Thanks for all the support everyone. While I was verbally ripping the district people apart at the meeting I actually thought of this board and wondered if some of you would have handled it differently. DH assures me that no one would have been able to contain their anger and still have any hope of getting anything close to what DD needs. Consultant was clear that I was effective in terms of getting all concerns on the record so if the situation implodes we have a trail of raising concerns in a timely manner. Yes, everything is recorded. Of course DD's self appointed "protector" is responsible for taking notes and drafting the IEP so it should be interesting to see what relationship to reality that takes. I am assuming we will be adding an addendum of our own...
The thing is that I *think* this school could actually meet DD's needs, at least for this year. I mean these are the people who placed her in an 8th grade reading group for her comprehension strengths. Also 1 afternoon a week she gets 1-1 enrichment on any topic she chooses. Anything! (She has selected American History to start.) They have a plan to seamlessly embed AT into her academic program. All the teachers are spec ed certified so they are equipped to give her support in the classroom. It's not just the OTs doing AT with her. The OTs come from a central service that contracts with most districts that have kids at the school. They are paid by our district but are not connected to them.
The only problem is that the director did not stand up to the district about any of this. She wants to work "collaboratively" but doesn't understand the sheer incompetence of the people who are calling the shots. No one in their right mind would believe this if they hadn't experienced it (even vicariously as you all have). That concerns me. Not enough for me to pull DD, fight for the 2E school and separate the family. If DD can have her needs met here - even for just a year - that is definitely the best thing to do.
My current thought is to just try to remove the district from the equation. They want us to sign a contract in order for DD to bring the iPad home. We weren't able to reach our lawyer yet but what I am leaning towards is buying an iPad and letting the school load anything and everything they want. DD needs to listen to audio books on the ride to and from school. Rather than accept liability for district's machine we'll accept liability for our own. The school can be limited all they want by the district for their own machine but will have free reign with ours. We then cancel the IEP meeting that we scheduled and instead proceed with team meetings with the school staff. We isolate the players from the district. They have already agreed to provide everything we asked for - they have nothing else to add. We plan to hold them liable if something fails but we work hard to compartmentalize them. DD's education gets handled by us with the school. Period. If the school objects? Well that just may prove it's not an appropriate placement.
What do you all think?
