down the street. We were hoping to get a one on one aid like we had in Oregon. It wasn't working well for Bug or for the class. The principal approached us and asked if we would like Little Bug to be in a classroom for kids with autism. We were delighted at the thought of having him surrounded by people who worked autistic kids day in and day out. So, we got him in the class. And it was great. When we got to the end of the year we were informed that this had NOT been a kindergarten class as we had thought... it was PRESCHOOL. So, he had to go to kinder the next year. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because his teacher last year was amazing! He learned so much and she was truly a gem. We will miss her terribly...
Little Bug is entering 1st grade this year(should be 2nd... grr...). We had a meeting last spring where we were told that it was a full day program. Yeah. Fast forward to today. We got a letter explaining a bit about the program for this year...
Program hours: 9:00-11:30
Two and a half hours.
The kindergarten program was three and a half hours.
Does this make sense at all? Why? Why do they think that they can try and pull this crap with the special needs kids? They didn't cut any of the "regular ed" 1st grade classes to two and a half hours - why this program? I'm hoping that there is some kind of supreme typo going on, but I doubt it. This is just how school districts seem to deal with these kids. Shove them in a corner and hope that no one notices that they are getting the short end of the stick. Again.
Phone calls will be made.
Letters will be written.
The mama bear in me has reared her ugly head... it's not gonna be pretty.
I'll post an update as soon as I know anything...
10 comments:
That is beyond wrong. Squeak away, my friend!
Forget about squeaking, girl! ROAR! No way in HECK would that be acceptable for me. See what you can do to get the other parents of the kids that were in the same class on board with you. That is just so... argh!
I with sariqd--ROAR, ROAR, ROAR. That is so wrong. Do whatever needs to be done to see that changes are made.
I'm so sorry. I'd make a fuss too!
That makes my momma bear mad for you. If anything, these precious kids should get MORE time not less. CA presents itself as so progressive. Yeah right. That kind of behavior hearkens back to the days when they put these sweet kids into institutions. I hope you give them what for Melissa.
Oh I hate dealing with the district. I have come to believe that administrators think of our kids as a necessary evil - that their jobs would be so much easier without the kids. Well our jobs as moms and teachers would be easier without the administrators. Well, give 'em heck, Melissa. The happiest day of my life will be when Luke graduates from HS and I never have to deal with DSUSD again!
Yeah, I'm not all that fond of the special ed department in our district either. My kids just needed speech help and every little thing became a huge ordeal when dealing with these people.
2.5 hrs....definitely something VERY wrong with that. Good luck!
Yeah, that's no good at all.
Can he go to the 2.5 hours and then join the rest of the 1st grade class? I guess they'd have to get a special aide for him. (at least they would here.) Maybe if enough parents enroll that way, they'll decide it's cheaper to just extend the day, rather than pay for all those aides.
Let us know what you do...
That really ticks me off! ROAR, Mama Bear! >:(
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