Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Considering an ATTORNEY for meeting with teachers.

In a few weeks I have a meeting at my DD's school, to discuss her abilities, and hopefully get a school referral to the AG school psychologist to have her evaluated for full grade acceleration. A friend's mother, who is a retired teacher with experience in AG, recommended to have an attorney sit in on our meeting. She states it is likely to get the wheels moving a bit faster as far as AG changes and possible grade skipping are concerned.
I was wondering if any of you have done this, or if you have not done this - maybe you wish you had? I don't want to come across as being too aggressive, but after dealing with the slow changes for my older DD (in 2nd grade) I am at a point where I want to get things changed sooner rather than later.

DD is in Kindergarten at an AG magnet school, and is working a couple of years ahead of her classmates in reading, writing, and math. I am exploring the idea of grade acceleration. The focus of our meeting will be if she is a candidate for full grade acceleration, for which she will need to show being able to work consistently at 2-3 grade levels above her current grade. Our county just started the Common Core State Standards this school year.

So, any suggestions for the meeting, and also whether or not to have an attorney there... Thanks for your input!

Seems reasonable. Especially if you can hire your friend's mother's attorney. Things did seem to move very slowly for us, and I don't see the point of that.

I wish I had. More than that, I wish I had been willing to go to that level of concern when my son was at that age. I was still thinking that my main concern was for my son to learn to be a good classroom citizen.

((shrugs))
Grinity

When you're dealing with any kind of bureaucracy, it almost never hurts to have an attorney in the room.

This is why I think that I should just hire myself out to sit at these meetings.

Not that I would pay attention, but I would at least *look* like I was paying attention.

Maybe.

If I felt like it.

At least I would be wearing a suit.

Does the attorney have particular expertise in educational law? What do you hope to accomplish by having an attorney present? Is the school in violation of any state or federal statutes? If the answer to #s one and three are yes, go for it. If not, you're probably wasting time and money and making yourself look like Attila the Mom, which will negatively impact the situation in the long run.

Exactly.

I second to eldertree and MON. If I am the administrator, as soon as I have the knowledge that you bring a lawyer, I would postpone the meeting and rechedule so that the lawyer from the school district could be present as well.

People protect their turf. They have't denied anything yet and I would give them the benefit of the doubt. You defintely need to familiarize with the school policy and quote it often. If they do not follow their policy, then it is time to bring in a lawyer.
Talk to your DD's teacher as well. If he/she endorse it, it is easier for grade skipping but most likely the school will want your DD to take the test.

Good luck!

A good friend of mine is a school psychologist, and gave me this advice: Take anyone with you who could believably have a vested interest in your child's education. (She was talking about my mean-looking Marine husband, but I think this applies to an attorney as well). Even if they just sit there in a corner and look grumpy, it will show that there are people on your side and you're not just the overzealous, crazy mom with an inflated idea about her son's abilities.

I would go for an educational advocate or consultant rather than an attorney. My experience last summer was just assuming I had talked to an attorney caused the district to bring in their attorneys and slowed down the whole process. I was trying to find a workable solution for my DD - their attorney was trying to CYA in the event of future litigation.

From what I've read it's more usually an educational advocate that's hired. They are experienced with the laws, school policies, and often the school staff. I'm not sure where you would find a educational advocacy service provider.

Yes-- I'd use an advocate at this stage, not an attorney (unless, of course, you happen to be one or have a family friend who is willing to attend in an unofficial capacity).

I agree that involving attorneys seems to slow things down and (often, though not invariably) mark you as "adversarial" in ways that can be highly counterproductive.

Catch-22. If you bring an attorney to the first meeting, the school may panic and bring in their own, which may slow down the whole process. However, the first meeting (without an attorney) may be so frustrating, that you'll wish you had brought one. In hindsight, I'd go either the educational advocate route, or try to find an informed third party (maybe a parent who has already gone through the grade skip process). Having a friendly face, who knows what is going on, would have been wonderful.
Good luck,
S.F.