Special Ed in Oregon public schools (West Linn: buy, theater, school districts)

[Newbie4now]

Hi, does anyone have experience with special Ed in Oregon? West Linn does not have segregated classrooms and places all it’s special needs students in gen Ed. Has this worked for anyone? I want to know parents’ experiences with the elementary school system.
A lot of public school districts in Oregon seem to encourage inclusion. Please share your experiences.
Are they able to provide all the necessary supports needed? Any instances of bullying? Etc.

Thank you so much.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Oregon is not famous for the quality of the school system. if some sort of specialized education is important to your family, its possible that you won't be able to find what you need in Oregon.


If you move just a bit further north, Washington state is reputed to have excellent schools.

[texasdiver]

Teacher here.

Special Ed is primarily governed by Federal law rather than state law. I've taught in 3 different state TX, OR, and WA) and noticed very little difference in how Special Ed programs are handled from state to state in terms of big picture stuff like inclusion, IEPs and such. At least at the HS level.

Where there are very obviously differences between districts is with respect to resources. Rich districts tend to have more resources and also less special needs kids. But that is the same in every state. They also have more resources for art, music, theater, and science, not just special ed.

And I seriously doubt that West Linn puts ALL of its special ed students in mainstream classrooms, at least for the entire day. It sounds like they do a lot more inclusion than other districts. But I can't imagine it is 100% inclusion all day long, especially at the upper grade levels. Elementary is probably different. My experience is only with HS.

[Newbie4now]

Thank you. It’s on the west linn school district website that they don’t have separate classrooms for special Ed. There was also an article in the news that they are among the first to do 100% inclusion. But I haven’t found anyone that has experience with the district. I would like to talk to at least a few parents to get an idea of how that works. Have asked this in many Facebook pages as well and found no one

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Newbie4now

Thank you. It’s on the west linn school district website that they don’t have separate classrooms for special Ed. There was also an article in the news that they are among the first to do 100% inclusion. But I haven’t found anyone that has experience with the district. I would like to talk to at least a few parents to get an idea of how that works. Have asked this in many Facebook pages as well and found no one

I would be curious about how they define 100% inclusion. I only have experience at the HS level. And special ed is a really broad category of students. But for the children with profound or severe retardation they generally have them in some mainstream classes part of the day for socialization and such, and then in life skills classrooms for part of the day where they learn basis stuff like how to dress themselves, buy something at the store, etc. For example, I have had such kids in my biology classroom. Always with an SpEd para along. One just played with his toy plastic dinosaurs every day or sometimes colored with crayons and didn't actually engage in a single biology lesson all year long. But they also spend at least half the day in life schools classrooms too. You can't just meet all of their educational needs by 100% mainstreaming into general ed classrooms to sit through powerpoints and labs and such that they aren't going to engage in.

[Newbie4now]

That’s what I’m thinking too but I’m not worried about high school or middle school yet. Anyway, My problem is I can’t find anyone to talk to which is making it harder to decide if I should move or not.

[Nell Plotts]

My suggestion is that you join (or create) a parent's group focusing on your student's disability. Ask your child's pediatrician, or your health care provider's Social Worker, for leads. You will learn through parents what is going on... but keep in mind they tend to be a forum for negative personalities. Listen, then take their comments with a grain of salt.

Does your child have an Individual Education Plan (or whatever they are called these days)? If your student isn't yet enrolled ask your school district about their IEP process. There should be an administrator responsible for developing plans for special needs students. They are obligated, by law, to mainstream students with disabilities as much as possible.

[dogflower]

I would suggest that you fax or email a copy of your child’s IEP to the SpEd director and assistant director and ask about what placements and services they offer that match or are similar to your child’s IEP. They won’t be able to give you a definitive answer because, as a “move-in”, the IEP team will need to meet and develop a new IEP, or accept the IEP as it is.