DOES THE VOORHEES DISTRICT HONOR ALL PROMISES TO CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES? One of my sons suffers from a multitude of disabilities, which includes cognitive difficulties, cerebral palsy, and epileptic seizures. His Individualized Education Program (IEP) states that his school is the Voorhees Middle School (VMS), that he will have an extended school year at the school, and that if he falls (which is often), staff should immediately take him to the nurse. For him, its critical that he get quick attention from a nearby nurse in his building, due to seizure related activity. Despite my sons IEP, Voorhees did not hire a school nurse at VMS for the summer. Now, I believe the district trying to unilaterally change his program in ways that undermine his IEP (their contract with me and my child). I believe this threatens his health and welfare. Voorhees is offering him one of the following if he stays at VMS, without a nurse in the building: (a) staff will call 911 and an ambulance when he has a seizure or falls; (b) staff (who lack nursing and medical degrees) will quickly attend to his on-site medical needs; (c) neighboring nurse at either Signal Hill Elementary School or Kresson Elementary School will be contacted, if she’s available; (d) the district will remove him from school and provide him with 1-hour a day of in-home instruction rather than his full instruction at VMS. His neurologist has written the district, making clear that his medical conditions require an on-site nurse. If these alternatives to a school nurse are unacceptable to us, Voorhees is suggesting that we send him to the Signal Hill Elementary School, which has a nurse. There, he would be in a class of much younger children, without adequately assessing if it could meet his needs. Of course, this recommendation may well backfire, as his anxiety about changes and transitions — characteristic of so many children with his learning, anxiety, and intellectual profile — is likely to spike, which may cause more epileptic seizures, greater balance problems, and more falls. This truly isn’t an option, as it will impede his social, emotional and behavioral development. Moreover, he will probably interpret placement in a class of younger children as an indication of his failure. One major reason that Voorhees initially wanted to place our son at VMS during the summer was to help him transition from the Osage Elementary School to VMS. His school IEP team believed that he would have difficulty transitioning to his 6th grade class at VMS, given his historical difficulty with changes and transitions. They thought the summer was a perfect time to start the transition: fewer students at VMS than in September, a quieter building, quieter halls, multiple opportunities to learn to use his locker in a quiet hallway, and a shorter day. Moreover, several of his age-peers from Osage would be in his class. But now, at VMS, Voorhees will not honor the take him to the nurse immediately obligation in his IEP. And our conscience wont let us send him to Signal Hill. Going there will eliminate his transition program and increase the number of transitions he has to make from 1 to 3 (Osage to VMS; VMS to Signal Hill; Signal Hill to VMS). We fear that this will cause his anxiety to spike dramatically, resulting in sleepless nights and more epileptic seizures. Thus, we cannot send him to Signal Hill. Our many hospital visits have taught us that medically and emotionally, we have to protect him. Were only asking for what the districts IEP Team members thought necessary. This includes their written directive to take him to the nurse immediately (our underlining). To us, this does not imply calling a nurse at another school, hoping shes available, and if so, waiting. It does not imply calling 911 for an ambulance, and then waiting to go to a hospital emergency room. It does not imply depending on aides, teachers, administrators, or other people without nursing degrees. And placement at VMS — clearly stated his IEP — does not imply Signal Hill. Does anyone have suggestions for handing this, especially when we need our finances to help our son with special needs?
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 16:33:41 +0000
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