Thanks for all the responses so far. I really can't believe that this is going on - especially after we had gotten off the such a good start and the director of special services really went out of his way to address the IEP violations and get things back on track. Unfortunately I feel like we are trapped at the public because of her LD issues. If those didn't exist she would have been happily enrolled at the private and I am sure absolutely loving school. Not only does the cost get to be prohibitive if we have to provide the special ed services ourselves there really is no practical way to get it to work. They don't have staff to provide services - only an OG tutor we would contract with privately at an additional cost of almost $9000 per year IN ADDITION to the already steep tuition. OT, Speech Therapy, Assistive Technology, the neuropsych eval they are paying for, etc would all have to get figured out. It's just not feasible unless due process leads to the district being ordered to provide it in an out of district placement. That is basically the alternative that we would request if they are unwilling or unable to meet her needs. Expensive for the district, a mess to coordinate and not a real simple way for DD to get her education. We have also discussed doing special ed at the school and then requesting home bound tutors rather than classroom placement but I don't think that is in her best interest.
During the IEP meeting our consultant asked about placing her in a second grade classroom in another school within the district but with all the yelling going on I don't think he got an answer. He also made the request that DD's first grade teacher be moved to second grade (they are rearranging teachers due to numbers so there is a lot of moving going on. It is a VERY reasonable request and as I mentioned in my OP it was being discussed as the best solution prior to this meeting) again with no answer. I suggested that since this teacher is universally respected and has proven that she can work with DD that the school use her as a resource to train other teachers in better classroom management techniques. The principal said in a very nasty tone of voice that color charts are used so extensively "because they are so effective." I wanted to point out just how poor a system they have been shown to be but really didn't get the chance in all the mayhem.
I think I really have to find out who is going to be doing this and exactly how they plan for it to work. I need to strengthen my argument that this needs to be done along with putting her in appropriate classroom not instead of it. I think their plan is to do this and then put her in a room with a color chart but tell her that her name won't be on it or something like that. Just seeing other kids being punished and knowing she is in an environment where threats are used to control the kids is enough to set her off big time. That's why I don't know how this can be done during summer break if she can't actually see it being used to control other kids in the class. Wouldn't that be a critical component?
My pediatrician gave the names of several local therapists and I am hoping to be able to speak to them in the morning before the meeting. The one I was able to talk to already says she is not the right person to help because she doesn't know a lot about desensitization and has not done a lot of advocating in schools. She did however ask if we had considered sending DD to the specific private we had selected, said she was surprised they were insisting on using a color chart since "those public shaming systems have been discredited", and asked how DD was to be expected to function in that school if the principal is creating this kind of learning environment. For someone who doesn't think she is the right one to help us she really hit the nail on the head with her off the cuff comments...
DD is already on low dose Elavil for her migraines so I don't like the idea of adding an SSRI unless absolutely essential. DD spent some time in rooms that had these charts on the walls during occasional activities and tier time so I don't think the initial exposure will be that extreme. She had gotten comfortable in the school for more than a month before going into one of these rooms the first time and we talked her through it. We explained that the chart was on the wall but it wasn't going to be used while she was in the room - no one ever had their color changed in front of her, nor was it ever mentioned. She also would sit with her back to the chart so she didn't have to see it.
I think it's a great point to make that they already pulled the rug out from under her once after making her comfortable so we are very concerned about them doing it again if they put her into a classroom that is likely to trigger her even after putting her through this process.
OK so work on getting our own expert, make sure the district's plan involves someone with expertise in anxiety disorders (PTSA and school anxiety in particular), have the ability to approve their person and verify how they plan to work this. (She is enrolled in camps for the next 4 weeks that she is really looking forward to and then we have vacation plans for the next 2 weeks. This is not going to be easy...) I still push for an appropriate classroom placement and I still bring in a special ed attorney to put them on notice and/or pursue due process, civil rights and dept of education complaints with an eye towards having a plan in place for her to be in school (with appropriate services in place) in the fall regardless of what the principal plans to do about her classroom placement.
What am I missing?
