Charles County, MD Public Schools Special Needs (Fairfax: neighborhood, private school)

[RDandNMommy]

Just wanted to start this thread for anyone thinking of moving to Charles County, MD who has a child with special needs. I have an 8 year old who was diagnosed with high-functioning autism, but that needs numerous supports. He was pulled from school for 1st grade because he was behind after completing kindergarten. He was home-schooled and caught up nicely. Then, he was diagnosed with autism at the Center for Autism and Spectrum Disorders division of Children's Hospital. Upon receiving feedback from the doctors/psychologist they warned me that I lived in the worst county in the DMV for children such as my son. Warning that Charles County has a "fail first" approach, meaning a kid must fail to be considered for services. They told me to consider moving. (YES, they actually said this).

For the upcoming school year I'd enrolled him and his siblings in a private school, (because the public school that we moved here for ended up being horrible for my older son. The teachers don't like the kids, it's overcrowded, and terrible bullying). I wanted to get an IEP just in case the private school was unable to accommodate my son, so we went through the screening with the county despite him being in a private school. Their findings came back that he met criteria for autism but was denied and IEP because he was performing at grade level. Keep in mind, the academic assessment was done in October, and he'd just been home-schooled 1:1 for a year. We also continued to work over the summer. All in the name of getting up to speed for 2nd grade.

So I tried to work with the advocate provided by Charles County, but she advised that he stay where he was, and that her own daughter had to fail first to receive services. She was nice but no help. I sent letters, made phone calls, but it was to no avail. He did not qualify unless he started failing. His OT, speech and psychological assessments all came back that this kid had issues stemming from autism that could affect his academic performance. By they way, he had an IEP for Kindergarten and Pre-K, but lost it when I home-schooled him. Even with an IEP, he came out of CCPS way behind. In their defense, it was only for speech/language, the the Speech Pathologist was excellent, caring, and wanted him to maintain his IEP.

Fortunately, the private school he attends is wonderful. They provide as much support as they can possibly provide, and he is doing average to above average in some areas. I am very pleased with the school, and the staff is nice, caring, and it's small enough that it feels like they are family. I still have to take him to an OT outside of school in a different county. They are wonderful as well. I do not expect everyone to spend thousands of dollars on private school, nor should they have to.

I live in a new neighborhood and pay almost 2% in property tax annually on my house. I pay state income taxes like everyone else, but in this county, the middle class is treated really poorly when it comes to school. If you have a kid with special needs on the spectrum, (I cannot comment on blind, deaf, cerebral palsy, etc.), please consider moving elsewhere. If you are looking to avoid the high cost of Fairfax or Montgomery counties, consider Anne Arundel, Howard, or even Calvert. I heard Loudoun in VA was also bad for this type of thing.

I hope this posting helps future residents get prepared for the uphill battle they may face with CCPS. The good news is, once you're in, you're in.... it's like an IEP club, (this is what I've heard from other parents..who also struggled.)

Good luck!

[spencgr]

Probably a more appropriate post for the MD forum.

[RDandNMommy]

Oops...Thanks Spencgr...will post it there.