Yonkers Schools/Greystone area (Hastings: renting, credit, middle schools)

[MomOfToo]

K&F,

I would call the Hastings School District and ask to speak to the person versus emailing them (I think that is what you said you did) Your right, Hastings is a lovely town and I think your daughter (and you!) would be happier there. I am not knocking Yonkers, I lived there for a few years but left because I didn't want my child to grow up there and be passed around to different catholic schools since the public schools were out of the question. Alot of Catholic schools are closing so that wouldn't be a good option for you as well, they really don't have a good program in place and the funding for a child with special needs as a public school system would. And your right, it is still close to Yonkers and her Godfather. Good luck!

[sallyg]

I would definitely stick with Hastings. Like I mentioned earlier, I have only heard wonderful things about the school district. I think that over 15% of the students at Hastings are receiving special services- so I am sure there is plenty of support there. We went to the pizzeria there last week and everyone that walked in seemed to know eachother and it seems pretty diverse. I think you will both be very happy there! Best of luck!

[K&F]

sallyg - I like what you say. I am really getting a good vibe about the community of Hastings AND the schools. The coops I am looking at are right in the downtown area and one block from the schools. it would be awesome to live in a community where the local merchants know you - and especially know your kid.

I haven't actually made the call yet. I've been pretty consumed with my daughter's current situation - she started in a self-contained special ed room in a new school, and although it is tons better than the situation she was in, I don't think it's the best place for her. I am getting a bit of a "warehousing" feel from this special ed room. and whenever I ask for them to accommodate her mental issues per the recommendations made by her healthcare providers - just small things - I'm told "it's not the Virginia state standards" - yet I get on the Hastings elementary school website and look at their special ed and speech therapy webpages and those very recommendations are things they list as things they just do with special ed kids!

I definitely need to get us up there - but logistically I don't see it happening before a year from now.

[Annieproductions]

Hi K&F...I was just wondering how you were doing with getting info on Hastings? I hope all is well. Good luck!

[K&F]

Well, I actually stumbled upon an educational consultant who lives right in Hastings - she's an L.C.S.W. with an M.Ed. - sounds pretty qualified. she runs support groups for kids and parents, does advocating for families in the schools, etc. We had an email discussion and I liked what she had to say so I retained her and sent her all of my daughter's medical/mental evals and her IEP plan from school. she is going to review everything and advise me - my main question to her is, can hastings do better than her current situation, and if they can't, what will they do about it? More than likely, she said, if they decide she needs something they don't do, like a self contained special ed room, they will send her to another public school in Westchester that does. Right off the bat she could see that Hastings' speech therapy is tons better than what the public school down here will do. I have a feeling that the Hastings school can give her what she needs in all areas, frankly.

I am getting ahead of myself. I have decided NOT to move into a Yonkers school district. the consultant affirmed that decision - told me it's not the place to go with a special ed kid. so I'm looking hard at hastings. There's a two bedroom co-op for sale right in the center of the village that I can afford and like the looks of. I have connected with a realtor in Hastings and if it's still on the market memorial day weekend when we come up, have him show it to us. I imagine it will be, although I don't imagine I can make the move this summer.

I'm monitoring all the chatter on this forum about schools, and I have to laugh, because on my own research, by pulling up documents from the Virginia and the NY state education websites and comparing them, anyplace in NY is going to run circles around Virginia for minimum standards especially for special ed. so I can't go wrong, I don't think, by moving up, and I think WHERE we move to is a finite decision of quality of living for us.

I've done a ton of other networking and have actually had telephone conversations with two different working moms in Hastings. They love living there, frankly pointed out the downfalls and the local village politics, and it does sound like a good place for me and especially my daughter, and especially as she gets into middle and high schools.

So that's where I am - once I decide for sure WHERE to live, then I have to decide WHEN to move. I don't think I can sell my townhouse for another year, and I'm looking into renting it out - which is do-able - but I'd have to rent up there until I felt like it would sell here. the problem is, it's in a brand new development, 40 townhouses, five are on the market right now and aren't selling - because another brand new development is being built right down the street, along with the soft market. I talked to a management company and because it's a large townhouse in a new development in a nice part of town, I may be able to rent it out to the executive housing market so there's hope for that.

ok, I went on and on . . . but thanks for the help. I think I'm heading in the right direction (north)!

[Kevrltr]

Westchester County School Districts 2004-2005 has a lot of school information.

White Plains has some great special needs programs.

Good luck!

Kevin O'Shea

[Blithe]

I think that Yonkers in an upcoming area; the schools have the
diversity you're looking for -- this is not your typical "whitebread" suburb. Based on your values and financial circumstances, Yonkers would be the perfect place for you and your ethnic, special ed child. All the best!

[K&F]

I posted a new thread, but I'll post the update here.

Over Memorial Day weekend we were up and looked around and I looked at an apartment and a co-op for sale in hastings. I actually got preapproved for the co-op but decided to rent as I need to get moved up as early in the summer as possible to get my daughter registered in the school and give the special ed folks time to evaluate her and work up a good IEP for her.

Things here in the school have gone downhill faster than you can imagine. They have been putting her in a baskethold restraint just for crying hard. Apparently, it's legal in Virginia, but not in New York! I had a meeting with the principal and teacher and told them not to touch my kid again. I can't imagine having to put a six year old girl in a painful restrain for crying - they're supposed to be experts on kids with emotional disabilities! So yesterday they didn't follow protocal written into her IEP for Monday mornings and she wanted me and cried and it escalated and she knocked over some chairs and the school called and told me to come get her or they would restrain her. I went to get her but on my way called our attorney, who said to take her and not bring her back.

thank goodness the babysitter I hired for the summer was available to start early.

When I got there, she was standing in the middle of the room looking dazed, and all the adults were standing around her. it was really bizarre.

My attorneys, with my permission, are sending our story to their contact in the local media.

Anyway, that was just this week's trauma. Every week the school is doing something that is awful.

the ed consultant I hired up there has assured me that almost any school in NY will do better for my daughter and I don't doubt it. but I am getting good feelings from Hastings. She talked to the director of special ed about our situation and I talked to the school office about getting her registered, so as soon as we are up in July I'm walking over to the school office to register her and talk to the special ed director.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

K&F,
I was horrified when I read this. I worked in the special education both in NY and PA for several years. Check to see if they have a due process hearing in Virginia. You did the right thing about seeking legal advice. It seems to me the folks there should not be working with children. BTW, Hastings is lovely. I worked for over 20 years in the Rockland and Westchester area and I think you will be happy there.

[K&F]

Hey - TheHighHat - yes, there's a due process hearing - that's all I think federally regulated - but it's such a long drawn out convulated process and EXPENSIVE with my attorneys - I spent $10K on the attorneys just to get her an IEP for special ed - and it SUCKS. That's not the attorney's fault - they did a great job - but the mindset in this county and the whole state is so archaic and conservative in a very backward manner. I felt like my options were (1) continue with the attorney and go the due process route, which would mean racking up more attorney bills; (2) pull her out and put her in private school - and I could not afford a private school that could help her; or (3) move to Westchester where I actually have a friend who wants to help me with - something I don't have here - and she needs that father figure. So I decided to cut my losses and just move.

but I'm really mad. really really mad. and yes, you should be horrified - I am. I can't believe this is happening to this precious little girl. she was left on the side of a road in china at six weeks of age, so neglected she was probably almost dead, then spent a year in an orphange with one person taking care of 20 babies, then her adopted father spends 2.5 years fighting cancer and dies, followed shortly thereafter by the only grandmother nearby. How anyone can not have compassion for this kid is beyond me, but time after time in this county they have treated her like a criminal, not an emotionally damaged innocent little girl!