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I am continually amazed by the measure of school districts, particularly at this site. Districts considered "Good" are cutting programs while "Average" districts haven't cut anything. All of these schools abide by ciriculum set by NYS so to imply one is giving a child a "Better" education is just false.
I wish budget concerns weighed more heavily on SD ratings to give potential home buyers the TRUTH about the district.
I would like to see your data about good schools cutting whereas average are not.
To say all districts teach the same curriculum so all kids are getting the same education is patently absurd and couldn't be further from the truth.
Quick update about Westhampton School District. If you have a child with special needs, be prepared to fight for all services. They have it down to a science. They will tell you that your child needs to be evaluated. That evaluation will take months to happen. Once it does, the school hires a therapist (they work with) and it is no surprise when it comes to the CSE meeting that the answer is no, your child does not need services.
Meanwhile, the parent(s) child is regressing during the school year because he/she is not getting the services they desperately need. Frustrated, the parents resort to taking their child out of Westhampton and placing them in a neighboring school district. Or, the parent(s) have to hire a lawyer or an advocate and fight the district. From my experience, and a large number of parents with special needs children who go to Westhampton, feel that their child is kicked to the curb when they ask for any assistance from the district. The district's response is to send them to BOCES even if their program does not fit their child's needs. It's criminal.
I was told in my son's last CSE meeting that there were no schools on Long Island to directly support the needs of a highly intelligent child with social and emotional needs. She continued to say that more children, like my son, are entering through the system and they literally do not know what to do with them. Our school's solution? Farm him out to another school district and piecemeal an education for him along with the support that he needs. The support part was only offered because we hired a killer advocate who knows special ed law like the back of his hand. The other solution?
BOCES. I was told that BOCES has created a program for children who have needs just like my child. Really? When I had taken him over there to visit, the first room the lovely principle showed my son, "if he acted up" was a padded room. My son looked at me stunned while the principle opened the worn out door. The principle, jumped in the closet sized room and said with a big grin, "Look! There's no lock on the door! We provide an aide to sit with your child until he calms down." I explained to the idiot principle that my son has sensory issues and wouldn't it be better to go to the sensory room first instead of the padded cell? Oops! I meant room. He said that it was in another building on the property and that someone could walk him across the compound to have him go there. Right. Believe BOCES would do that? Not! In a nutshell, my son said that he would never go there and, I agreed.
So sad. So sad.
I said to the special ed director, when I was at the district office in February, 3 superintendents had arrived to go to lunch with our district's superintendent. Instead of going to lunch, maybe head up to Albany and discuss this MAJOR issue with the higher ups. There needs to be a school, in Nassau and Suffolk county who will support the needs of these children. BOCES is not always the answer. Farming our children out to other districts who piecemeal an education, so the home school can keep up their stellar rating, is down right wrong!
What is criminal is that our children need support and so do the parents. We need support from the schools, government, and support from our insurance companies. The burden, and it is HUGE, is solely on the parents. We need help. What happens when these children turn 21? The government is going to, and finding out now but continue to turn their backs, that it will become an even bigger problem on society. If our children and parents were supported by their school districts - because that is where they attend 6 hours a day of their lives - and supported them at a younger age, most of them could succeed and lead very productive lives! Instead of us against them, why not have the parents and the schools work together and head up to Albany and fight!
Did you join your local SEPTA and seek advice? I have had friends in ALP do well.
I have an advocate and he has done wonders with getting my son the services he needs. He is no longer in Westhampton. A lot of the parents accept what Westhampton offers them which is minimal or nothing at all. It all comes down to parents not understanding what rights they have. A good advocate, who really knows special ed law, is crucial. The lines have been crossed so many times in the CSE meetings I have attended, that my advocate has to constantly call out the special ed director on what she is doing wrong.
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