Special Education support in schools in New Tampa area (Westchase: attorney, home)

[theoracle181]

Hi

I am thinking of moving to TampaBay area, particularly New Tampa from Greater Boston Area, MA because of an opportunity. I havent heard great things about schools in FL, but New Tamps seems better off. However, I wanted to check how would it rate in terms of special education. I have a daughter on the autism spectrum and has an IEP so I am mostly concerned about the school services and the quality of teachers

Also if there are any other districts around the Tampa Bay area let me know. Any input is helpful in helping me decide to make this move (vs not if the services are dismal)

Any input is helpful

Thank you

[MortonR]

There isn't any "best" school for varying exceptionalities, or special education, in Hillsborough County. Each school is staffed based on its needs, and in some cases, services for a particular area such as autism might not even be provided at a particular school - the students in that attendance area would be bussed to the closest school that has those services available.

Understand that Florida has county-wide school districts, making some of them the largest in the nation. Hillsborough County is currently the 8th largest school district in the nation, with over 200,000 students and a staff of nearly 30,000, making it one of, if not the largest, employers in the County.

Special education is not the forté of Florida or for that matter, Hillsborough County. They're woefully understaffed and underfunded. That's not to say they don't have some wonderful people doing great work, but as described above, they're scattered throughout the County at many different locations.

I would add that the big thing here is inclusion. I personally feel this isn't a willful effort to get all of our kids together, but to reduce the need to provide specialized services to those who need them. Some years back it was not unusual to have separate units at a school for different groups of children with related needs, such as EBD, autism, etc. That's not the case any longer, and while some of these units still exist, most have been dissolved and the students mainstreamed into regular classrooms with support staff doing "pullouts" or having an aide assigned to a class with multiple students with disabilities.

I'm painting a pretty bleak picture here, I know, but it is what it is. The County has been in a downward spiral in this area for a long time, and it's exacerbated by their financial issues. Add to that a long time attitude of "us versus them" when it comes to providing services to those children that need them. IEPs are often adversarial if you're advocating for specific needs or services they don't think are necessary.

You'll have to check with individual schools on whether or not they offer support or services for your child's disability - and that can change at the beginning of the school year as staffing levels (units) are determined, so nothing is a sure thing.

And just to establish my "cred" - I am a former certificated special ed person who worked for the District for 11 years, and I had a child with disabilities who went through the school system here. I know it better than I care to admit...

RM

[reasonablevoice]

I won't rehash previous post. It was spot on. I have two children. One fits perfectly inside the box at his A rated school and has had a great educational experience here in Hillsborough. The other, who "learns differently" as we like to say, has not. In a nutshell, teachers were honest and straightforward about his challenges until 504 and IEP meetings. Then administration pressures (I can only assume) caused them to backstep on what they were observing in the classroom. The IEP process was a colossal charade because services don't exist. (Exact words used by one administrator, "that would take an act of god.") The whole process is designed to mitigate your score for McKay scholarship. We pulled our son from the public school. If you would lime to discuss, please DM.

[MortonR]

Previous poster nailed it.

There is a colossal effort on the part of the administration to avoid having to provide services. Period. This is an ongoing attitude that is deeply ingrained into the psyche of the District. I’ve personally experienced it as an employee, the parent of a special needs student, and as an unofficial parental advocate. And I’m talking decades here.

If you don’t advocate for your special needs student, and I mean dig in your heels and demand what should be provided, the system will grind you up and spit you out. They will stonewall you to the end.

In one situation we had with my child, we (politely) requested certain services that were appropriate for their education, and deemed necessary by their teachers. These were written into their IEP. They were services that were available from the District *and* could be provided at their home school.

It took four planning meetings over a three month period to get the District to agree to provide the services. The last meeting an attorney accompanied us. Not sure if it was the attorney or if they were ready to give in anyway, but we got what we wanted.

Point being, they’ll just try and wear you down.

Sadly, we often thought about the parents who didn’t have the time and resources to do this, or the knowledge and understanding that in many cases, the things your child needs to be successful, if written in the IEP or 504 plan, are mandated by Federal law to be provided.

I’m painting a somewhat dark picture, but if you’re able to advocate for your child, you should be fine. Just be prepared for a battle in some instances.

RM

[reasonablevoice]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Previous poster nailed it.

There is a colossal effort on the part of the administration to avoid having to provide services. Period. This is an ongoing attitude that is deeply ingrained into the psyche of the District. I’ve personally experienced it as an employee, the parent of a special needs student, and as an unofficial parental advocate. And I’m talking decades here.

If you don’t advocate for your special needs student, and I mean dig in your heels and demand what should be provided, the system will grind you up and spit you out. They will stonewall you to the end.

In one situation we had with my child, we (politely) requested certain services that were appropriate for their education, and deemed necessary by their teachers. These were written into their IEP. They were services that were available from the District *and* could be provided at their home school.

It took four planning meetings over a three month period to get the District to agree to provide the services. The last meeting an attorney accompanied us. Not sure if it was the attorney or if they were ready to give in anyway, but we got what we wanted.

Point being, they’ll just try and wear you down.

Sadly, we often thought about the parents who didn’t have the time and resources to do this, or the knowledge and understanding that in many cases, the things your child needs to be successful, if written in the IEP or 504 plan, are mandated by Federal law to be provided.

I’m painting a somewhat dark picture, but if you’re able to advocate for your child, you should be fine. Just be prepared for a battle in some instances.

RM

Couldn't agree more about your statement those "who didn't have the time and resources." We had the resources - time, money, education (our own) and support (professional advocate) - and it was still a rough go.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by reasonablevoice

Couldn't agree more about your statement those "who didn't have the time and resources." We had the resources - time, money, education (our own) and support (professional advocate) - and it was still a rough go.

I would add that at one time they had "advocates" that were school district employees. One to each area (the district is divided up into 8 separate areas.) As you might imagine, they were rarely available when you needed one and not terribly effective from what I saw.

When we lived up north our community school district had parental advocates - these were other ESE parents that were in the system and had experience dealing with it. It was not an adversarial situation at all - the school district encouraged them to get involved.

We offered to do the same when we first came here, offering our credentials and experience. They blew us off.

RM

[GirlsLuvScience]

Following this thread...Also moving to Tampa area from greater Boston - looking in the Westchase area of Hillsborough, have child with dyslexia and IEP. I think that having to fight tooth and nail for your kids special education needs is a common problem in many areas of the country, or so it seems from many of the SpEd groups I follow on FB and other sites. The government requires it but does not fully fund it, so the school systems are left to do something that they can't afford which causes them to have to cut corners. In addition, regular classroom teachers are not adequately trained to teach kids with learning differences. Doesn't make it ok, but helps explain the issue a little...

Any idea if Pinellas County is any better in this regard?

[MortonR]

Doubtful.

The issue in Hillsborough isn’t that it is underfunded, but that the District doesn’t *want* to fund it. By going with an inclusion model they can still rake in the Federal dollars but use those to offset or displace costs that would otherwise come from another bucket.

When you come in and demand services spelled out in your child’s IEP they have to pony up. By digging in their heels they try to either wait you out or discourage you from trying.

RM

[GirlsLuvScience]

Well, I guess the good news is that if you are child coming with an existing IEP they are required to follow it until you meet to set up the next IEP, so at least you are starting with something already established. Doesn't mean they won't fight you on it, or have the resources to follow it, but it is something...