Special Education in Schools? (Bloomingdale, Riverview: sale, rent, transfer)

[gemanda]

Hubby may be looking at a new position down near MacDill. I, however, am concerned about schools.

Two of our 4 kids are special needs and need non-autistic special ed. Are there any good districts anyone can recommend, particularly for elementary? We definitely are very proactive and can work with the system, but we need a system that has services to offer and isn't completely maxed out.

We'd like to keep his commute under 30-45 min, but that can be flexible if needed. We will rent to start, would like to keep rent under $2000 for a 4-5BR SFH.

[MortonR]

As the parent of a former ESE student and a degreed ESE educator, I would say that you should be fine in Hillsborough schools for the most part. A lot will depend on the services your children require, so without more specific information I can't be of much help.

Nearly every school site has ESE services of varying types, which are based on the needs of the student (ESE) population.

Westchase will have good resources, as will the Bloomingdale East and Fishhawk areas. None of these are "maxed out" with maybe the exception of Fishhawk Creek Elementary, which is beyond it's designed capacity.

Once you decide on a school, your children will be screened to determine the services they require. This process can take some time, and if you wait until the start of the year it could be several months before your children are staffed. Providing current records from their current school will go a long way to speed the process.

Good luck,

RM

[gemanda]

Thanks for the reply! Good to hear that we may not be too hard up, I was more than worried given the state of Florida's school funding.

One son needs speech/lang and LD services, the other is completely global due to a congenital brain malformation. The older is entering kindergarten in the fall, and the younger is turning 3 and will be moving from an IFSP to an IEP with developmental preschool.

I am a bit concerned about your last bit, though. I thought it was Federal law that if a child transfers in with an existing IEP, that the district has to follow that IEP until they make one of their own. Is this not how it's handled locally? I cannot begin to imagine going months without services due to the severity of my kids' needs.

[MortonR]

You are correct about the existing IEP - with the limited information you originally provided that was not clear.

One thing to your advantage - you sound like you are well informed and aware of your children's rights under IDEA - you can experience some staffing folks who will try and pressure you to go in directions you may feel will not benefit your children. This is not common, so don't go in with a adversarial approach and you should be fine. Much of the services are site-based, so things can vary from school to school depending on the staff.

For the most part everyone is very helpful and will work with you. The worst thing is that the staff is stretched really thin and many are bailing as a result.

If you have the ability to do so, see if you can schedule visits to the schools you are interested in and meet the staff.

RM

[gemanda]

Great, thanks for the clarification, sorry if I wasn't clear enough myself before!

And yes, I'm very well versed in IDEA. This would be our 3rd state dealing with IEPs and such, and I always take the time to read and understand the state article(s) that are applicable as well. Sadly, like you said, a lot of people don't always work towards what's best for the kids but instead what's easiest/cheapest for them.

We always come in looking to be partners in our kids' education, we hate to make it adversarial. We had to in our current district, and it sucked. But no matter what, I always support the teachers and work with them.

[wdwcrazy]

I can not say enough good things about my sons experience at Summerfield Crossings in Riverview. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder. Gets easily frustrated and doesn't know how to handle the frustration. The staff at Summerfield Crossings helped him to understand and cope. He is now at Eisenhower Middle School and is doing really well.

Also, this is kind of funny, but we are leaving this area and moving to the DC area. So I am also in the same situation as you. But, we have a 4 bedroom home, that we may not be able to sale and may be renting it out. My husband said the drive is about 35 minutes and he takes the Crosstown Expressway.

If you'd like anymore info, I'd be glad to help.