Relocating to Seattle with a special child (Bellevue, Redmond: apartment, lease)

[Manav_2010]

Hi all,

Need your help/guidance. I'll be moving to Seattle in next 1 or 2 months. I've 8 year old son, who has mild CP (Cerebral Palsy). He is independent, mobile and has no cognitive issues. However, he would need some special assistance.

My office is in Bellevue - so I'm targeting Redmond / Bellevue area for living (and elementary schools there have better ratings).

However, I'm little confused/worried about overall admission procedure. In normal cases, we find a new apartment, and then go to school district for admission based on zip code and vacancy in nearby school.

But in my case, as I know my son would need some special assistance - I'm thinking of approaching school district, consult with them and identify school for his fitment. I'm also not aware how much time school will take for doing his evaluation.

Two options I've are:

1) Go through normal school admission and later let school come up with referral of special needs
2) First approach school district, explain them issues of my son, request them to evaluate, find appropriate school and then rent an apartment.

Option 2 seems ethical and honest. However, I'm not sure how much time district will take to evaluate my son (I read somewhere they can take 6 to 8 weeks). That means I'll have to stay somewhere till we get final school confirmation as a short term lease and later move if required.

This will be major decision for us as we will have to find an apartment which is closer to his school.

Has someone gone through similar situation? Can you please guide how much time school district would take to evaluate his skills?

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Manav_2010

Hi all,

Need your help/guidance. I'll be moving to Seattle in next 1 or 2 months. I've 8 year old son, who has mild CP (Cerebral Palsy). He is independent, mobile and has no cognitive issues. However, he would need some special assistance.

My office is in Bellevue - so I'm targeting Redmond / Bellevue area for living (and elementary schools there have better ratings).

However, I'm little confused/worried about overall admission procedure. In normal cases, we find a new apartment, and then go to school district for admission based on zip code and vacancy in nearby school.

But in my case, as I know my son would need some special assistance - I'm thinking of approaching school district, consult with them and identify school for his fitment. I'm also not aware how much time school will take for doing his evaluation.

Two options I've are:

1) Go through normal school admission and later let school come up with referral of special needs
2) First approach school district, explain them issues of my son, request them to evaluate, find appropriate school and then rent an apartment.

Option 2 seems ethical and honest. However, I'm not sure how much time district will take to evaluate my son (I read somewhere they can take 6 to 8 weeks). That means I'll have to stay somewhere till we get final school confirmation as a short term lease and later move if required.

This will be major decision for us as we will have to find an apartment which is closer to his school.

Has someone gone through similar situation? Can you please guide how much time school district would take to evaluate his skills?

Manav, this may be a helpful phone number for you: https://bsd405.org/services/special-education/

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Manav_2010

Hi all,

Need your help/guidance. I'll be moving to Seattle in next 1 or 2 months. I've 8 year old son, who has mild CP (Cerebral Palsy). He is independent, mobile and has no cognitive issues. However, he would need some special assistance.

My office is in Bellevue - so I'm targeting Redmond / Bellevue area for living (and elementary schools there have better ratings).

However, I'm little confused/worried about overall admission procedure. In normal cases, we find a new apartment, and then go to school district for admission based on zip code and vacancy in nearby school.

But in my case, as I know my son would need some special assistance - I'm thinking of approaching school district, consult with them and identify school for his fitment. I'm also not aware how much time school will take for doing his evaluation.

Two options I've are:

1) Go through normal school admission and later let school come up with referral of special needs
2) First approach school district, explain them issues of my son, request them to evaluate, find appropriate school and then rent an apartment.

Option 2 seems ethical and honest. However, I'm not sure how much time district will take to evaluate my son (I read somewhere they can take 6 to 8 weeks). That means I'll have to stay somewhere till we get final school confirmation as a short term lease and later move if required.

This will be major decision for us as we will have to find an apartment which is closer to his school.

Has someone gone through similar situation? Can you please guide how much time school district would take to evaluate his skills?

Yes, I can help you. I've been through this process before and, at one point, exactly in the same context as you.

First of all and very important question: Does your son have an IEP or Section 504 in place at his current school?

If you already have one or both of these then the school doesn't need to do a full eval and they can look at it and give you an idea which school/program can best accommodate his needs.

It's federal law that students carry their IEPs and 504 plans wherever they go.

If you do not have a plan in place then it gets trickier. You will need to enroll your son before he receives full evaluation, which means you will need a Bellevue lease agreement or home purchase papers before you can enroll your son. I know option two seems "ethical and honest", but it's not permissible. It's not legal. No school district is going to spend funds on kids that are not legal residents. You have to see this from the schools' point of view, or from the perspective of tax-paying residents supporting the school district through their property taxes.

That said...

You absolutely should call the district and get the ball rolling. My autistic 2nd grader was falling behind when we decided to move to Issaquah. He had had an IEP for preschool but had placed out of it during kindergarten. Like you, I knew he needed immediate support, but I had to go through the process, which takes time. In the meantime the school was able to help us by placing him with a strong teacher and using aides already in the room for other students. So it wasn't perfect, but it was a good start. We had to redo his autism diagnosis in order to get the IEP and that required visiting a child development specialist through the medical system, and honestly, that was the most time consuming part of process. You will likely not have to go through that, and if not, I bet the district can finish their eval much, much sooner.

Another option would be to do the eval at your current school and have the results of that (IEP or 504 plan) transferred into the Bellevue district.

[Manav_2010]

Hi @flyingsaucermom,

Thanks much for detailed response. Really appreciate.

One thing I missed to mention - We are currently in India and will be relocating to US. That said, we do not have any record of current IEP/504 (even though he is going to an International school here).

Thanks for the insights regarding rules and legalities. I completely agree that schools cannot entertain us unless we are lawful residents.

I'll get in touch with school district via email/phone from here to get more information.

Seems like the better way would be - take a rented apartment with 6 months lease term, contact school district and start things. Later once district people evaluates and provides him appropriate school - move to nearby community.

Thanks again!

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Manav_2010

Hi @flyingsaucermom,

Thanks much for detailed response. Really appreciate.

One thing I missed to mention - We are currently in India and will be relocating to US. That said, we do not have any record of current IEP/504 (even though he is going to an International school here).

Thanks for the insights regarding rules and legalities. I completely agree that schools cannot entertain us unless we are lawful residents.

I'll get in touch with school district via email/phone from here to get more information.

Seems like the better way would be - take a rented apartment with 6 months lease term, contact school district and start things. Later once district people evaluates and provides him appropriate school - move to nearby community.

Thanks again!

Good luck on your relocation! I think a short term lease is a wonderful option. In addition to the school issue, it will give you a chance to look at specific streets and neighborhoods without fully committing.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

Yes, I can help you. I've been through this process before and, at one point, exactly in the same context as you.

First of all and very important question: Does your son have an IEP or Section 504 in place at his current school?

If you already have one or both of these then the school doesn't need to do a full eval and they can look at it and give you an idea which school/program can best accommodate his needs.

It's federal law that students carry their IEPs and 504 plans wherever they go.

If you do not have a plan in place then it gets trickier. You will need to enroll your son before he receives full evaluation, which means you will need a Bellevue lease agreement or home purchase papers before you can enroll your son. I know option two seems "ethical and honest", but it's not permissible. It's not legal. No school district is going to spend funds on kids that are not legal residents. You have to see this from the schools' point of view, or from the perspective of tax-paying residents supporting the school district through their property taxes.

That said...

You absolutely should call the district and get the ball rolling. My autistic 2nd grader was falling behind when we decided to move to Issaquah. He had had an IEP for preschool but had placed out of it during kindergarten. Like you, I knew he needed immediate support, but I had to go through the process, which takes time. In the meantime the school was able to help us by placing him with a strong teacher and using aides already in the room for other students. So it wasn't perfect, but it was a good start. We had to redo his autism diagnosis in order to get the IEP and that required visiting a child development specialist through the medical system, and honestly, that was the most time consuming part of process. You will likely not have to go through that, and if not, I bet the district can finish their eval much, much sooner.

Another option would be to do the eval at your current school and have the results of that (IEP or 504 plan) transferred into the Bellevue district.

FlyingSaucerMom said exactly what I was planning to write when I read your post... I was scrolling down to respond and there it was

A short-term lease is a good idea, if you can find/afford it (it often costs more to have a shorter lease). If you are heading to Bellevue for Redmond, either district should have appropriate services for your child. Although the school cannot start an evaluation until you are residing in the district, it's not a bad idea to contact them ahead of time to get on their radar. Schools are required to abide by a certain timeline, which does take time, but it may be possible to get it through faster if your child has immediate needs.

If your child has had any evaluation completed at the international school or anywhere else, come prepared with that information. Make sure you have medical records handy and ready to share with the district. The more information you can bring to the table from his previous school and his medical needs, the less the district may require/need to get the ball rolling on services.