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My son will be 3 in April (he is special needs child; genetic disorder) and I have already met school team from my town. Recently found out that I am allowed to visit school before I sign any paper. My Social worker never mentioned this to me. So I called my Social worker but she said there’s nothing like touring school but I will visit school for in-take procedure later. She said I should bring my son to show them and fill out papers there then they’ll show school and programs. Before visit the school she also has to send all documents about my son for school to review and asked me to sign consent form to release all documents to school. I am in Little Ferry, NJ and there’s no special school here so she’s sending him to special school in Paramus, NJ. Is it normal that send all student's information to school before parent make any decision? or before visit school? Is my social worker saying true that there’s no touring before I sign any papers. I will have meeting with my town school team in February and she said she can not schedule visiting school until they’re done with the meeting. Any advice welcome! Thanks.
My son will be 3 in April (he is special needs child; genetic disorder) and I have already met school team from my town. Recently found out that I am allowed to visit school before I sign any paper. My Social worker never mentioned this to me. So I called my Social worker but she said there’s nothing like touring school but I will visit school for in-take procedure later. She said I should bring my son to show them and fill out papers there then they’ll show school and programs. Before visit the school she also has to send all documents about my son for school to review and asked me to sign consent form to release all documents to school. I am in Little Ferry, NJ and there’s no special school here so she’s sending him to special school in Paramus, NJ. Is it normal that send all student's information to school before parent make any decision? or before visit school? Is my social worker saying true that there’s no touring before I sign any papers. I will have meeting with my town school team in February and she said she can not schedule visiting school until they’re done with the meeting. Any advice welcome! Thanks.
J.
Call the school directly. You have a right to see the school before you decide.
To youknow4109. My son will be 3 in April (he is special needs child; genetic disorder) and I have already met school team from my town. Recently found out that I am allowed to visit school before I sign any paper (see my notes below---usually parents can visit any school that they choose to visit but that may not be the school where your child is placed to receive his special education services).. My Social worker never mentioned this to me. So I called my Social worker but she said there’s nothing like touring school but I will visit school for in-take procedure later. She said I should bring my son to show them (perhaps they mean bring your child for observation and assessment by school professionals, such as a teacher, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, etc.) and fill out papers there then they’ll show school and programs. Before visit the school she also has to send all documents about my son for school to review (probably all previous assessments by teachers, schools, doctors, private therapists, etc).and asked me to sign consent form to release all documents to school (you need to sign consent forms so they can obtain and read any of his previous assessments). I am in Little Ferry, NJ and there’s no special school here so she’s sending him to special school in Paramus, NJ. Is it normal that send all student's information to school before parent make any decision? (Yes, it is) or before visit school? (Yes, they are probably sending the information so that a “Placement I.E.P., Individual Educational Plan” can be held) Is my social worker saying true that there’s no touring before I sign any papers.(you can visit ANY school, but she may want you to wait sothat you visit the correct school & classroom) I will have meeting with my town school team in February and she said she can not schedule visiting school until they’re done with the meeting (This could be the Placement I.E.P. Meeting, It may be called something different in NJ). Any advice welcome! Thanks.
Please talk with the Social Worker again and explain that you are confused about a few things. If she can not help you, ask her to give you the name of someone from the school that can help you. If English is not your first language you can request that a translator is provided. Also, if you speak another language at home be sure to tell the school so that your child is tested in his native language.
In Wisconsin the actual placement follows the Placement IEP Meeting because the program placement for the child depends on the information shared at the IEP meeting. In other words, no one knows what building/program/classroom the child would be placed into until the information is shared and the appropriate placement is made by the team (which includes the parents). So, parents normally do not visit classrooms in advance as they would only be guessing where the team will decide is the best placement.
For example, a larger district may have multiple options where a three year old with a handicapping condition may be placed. The child may be placed at their neighborhood school in a three year or junior kindergarten regular education classroom with support (and there may be several of those classrooms in the school), in the neighborhood school in an early childhood exceptional educational needs classroom (and there may be more than one EC classroom), in another school in their early childhood class (perhaps because that class may focus on a specific special need like hearing impaired, or physically challenged). And in each of those classrooms there may be an AM and a different PM class which may be dissimilar in nature. In a few cases, a child may been sent to a neighboring district. It depends on what is the least restrictive environment as well as other factors. There may be five or sixormore difference possibilities of where the child may be placed, would a parent visit them all??? Technically a parent can visit all of those places, however, it usually is best to wait until there is a final decision and visit just the one classroom.
Please note that I’m only speaking about my experiences in a well populated area of Wisconsin. Other states may function differently. I hope that I haven’t confused you even more.
Last edited by germaine2626; 01-26-2012 at 03:52 PM..
My child will also be 3 in April and I am also going through the IEP referral process for her. They are doing a bunch of assessments on her in the next few weeks, and then we will have another meeting where they will determine first, what she is eligible for, and second, what services they will provide for her. They will do both of these things in the same meeting (assuming she is eligible). They told me that I do NOT have to sign the IEP at the meeting (saying that I approve). I can take it home, read it through, consult others, etc, and get back to them as to whether I agree with the IEP. They said it is also an option to agree to her eligibility, but not to her services.
So, in your case, I would go to the meeting and see what they offer him, and what school they want to put him in. You don't have to agree at the meeting. Go visit the school and see if that is what you want to agree to. If you like it, sign the IEP and that's that. If not, then don't sign the IEP, ask to reconvene another meeting, and tell them what you want to do.
I know we have an organization in our states and others have them. I googled and came up with this in NJ: SPAN and it looks like what we have here, more or less.
Thank you all your inputs.
I actually called the school (the one mentioned they’ll probably send my son by my district school team) and spoke to school social worker (I’ll write it school SW). School SW said I do not need to send any documents, I do not need to bring my son and I do not need to fill out anything there. They’re very happy to show the school before anything but I must get schedule through my district case manager (=CM= my district social worker) to get the date. So, I emailed back to my district school team director about what I heard from CM and school SW and ask director to solve this issue and explain about it for me to understand correctly.
Well, if anyone asks how I felt when I got reply from the director about visiting school issue, I would say it was very unpleasant and upset. All I asked to my CM & director was just visiting school – I didn’t ask them to tell me what program they’ll give. But the director’s reply said I was asking about the program and that will be available after all the evaluation. They are done with the evaluation early January and now they can discuss about the program. Director also describe me as a person with lack of patience and her email gives me feeling that she’s very annoyed by all my emails. Director’s email also states that all of the team member are very well experienced professional and Same time I got email from CM saying that she spoke to school SW and will schedule for touring but it is very unusual for her to set the date like this. I got emails from director and CM on 2/3 and they said they’ll let me know about the visiting date but nothing yet until today. I have meeting next Wed. I guess I should trust them and trust their work but it felt like they’re not telling all to me when I just asked that I want to see the school. If the school SW said same thing as my CM then I would understand but I heard different story so it make me wonder why and why.
Thank you germaine2626 for all long / detailed answers and yes I guess you’re right. Since my town is paying all, maybe they want to do all paper works but I’m still questing what’s so big deal just visiting school. If they must go through like you said (different program = different classroom but still they’ll be in same school) and they can’t see all programs so they must wait until they finalize it and explain that to me, I would understand. However, nothing like this. Do I must trust them because they’re professional? Even, doctor’s opinion can be questioned and they seek second opinion and why not for school?
I also thought that maybe my English is not good so I misinterpreted the replies or maybe I made mistakes on my emails so I showed all email conversation between me and school to my co worker who born here and speak English perfect. She also got same feeling as I got after she read all. If any of you want to see my email, I’ll post here too. Let me know.
Sorry I think I got bit upset at the end of this writing but I still have lots of questions why they made such a big issue for just visiting school.
I am guessing that your district case manager & district social worker have had some bad experiences with other parents visiting the school before the final placement meeting. Possibly parents demanding certain classrooms or certain programs (or specific teachers) that were not appropriate for their child. Trust me, some parents can be very demanding. However, the district staff were wrong to have been rude to you.
On the bright side the staff members and school social worker from your child's probable new school seem to be very nice and helpful and that is who you and your child will be dealing with on a daily basis. You may only have contact with those other people (your home district staff) every year or even every three years.
germaine2626, Thank you for your kind words. I still didn't hear from them regarding scheduling visit the school. I guess now they'll push me to schedule one day for visit & in-take - just my feeling but we'll see. Tomorrow is the meeting day. I will try to stay calm. Yes, I'll update my post. Thank you again.
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