We are in the midst of this now and we are pushing back. Hard.
We hired a consultant and went above the principal to the district's coordinator of special services. He gets it better than anyone in the school and has actually agreed to write a letter to DD's file acknowledging that they violated her IEP. We are still negotiating the final wording but it looks like it will be a powerful thing to have in our back pockets as we move forward. We also expect that he will step in to both educate the school personnel about following DD's IEP more closely in the future and to meet with DD to explain that "grown ups make mistakes too" and apologize to her for the way she was treated. I can't say that you will get this kind of a response but we are certainly grateful for it.
DD is only in first grade so we have a lot of years ahead of us dealing with these people. Last year we had a terrible situation in a regional magnet in a neighboring school district and never made any progress. I took a more conciliatory approach which neither got DD's needs met nor created a relationship that I would be comfortable with moving forward. I learned from that and decided to call our home district on things as soon as they happened. Right now things are pretty tense but I am convinced this has been the best approach to get DD's needs met moving forward.
It is hard - some people really, really hate confrontation and it is important to pick your battles wisely. I am sure that there must be another printer somewhere in the school that works. If not they can repair the science teacher's machine. To me this means that the teacher is willfully choosing to ignore the IEP and penalize your son for his disabilities. If I were in your place this teacher's actions would likely result in an immediate call/email to the principal. If I was still ignored I would be contacting the superintendant or director of special services. If you let it slide do you have reason to believe it will improve next year? I would think that one way or another a precedent is going to be set here. Either they can ignore the IEP or they can expect you to hold them responsible for it. This does not have to result on negative feelings – it is possible that pointing out the requirements of the IEP may just serve to remind the teacher of her responsibilities. If it does turn negative is that really going to be worse than having your son fail a class because of his disability?
