Backroads

I hope I'm reading this right. Are they saying he requires too much support to be successful in the online program (you say he is successful) or that they want to have an executive function skills teaching component best served in brick-and-morter?

If it's the latter, would it be at all possible to schedule in one-on-one virtual time, or to meet in the middle, attend the school for the time for such skills?

The best way around this is to show other evidence of disability affecting learning or demonstrate why the student isn't able to attend school.

52 minutes ago, splash716 said:

Kindergarten is not required by law in my state

I would say in that case a modification would be very simple. They'd be attending kindergarten, I imagine, largely for the social/behavior reasons (here is how school works!) according to the IEPs, and more academics can be tackled next year.

5 minutes ago, Silvery said:

I also have questions on this situation. I guess I am personally frustrated that these virtual schools require a learning coach. I know and I get it that someone has to supervise the student at home, but I wish the schools would help families find someone to do this. 

In my personal circumstances, I'm also frustrated with how so many accommodations are put back on me. Because we have immune issues in our house, my kids cannot go to school for IEP services, and I and my partner work during the day. I have been fighting for two months for the virtual school to provide in-home help. My kids are non-verbal and I don't have the training the teachers have.

The only care I've heard for the matter is if they qualify for homebound care. I've been told by an advocate they can't cover parental needs that way, like a nanny. Which I totally get, but it doesn't make it easier.

Working memory is a biggie in making inferences, because the child has to juggle multiple pieces of information while reading in order to make an inference.

1 hour ago, JSD24 said:

Request a meeting.  Tell them exactly what you said here - that she lacks the foundational skills taught in 2nd grade and needs to be taught those skills before she'll really have access to 3rd grade material.  Let them teach her 2nd & 3rd this school year so she can step into 4th grade on grade level.  Band-aids do help.  You just need to see if there is more that's needed.

You have a good point I just worry that the double-dose of two grades would be overwhelming.

I don't know if this is quite lawsuit territory, but if you believe it was on purpose, could you report this to law enforcement as assault? I know that's a huge and scary leap with a lot of risks, but it would bypass the runaround from the school and be a step before a lawsuit.

I know, I know, the school year is well under way, but Kid is still struggling with the grade-level material. Due to medical reasons, much of last year's school didn't happen. There were things in place to help with this, but all in all I don't think she mastered the skills needed. I'd like to have her return to a previous grade (2nd), but I'm being told the state won't allow that, especially this far into the school year. The team is discussing this and that accommodations, but my gut says those are just band-aids for the problem of having not mastered the prior year's essential skills. 

On 10/22/2022 at 6:37 PM, GwenMBS said:

No, the online high school is a private school.

In that case, if your main concern is support during college, would the private school be willing to list any supporters (not IEP supported, but whatever they do to be helpful)?

Setting Choice A is not working. It's a little off the traditional, so the regular public school system is being looked at, questions asked, etc. This also means child hasn't been attending any sort of school for a few weeks. Getting the right placement is so important, but when would truancy possibly set in?

So an IEP would not exist as a legal document in college and no college would have to honor it if they didn't want to, nor would there be anything like IEP teams or meetings. While ADA of course still applies, all accommodations are what your son would arrange with the college and professors. 

That said... I am aware of a few people who did bring their last high school IEP to the college to help arrange accommodations. Again, it won't work as a legal enforceable document, but everything listed will be useful for talking with the disabilities office. It does get to still be a handy list of information and ideas.

So, while your son could likely negotiate accommodations just by talking with professors and the IEP isn't necessary, it's not a terrible idea to have one on hand.

Is the online high school you're looking at publicaly funded? If so, it might be worth still going the IEP route just for the sake of getting stuff in writing. 

19 hours ago, JSD24 said:

My friend had a 1:1 in her home with her children attending a virtual charter school.  If you don't ask, the answer is no.  My suggestion is to ask.  If your plan is to coach after you get off of work & someone is needed during instructional hours, I'm not sure how that should play out.  My friend is a SAHM with a disability & had more than one child attending cyber school.

This is helpful to hear. In this school, the actual instructional hours actively with a teacher are less than an hour, so the majority of the time is more on our schedule. My biggest trouble is going over the work with her while trying to keep her on task and focused. I have no issue remaining coach, I just feel over my head. 

In my experience, long-term subs are more than just regular subs, usually requiring a proper degree. It's likely the sub will have access to the IEP, though I recommend directly asking.

4 hours ago, Lisa Lightner said:

. A 1:1 aide or something, the location shouldn't matter. But you will have mindsets and biased thinking to overcome. honestly, if you're putting a 1:1 aide in an IEP, what difference does it make where that aide/pa goes? But the traditional bias will be "only in the school building." You can get it added, but it will be a journey.

Thanks for the link. Since the school is entirely virtual, they don't have ready-made aides on hand and we are several hours from the school office. Obviously, if we were able to get an aide, they would likely attempt to hire closer to where we live. Is that correct thinking?

One worry to add to this: how could I word this so it doesn't sound like I'm avoiding my job as "learning coach" as they call it and asking for an in-home babysitter? I worry about coming across like this.

I think I may try to sew if I can hire someone. The school requires that we have someone committed to the learning coach role and apparently after talking to other parents hiring out for that isn't unheard of.

I know, I know, virtual charters aren't the best idea, but my state really cracks down on them.

That being said, my daughter is in one for various reasons.

Am I unrealistic with expectations here? The IEP took, no problem. But I feel like so many of the accommodations just fall back on me. I get that I am the most logical person to provide breaks and alternate schedules, but I feel like I'm drowning under it all. 

What doesn't help is that by the time I'm available to help my daughter in the evenings, the teachers are done for the day so I don't even have anyone to call.

I get that a lot of this is the nature of a virtual school, but I wish I had more support. My daughter meets (virtually for services) three times a week, and the teachers are very responsive during their work day.

I know these may be reaching for the stars here, but let me know what would be realistic:

1. In-person home support. A trained professional to help my daughter stay in task.

2. If not that, being able to call on teachers after usual work hours. I'm generally not one to demand others work outside their hours, but would it be so crazy to just have staff members on a different shift?

I suspect the answer is I suck it up and do better or find a different school, which may be the ways to go. I just want to know if there's any route I could look at first.