Requiring Schools to Provide Aide?

[elenasmom]

Hi all, I don't post much, but I've been doing some research about an issue we have with Elena and have come up blank and thought y'all might be able to help.

Elena is in her 2nd year of kindergarten and is really doing great there. Her IEP requires a full-time one-on-one aide, but we have had some difficulty with it. The school district pays so little that it's hard to fill the aide positions and there are vacancies all over town in all the schools and at all levels. Our school is pretty small and there are a few kids there who require aides, but I don't know what their status is. In our case, we've tried out new aides several times last fall, but they were either inattentive or allowed Elena to get away with things in and out of class that were disruptive to the class and wasn't good for Elena either. So the kindy teacher (who is great) and her regular teacher aide have been doing a great job without an aide. We've been OK with this because it seems to work better for her now.

But next year in 1st grade, things will be very different for Elena, both academically and safety-wise, so she will really require an aide much more so than now. I spoke with the principal about the situation, and she said that she was going to use her current staff of aides in other situations and we might have to use substitute aides until a permanent aide is hired for her. She wants to use at least some of the aides as regular teacher aides, rather that assigned to Elena or some other student who needs an aide.

I'm sorry about this long saga, but here's the question: What does the IDEA, or any other laws, say about whether we can insist that an aide be assigned to Elena before assignments are made to regular classrooms? Everyone, even the principal, agrees that Elena needs an aide, and it's in the IEP, so that's not the problem.

If you've finally reached the end of this post, I'd really appreciate any pointers y'all might have. Thanks... Gay

[lespring]

I think you need to contact your state dept of education and ask them about this. If the district is paying below a certain level, NOBODY who is qualified to work in that position is going to do it. And you don't want someone who has no training. There is a name for this and I cannot for the life of me think of what it is. But basically it is the district trying to avoid putting out dollars. When a student has something like 1:1 support staff written on the IEP, the district is bound to provide that. If they're not offering competative wages they're saying, Ok, we will, but only if they'll work for pennies. Never mind that the state is paying us a totally different about for those services!

I would also go around to the surrounding districts, and ask them for their support staff pay scale (this is public information.) If your district's pay scale is significantly behind, then you have grounds to bring this to the school board and let them know if they don't rectify the situation wihtin 30 days you intend to file a grievance for non-compliance with the state dept. of education.

Oh, and they are bound to fulfill the obiligations of the IEP's that have 1:1 staff designated on them before supplying regular ed support staff. Just the way the law is written, and its done so to make sure districts stay in compliance with the IEP's.

[elenasmom]

Thanks Leah for your response, I really appreciate it. After I read it, I spoke with an advocacy group and with our district's special ed director. I found out that in our district, the IEP's rarely say that a child gets a 1:1 aide (unless medically or behaviorally necessary). What the IEP's say is that a child needs adult supervision 100% of the time, so there's nothing that says it has to be the same person supervising. So after that discussion, I decided to write a letter to outline my specific concerns to the principal and state that I wanted these things specifically addressed in our next IEP meeting. I was trying to get my way without making an enemy of the principal who is not the most reasonable person in the world. (Altho I personally don't care if she gets mad, but I am trying to keep the goal of making sure Elena gets what she needs, rather than me being right about whether she has to follow the law).

Anyway, our IEP isn't scheduled yet, but I'll keep you posted. Thanks Gay

[momofrussell]

What does your IEP state currently? 1:1 or 100% supervision?

A.

[CC]

"What the IEP's say is that a child needs adult supervision 100% of the time, so there's nothing that says it has to be the same person supervising"

Is that what your daughters IEP says?? An IEP is made for the individual hence the I in the IEP

CC~

[elenasmom]

I looked it up after my conversation with the Spec Ed Director, and the IEP does indeed say 100% supervision. But I thought that meant that she would be provided an aide one-to-one because that's the way they always talked about it during the meetings and even now. The principal even agrees that she needs an aide, but wants to use the aides she has in the regular kindy classes next year rather than assign them to one student. That's what brought my original question last week.

I've drafted the letter and will probably deliver it next week to her. I will cc the Spec Ed Director and the Superintendent with it, mostly just for show. Basically, I've been real specific about our concerns about safety on the playground, in the lunchroom and going across the hall to the bathroom, as well as our concerns that there is someone in addition to the teacher watching her in class to make sure she stays on task. Then I say that I want the principal, Elena's current teacher, and the first grade teacher (along with the rest of the team) at the IEP so we can address these items at the IEP.

Like I said, this woman is quite stubborn and really isn't interested much in what parents want and ask for for their individual kids. She's not unkind or uncaring, but really thinks that because she's the professional and the principal, she knows best and gets to call the shots, and she gets her heels dug in about it. So I'm trying to basically say that I understand her problems and sympathize, but that Elena needs what she needs, without getting her back up about it.

I guess our take on the situation is that as long as Elena gets what she needs as far as safety and academics are concerned, I'm willing to listen to how they think they can get it done without a one-to-one. But if push comes to shove, I'm certainly willing to take them on as much as necessary. Gay