A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school   promise Posted on May 4, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

The Game Of PuppetsPrologue: of bright skies, future words, and agendasThis is a true story based on lies. It’s a true story in terms of events, but I have change the names of people and places for legal reasons . But that will not diminish the fact that events in it are true.

As an only child, my son Jon was a blessing to his mother and I. His infant and toddler years were rather uneventful, a minor ear condition here, a major stomach flu there. We noticed a lot of energy with Jon at an early age. He was very playful and always smiling. He liked to draw and play with superhero toys and dress up like his favorite characters. He loved to play outside, and his smile could (and still does) melt a thousand winter days. For preschool, we sent him to a church-based curriculum and he did very well academically for a child of his age. We noticed he had more energy than others, and that caused some social problems for him, but nothing too major.

For Kindergarten, we sent him to The Tiny School in the County Of Kent. He made lots of friends there, and life was good for him. His teacher there would comment on how he could interrupt a lot and he would always be moving. By the end of the year, we noticed Jon would get easily upset with others. Another teacher there, Miss Lyssa, tried to help and parents and teachers agreed on a plan for Jon with a reward incentive based on colored string. This helped Jon at first, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. As parents with an only child, we were concerned, and we would ask his pediatrician if he could see anything. He told us Jon was a typical child, a bit energetic, but nothing to worry about. We had decided to take Jon to The Tiny School for the sole purpose and hope of getting him into that charter school in the County Of Kent. We had heard so many great things about that charter school. We paid a rather large sum of money to have Jon go to The Tiny School, which was rather difficult for us at the time, but the reward and promise of getting him into such a great and prestigious school was worth it. When Jon was picked to go to that charter school in the County Of Kent, we were ecstatic.

Before Jon finished at The Tiny School, we had an orientation at that charter school in the County Of Kent. The building was surrounded by academics, and the principal at the charter school, by the name of Lady Ellen, said that was the reason why they stood out from all the other schools in the area. The academic people that surrounded them were there to help at any time and if your child had academic problems they could jump in and support. Parental involvement was a requirement to have your child go to the school. We met his teacher, Miss Cersi, that same evening.

She had years of vast experience and knowledge, and I truly felt my son would do well at such a great school. The future was bright for Jon.

Let us flash forward thirty-seven months and look back. The previous three years for Jon were like a roller coaster ride, that eventually went off the track and crashed, and my son’s spirit died for a long time. Pure, unbridled chaos would not even begin to describe my family’s experience. It was like each trimester at this school was another journey through Dante’s Nine Circles Of Hell. By the time Jon left that charter school in the County Of Kent, I would see things I never imagined in my wildest dreams. For you see, I even had the opportunity to work there during a part of my son’s tenure there. And I saw oh so much. Imagine a place, if you will, where everything is bright and shiny on the outside. And everyone talks about what a fantastic place it is. But then the glow wears off, and you see the cracks in the foundations, and everything becomes grey and dark and ugly to the soul.

This is a story of my son’s journey through this very particular hell, and what emerged at the end of this was a family forever changed. None of us would ever be the same again. Thanks to Sir Kilroy, he has given me the opportunity to tell Jon’s story. I will be telling it in pieces, as it is long. I tell Jon’s story in the hope that other parents will read it and understand what is really happening not only at that charter school in the County Of Kent, but so many of the other wonderful charters in the Kingdom Of Del. Words like idea, choice, hypocrite, revenge, individual, loud, common, plan, cell, manifestation, free, find, child, phone, determination, tic, theory, education, lottery, public, neurobiological, supression, license, core, suspension, purposeful, education, obnoxious and cookie all have great weight in the story. Sometimes the combinations of some of these words are the true crux of the story. Even a number as random as 504 can have a major ramification for all involved. We will see comments on chapters where someone may deny everything. But I would never tell a true story without knowing the dangers of telling lies. During the telling of this story, some will believe my son to be at fault, some will blame the parents, some will say the parents are overprotective and refused to listen to reason, and some will see things for how they were. My hope is that by the end, everyone will see through the smoke and mirrors and truly understand what is going on with our children in so many similar situations playing out every day, even now, in the Kingdom of Del. If not, I may need to move onto Book 2.

I have no fear of telling this story. Intimidation rarely works on me, and I base the tales in this story on documented fact. Documented by that charter school in the County of Kent, and in the most wonderful creation in the entire world: email. When one truly learns how to navigate around the net of webs, puzzle pieces begin to come together and new patterns emerge. Human emotion is a very huge part of Jon’s story though, so I will do my best to show how emotion can become fact. Some may read this and know how the story ends, or how they think the story ends. Some may know

some facts and have formed a bias based on having just pieces of the puzzle. Some may have heard lies and believe that to be the gospel truth. Some will most assuredly think I am writing this to expose. And they would be right. Too often in society, things are seen and we do nothing about it and just accept it for how it is. I ask all to keep an open mind. I have no political agenda. I am just a parent who came out of a dark tunnel with my eyes opened to a new reality, but one that has always been there and is unseen for many. Welcome to Jon’s journey.Jon’s loving father To be continued

Message from Kilroy, Jon’s dad is the real deal and this is his story. I’ve asked him to be cryptic with names and places. His story is not an attack on charter schools but a reflection of his experience, his son’s experience and the negative impact of the experiences of this one charter school. I know many parents of special needs children and the fears and concerns they have. I am giving Jon’s father space here to tell his story and help other parents. As for you young parents with children starting school special needs are not, never attend a parent conference without a note pad and pencil. Document all phone calls and school communications with times, places and people. When there is a problem saying, some lady I talked to on the phone or a few weeks ago will allow the system to eat you alive and scapegoat. The pen is the most powerful tool you “need”.  Children and parents of charter schools are not “guest” they are owners and beware of the corporate smiles at the front desk. As far as traditional public schools, the world public is the clue! 

Part 2 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude Posted on May 6, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

The Game Of PuppetsChapter 1: of hand movement, chewing sweaters, a disturbing conference, and a very odd thing found on a school computer

A Game Of Puppets Fact #1: Choice Theory, as created by William Glasser, states that we all choose how to behave at any time, and cannot control anyone’s behavior but our own.  Choice Theory is the central philosophy of that charter school in the County Of Kent.

A Game Of Puppets Fact #2: In 2004, the United States federal government passed into law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  Part of the law included Child Find, which mandated that public schools must identify, locate and evaluate children suspected of having a disability.  Any school that receives federal funding is considered a public school.  Charter schools receive federal funding.

Jon began first grade at that charter school in the County Of Kent.  He was very excited.  He had a whole new school with tons of kids to become friends with, he could ride a bus, and he even knew several kids from The Tiny School.  In fact, all of his friends that applied to his new school got to go there.  Those are excellent odds for an admissions process based on a lottery!  Jon’s parents were equally excited.  This was what they had worked so hard for and paid all that money to The Tiny School for.  Jon got to go to the best school in the area. 

Jon’s teacher, Miss Cersi, had a class with about 20 students.  She had an assistant, named Miss Deutsch who had a voice as sweet as candy.  Miss Cersi had been teaching for many, many years, and surely someone with vast years of experience would be able to utilize all that knowledge in best helping children.

The first week of school went off great.  Jon received glowing praise from Miss Cersi in the school notebook that was used to pass messages, concerns, and assignments between parents and teachers.  Jon made new friends and the promise became reality.  And then the reports started coming in: “Jon can’t keep his hands to himself.  Jon interrupts.  Jon can’t sit still.  Jon doesn’t get along well with others.” In an email to Jon’s parents, Miss Cersi wrote that Jon “he is a fun kid and has a lot of energy but unfortunately he has been having trouble directing that energy into constructive behaviors and conducting himself in a safe manner.   He seems to constantly be putting his hands on other people in the class (when waiting on line to walk to the gym, during and between activities, etc.)  If Jon can’t follow my rules and expectations which simply resolve around maintaining a safe, fun, and constructive learning environment then I can’t allow him to participate.”  The parents requested a conference with the teacher to go over these concerns.  Miss Cersi told Jon’s parents that Jon was a great kid, but she was concerned about his behavior.  She asked Jon’s parents if they could do something about it.

Jon’s physical education teacher, Mr. Namor, had many problems with him.  He explained that Jon had great difficulty with his motor coordination and would not participate or listen.  He conveyed this to Miss Cersi as well.  The two of them were unable to come up with a plan but telling his parents would probably fix it.

By the time that charter school in the County Of Kent had their first trimester end, the parents were invited to a conference where the children could show the parents their grades and examples of their schoolwork.  Of course, with children in 1st grade not being able to accurately lead this type of conference, the teacher did most of the work.  Jon’s grades were average, but MIss Cersi had grave concerns about Jon’s behavior.  She advised Jon’s parents that his behavior could be seen as bullying to other students.  Jon became very nervous when Miss Cersi talked about this.  He began biting his nails and chewing his sweater, and Miss Cersi kept putting Jon’s hands down when he would do this.  She explained to Jon and his parents that he

could be arrested for these types of behaviors when he is older.  Jon became even more upset and began to cry.  Jon’s mother was very upset and his father was in a state of shock.  Jon was six years old and didn’t understand what he was doing.  Miss Cersi explained that she was concerned and told Jon’s parents he may have ADHD and his parents should check on this immediately.

During Jon’s yearly physical, his mother asked his doctor if Jon exhibited signs of ADHD.  He didn’t think Jon had this, but he also stated six years old is a very young age to have someone diagnosed as having ADHD.  He added that if a child at that age was diagnosed with ADHD it would be dangerous to medicate them as so many of their brain functions are still in development.

Jon’s parents sensed that their child was different, but the behaviors Jon was having at school were vastly different from what the parents saw at home.  They didn’t see this child in constant motion, swinging his arms constantly and rolling on the floor and touching other children.  Jon’s parents saw a typical six year old with energy, sure, but none of the things Miss Cersi saw.  Jon’s parents continually spoke to him about his behaviors in school.  Jon would say that he didn’t know why he couldn’t pay attention.  He stated Miss Cersi was mean and yelled at him all the time.  He constantly said other students were teasing him and he would tell the teacher and she wouldn’t do anything about it.

Jon spent a lot of time in the school office.  The receptionists knew him very well.  Jon’s father saw him there on a few occasions when he would just stop in the school randomly for a surprise visit to his son.  Jon’s father would see him sitting there, drawing or staring into space.  No work was brought to the office for him to work on.  Sometimes, he even got to bring his lunch there or stay there during recess.  When Jon’s father would ask why he was there, it was usually because Jon couldn’t keep his hands to himself.  While going to lunch, which was not even in the same building, Jon would frequently swing his hands, and accidentally hit other children with his lunchbox.  And when Lady Ellen or Lady Kathryn weren’t there, Miss Snow, the school nurse, even got to attend to discipline problems with Jon.  She began to tell Jon’s father as well that she thinks Jon had ADHD and that we need to do something.Several more events occurred during Jon’s first school year.  One time, Jon’s schoolroom was very cold, so Jon wore a sweater.  For some reason, Jon kept chewing on his sleeves, so Miss Cersi told Jon he had to take off his sweater so he wouldn’t chew on it.  Jon was cold the rest of the day, but as long as it didn’t distract Miss Cersi, things would be okay.

Jon’s father visited the school on many occasions.  He wanted to see what was going on there.  He spoke with Miss Cersi about how cold the room was.  She explained to Jon’s father how the building was old and they were having problems with the heating.  Jon advised Miss Cersi if Jon is cold he needs to be allowed to wear his

sweater.  Miss Cersi began crying about how much Jon’s father cares and how “you won’t believe how many parents don’t care what happens with their child in school”.After several more conversations with Miss Cersi about her insistence that Jon be diagnosed with ADHD and medicated, Jon’s parents had a conversation with the new principal, Lady Kathryn.  Lady Ellen became the new head of school for that charter school in the County Of Kent, which included both the elementary school in the area surrounded by academics and their high school a few blocks away.  Lady Kathryn was a very patient woman.  She listened and seemed to want to do something about our concerns.  Jon’s parents insisted that Jon be transferred from Miss Cersi’s class into the other first grade class, which was taught by Miss Quarterloader.  Lady Kathryn explained that this had never been done before.  After Miss Cersi continued to force Jon’s parents to acclimate what she wanted, Lady Kathryn agree it would be best for all involved to be moved to Miss Quarterloader’s classroom.

Jon’s parents found Miss Quarterloader’s class to be a better fit for Jon.  He continued to have some of the same problems, but the duration and severity of them seemed to diminish.  One amusing situation happened one day when Jon was in his computer class.  The computer teacher, Miss Softstick, instructed the students to find an image of a pencil on the computer.  Somehow, Jon found a picture of a penis on the computer and decided to show a girl the picture.  His friend was horrified and told Miss Softstick what Jon had done.  Miss Softstick called Jon’s parents and explained this bad thing Jon had done.  Jon’s parents were very concerned that there was a penis to be found on a computer for elementary school children.  Jon’s school did not like hearing these types of things from Jon’s parents.  They were very upset about this disturbing development.  Regardless of the environment, Jon was responsible for his behavior at all time as per choice theory.  If only Jon had remembered to spell the word pencil right…

Jon had exhibited a pattern of behaviors at that charter school in the County Of Kent.  He would chew things, be it his sweater or his fingernails.  He would roll around on the floor and couldn’t stay in his seat.  He would swing his arms and constantly hit or touch other children, especially in a line.  When confronted by teachers or administration, Jon would say he didn’t do anything.  They would tell Jon’s parents that he lies all the time.

Jon ended his first year at that charter school in the County Of Kent.  At the end of the year picnic, Jon’s father spoke with Miss Cersi and she said the most important thing is that Jon be successful at that charter school in the County of Kent.  His parents were concerned about Jon’s future there, but they had heard so many bad things about the other schools in the area that did not have a charter.  Catholic school was very expensive and a private school would have been out of the question.  They knew Jon had a difficult year, but it ended better due to the

classroom switch.  They hoped and prayed he would receive a good teacher for his second year.

“Truth is by nature self-evident.  As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.” Mahatma GhandiJon’s loving father To be continued 

Part 3 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude Posted on May 9, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

Chapter 2: of new faces, a third wheel, cycles, and faces with little import then but huge impacts laterA Game of Puppets Fact #3: That charter school in the County of Kent paid free rent for their elementary school until they had to give up the building. Their high school program ended at the end of that school year and the elementary school went to the high school building.

Game Of Puppets Fact #4: Most pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists feel young students should be given recess and punitive action should never include taking that time away.

Right before another school year started, multiple events happened that changed Jon’s home world. Both parents were starting new jobs. In fact, Jon’s father was working two jobs, seven days a week. Jon also fractured his wrist while roller skating, and he still had a cast when school started. Jon’s behavior was also impacting long friendships with other families resulting in those friendships having to end. The last event was his grandmother’s declining health. This had an impact on Jon, and he would frequently become upset about this.

2nd grade began at that charter school in the County of Kent with major staff changes. This school did things a little bit different for their elementary/middle school. After first grade, students were grouped together for the remaining grades. 2nd and 3rd grade were in the classroom, as was 4th and 5th, and 6th and 7th. The explanation was given that students in the upper part of the grade would be able to help the students in the lower part. So students didn’t repeat the same information each year, different curriculums would be taught each year. The only exception to this was Math, and they would go to that by grade. For some reason, three out of the four 2nd-3rd grade classes had new teachers. Jon received a new teacher, but a familiar face. She used to serve as the school’s librarian. This was her first year of

teaching. Miss Summertop was younger than Miss Cersi. Jon had never had any major problems with Miss Summertop the previous year when she was a librarian.Jon’s problems in school didn’t disappear in 2nd grade. In fact, they grew worse. As well, the relationship between the school and the parents deteriorated even further. Jon had few friends, but the ones he had he cherished more than any in the world. One of the problems that can occur when a trio become friends is one can tend to get left out. This creates jealousy and anxiety very quickly. And when one of the children emerges as a leader of sorts, this can create a hostile situation between the other two. This situation happened very fast that year with Jon and two friends. One boy was the leader, and Jon and the other had to constantly vie for his attention. This became most apparent at recess, and conflict ensued many times.

There were about eighty children on the playground, and supervision was limited. Teachers generally ate their lunch while children were at recess, so paraprofessionals and other instructional aides would watch all these children. Usually, there were about four adults watching eighty children. The playground was spread out, with lots of areas to have to look out for. It was very easy for a conflict to begin, and by the time an adult got there, it would be too late to stop it from beginning. As Jon’s father witnessed many times while visiting, the child who made the most noise usually received the scolding or time away from others. As Jon was usually this child, many situations arose where he was being blamed for situations. This isn’t to say Jon wasn’t to blame, but the blame was not shared many times. This would result in events occurring and no matter what happened, Jon would get the brunt of the blame. As a result, Jon would not be allowed to go to recess.

These types of situations would result in Jon trying to get out that frustration on other children. At one point, Jon picked on another child, and he was sent to the office. His father arrived and was told Jon pushed the child’s face into the ground. Jon denied it. Jon’s father decided to bring Jon to a priest to see if confession would do well for the soul. This did nothing. For the next hour, Jon continued to deny doing anything to the other child. Finally, crying and upset, he confessed. When asked why he lied about it, Jon said he thought the school would kick him out if he said he did it. Jon’s father called the other students parents and Jon apologized to him.

Miss Summertop was not as communicative with Jon’s parents, but she had a softer approach when she did. The planner was still in place as a communication tool, but Miss Summertop would not use it. She would send out a weekly email showing what the children did that week and what was coming up. But even that was inconsistent at times. She had an assistant in the classroom, Miss Max. Miss Max was not as patient as Miss Summertop, and when Miss Summertop wasn’t in the classroom, Jon seemed to have more problems. The planner would have notes such as “Jon had a difficult time today. He was removed from the classroom multiple times only to continue disrupting the class.” Other notes would indicate “Jon was making

vomiting noises”, “throwing erasers in class”, or “Jon didn’t turn his planner in today”. He had average grades at the end of the first trimester.

Things began to escalate when the second trimester began. Both the math teacher, Miss Volume and Miss Summertop would write complaints in the planner. Jon’s mother began to ask what methods of choice theory were being used. Answers were rarely given that fit the actual mold of choice theory. Emails would not be replied to. When they were, Jon’s mother would receive responses like “I am trying to work with him and you to the best of my ability right now. I will ask you to please keep in mind that this situation is new to me, as the classroom environment is different than my experience in the Library.” Jon’s mother would respond with “Please feel free to communicate with me ongoing regarding a plan to help Jon to focus and slow down, as you’ve stated is his ongoing challenge. Jon usually only needs to feel connected to a person to be able to mentally feel his importance and acceptance.”

Jon felt like he didn’t really have any friends at the school. He felt like he was always in trouble, and he would say he wanted to be good. A look of sadness became a more frequent look on Jon’s face. His parents were trying to understand. They didn’t feel the school was doing the right thing. But they didn’t know how to correct it. They weren’t teachers or administrators. They were parents, trying their best to make sure they raised Jon right. Something was missing, but they didn’t know what it was. They started to wonder if they should have Jon tested for ADHD, but they weren’t seeing all of these behaviors at home. It was usually in other settings, with different noises and distractions. Who could help?

Intervention would sometimes occur from the administration, and notes would be seen in the planner for the next couple days indicating “Jon had a great day” or “Jon was focused today”. But then the planner would be empty for days, sometimes weeks. And then it would be filled with more examples of bad behavior, an intervention, good days, and then nothing. This cycle went on for months. Jon would continue to spend a lot of time out of the classroom, whether it was in the hallway or the office. And again, like the previous year, he was given no classwork to work on. The end of the second trimester was coming, and events and discoveries would occur that changed the scene, and lines were drawn in the sand.

While all this was going on, Jon’s father stopped working two jobs. But he did want to continue working, just not as much. His primary job was from Saturday to Monday. He applied for a substitute teacher job at that charter school in the County of Kent, and he had an interview with the high school principal, Lady Hammerspeak. Jon’s father indicated that he always had a possible interest in teaching, and this could be a way to see if it would be a good fit. Miss Hammerspeak suggested he observe some classes to see if he would want to continue. Jon’s father did that. After a day of observing, Jon’s father found the high school to be completely different than the

elementary school. The students were given a lot more freedom. Teachers weren’t yelling, and students seemed to have a closer community than that of the elementary school. No sooner did Jon’s father start substitute teaching there than a decision was made to close the high school. Students began to leave, and even a couple paraprofessionals. This created a void that Jon filled. He became a paraprofessional for Miss Jackalope’s class four days a week.

Miss Jackalope reminded Jon’s father of many teachers he had growing up. Strict, firm, and a very strong desire to teach. His job was to help students that had accommodations. One day, he met with Miss Storm, a special services teacher, and he helped her to update an Excel spreadsheet with the students accommodations. Most of the students, about 25-30 were listed as 504 and there were about 2-5 with something called in IEP. All of these students had classwork given to them with colored sheets of paper, and there would be brief notes about them such as “only has to do half the homework” or “needs laptop for written work” or “needs to test away from the classroom”. In Miss Jackalope’s class, Jon’s father would try to help these types of students when they were stuck or seemed to be drifting away from instruction. During tests, he would take these students to another classroom.

Every once in a while, Jon’s father would be called to substitute in other classrooms. It could be English, Gym, or even Science. He subbed for a paraprofessional one day in a science class. The science teacher, Miss Perspective, was very energetic with her teaching style. It was as if she was driven by a motor. Jon’s father came to the school one day and everyone was talking about some newspaper article about Miss Perspective. She had lost her psychology license over something and there was a bit of controversy. This didn’t have any impact on his father. The high school was closing, and chances were good that teacher would be gone. So he didn’t put much thought into it and forgot about it.

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes” William Shakespeare

The Game Of Puppets Correction #1: Both Jon and his mother advised Jon’s father that Jon didn’t type in pencil when he found a picture of a penis on the school computer, it was pennies. (See Chapter 1)

Jon’s loving father To be continued

Part 4 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude

Posted on May 14, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

Chapter 3: of the walkout, the railroad, a puzzle piece, and a The Game Of PuppetsFact #5: Children who have special education services in public schools have special protections with the discipline process at their school.

The Game Of Puppets Fact #6: The parts of our brain that help us with multisensory integration and how to process them are the mid-brain and brain stem.  These areas of our brain help us to process attention, coordination, our ability to stir us into action, and our unconscious or involuntary functions. After our sense pass through, they go to the other areas of our brain that handle other higher cognitive abilities, emotions and memory.

The dreaded parent teacher conference for the second trimester at that charter school in the County of Kent was here. Jon, his mother and father, and Miss Summertop converged in her classroom. The grades were given, and Jon’s mom and dad were shocked. It was showing that Jon was doing very poorly in pretty much every class he was in. Even what that charter school in the County of Kent called “specials” like Gym, Music, and Art. No advance notice had been given to Jon’s parents about his falling grades for three months. Jon’s mother became very upset and walked out of the meeting, explaining to Miss Summertop that Jon was suffering from the school’s lack of communication. Jon’s work in his folder was either missing or incomplete. It seemed like Jon was able to do nothing in class, but the sole focus of the school was his behavior issues. In fact, a few weeks later, Jon’s mother had reached out to the principal Lady Kathryn about this situation. Lady Kathryn pulled a meeting together with all of Jon’s teachers, including the specials teachers, Jon’s parents and herself. Together, the group was supposed to discuss ways of trying to help Jon focus in class. For the most part, the specials teachers sat there and said nothing. From this writer’s opinion, it seemed like they were appalled they had to even be there. A plan was discussed for Jon and his behavior. A first warning would be for Jon to get a little reminder to refocus. A second warning would be to redirect him and possibly move him to another part of the classroom. And then a third warning would be a discussion with the teacher or principal and to have Jon write a reflection form about the issue. Everyone agreed this was a suitable thing for Jon to work on. Jon’s parents left the meeting a bit peeved, but both agreed this was a move forward. It seemed like the school was finally stepping up to the plate and working to help their son.

A few days later, Jon’s mother received the following from Lady Kathryn: Academic & Behavior

Student: Date: March 22, 2012Background: Over the course of the past school year, Jon has exhibited behaviors in his classroom or general school environment that are not beneficial to him or the

learning environment. These behaviors have ranged from negative peer interactions to general disruption of the educational setting. A written plan has been put in place to assist Jon in having a more productive and successful experience.

Expectations: Jon is expected to follow classroom and school rules without exception and will be held to the student handbook code of conduct. Specifically, Jon is expected to avoid negative interactions with his peers and maintain appropriate on-task behavior in the classroom. That charter school in the County of Kent faculty and staff will work with Jon to encourage positive behavior choices and accept responsibility for his actions.

Jon will complete class assignments in school within the appropriate time. If the assignments are not completed or are unsatisfactory they will be given to Jon to complete at home that evening. Assessments to determine the level of understanding may require completion only in school.

Interventions: In the event of a mild issue Jon will be receive a reminder by telling him one and may be moved to a different location in the classroom.

The next issue Jon will be removed to a silent area place in the classroom, like the doorway, to redirect his behavior. He will be reminded that this is two.

The third issue that occurs, Jon will be removed to a different classroom, the hallway, or the office and complete a written reflection about the behaviors or engage in a conversation of the inappropriate behaviors with a staff member.

In addition to the classroom setting, Jon will be expected to follow teacher direction and school policies in the cafeteria, gymnasium, hallway, library, bus and/or other settings. If Jon’s behavior is disruptive in those settings he will be removed and brought back to the main building. If there are additional behavior issues, Jon may be excluded from the area or school for additional days or class periods.If at any time, Faculty/Staff determines that Jon is not able to return to class a parent will be contacted and Jon is to be picked up from school immediately. Additional suspension time may be warranted depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Jon, his parents and his teachers will work to continuously monitor the plan’s implementation. If the plan is not effective in decreasing the frequency of disruptive behaviors, the plan may be modified. Jon continues to be responsible for compliance with that charter school in the County of Kent’s code of conduct.

When Jon’s mother read this, she was furious. This was not the plan everyone agreed on, and it seemed to serve the schools interest more than Jon’s. Jon’s mother

wrote in response to Lady Kathryn that “in reading the contract I would like to mention that it was me that asked for help and consistency and it really feels like Jon is being railroaded. Had Jon’s teachers been doing what they were supposed to be doing to help him we would not be in March, almost April, trying to deal with an escalated situation to where we even need this written down for him specifically.” Jon’s father met with Lady Kathryn and told her Jon would not adhere to this contract and that it was set up for the school and not Jon. Nothing really came of the contract, because while this scenario was playing out, Jon’s mother made a discovery which would change many things for all involved.

While speaking with a friend, Jon’s mother was told of a child with something called sensory processing disorder. Sensory Processing Disorder, otherwise known as SPD, is described as a traffic jam in the brain. Stimuli comes in but it doesn’t filter through correctly. As per the SPD Foundation website, “A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.”

Jon’s mother discussed this discovery after reading about it online with Jon’s father, and it seemed to make perfect sense for Jon’s actions. The parents agreed to request for Jon to be evaluated at the school, preferably by an occupational therapist. Jon’s parents put in the request, and the school would have their occupational therapist, Miss Smooth, evaluate Jon. Miss Smooth owned a facility in the County of Kent that helped children, but her work for that charter school in the County of Kent was done at a contractual level. She was not an employee of the school.

Jon was tested and evaluated by Miss Smooth, and a meeting was scheduled to go over the results. Jon’s mother was unable to attend, but Jon’s father was there. Lady Kathryn and Miss Summertop (his teacher) were unable to attend as well. In addition, a new face entered the fray. Miss Short was the elementary school’s case manager for special education. Her job was to facilitate the meeting and render a decision based on the evaluation. Not included in any part of this evaluation process was the school psychologist, Miss Diagnosis. In fact, nobody had consulted with her about Jon at all. Jon’s father thought this was an interesting group of people and his hope was Jon would receive services to help him with his issues.

The meeting took place in Miss Short’s office. Miss Smooth went over the results of her data. Initially, a sensory profile was administered. This is a questionnaire that goes to the parents and it helps to preliminarily decide if certain parts of sensory processing might factor into everyday problems for a child. \par Miss Smooth conducted testing on Jon and found that Jon did well on visual processing, but the testing showed problems with the following areas of processing: auditory, vestibular

(sense of balance), touch, multisentory and oral sensory. The report suggested Jon had problems in the following areas: sitting for long periods, remaining alert, maintaining participation with peers, anticipating how to move around safely without clumsiness, inccordination, frequent injuries, determining the appropriate responses for situations, being too excited or too withdrawn for demands of tasks at different times, responding appropriately to social and environmental cues, becoming inflexible or upset at situations more easily than others, and understanding the meaning and usefulness of visual information resulting in inappropriate responses. Finally, thought Jon’s father, things are making sense!

The report went on to say that Jon had issues with registration which is the time it takes to respond to stimuli. Seeking, which was noted that Jon had, states that children with this tend to be very active and their environment allows distraction from task completion. As well, Jon showed strong signs of Avoiding which can be described as a reaction to stimuli by having an emotional outburst. It was Miss Smooth’s final assessment of the evaluation that took Jon’s father by surprise. Even though he had all of these issues, it was the evaluator’s opinion that Jon’s sensory problems “do not appear to be significant enough to indicate the need for individual Occupational Therapy services. The Occupational Therapist may be available for consultation with the teacher to assist with classroom concerns. His gross motor and fine motor skills seemed to be within normal range, plus or minus a year, and Miss Short from the special education department agreed with the evaluation. Some suggestions were given that the teacher could adapt, such as having Jon wear headphones in the classroom, have heavy books placed on his lap during classtime, have him run errands, and even to try ankle weights at home. The school psychologist, Miss Diagnosis was not involved, the principal and teacher did not attend the meeting at all (which Jon’s father thought would have given valuable feedback), and Jon’s father felt defeated.

Miss Smooth did say that she can offer services at her facility to help Jon. When Jon’s father got home, he quickly called his insurance company to see if this would be covered for Jon. It would not. And the cost for out of pocket occupational therapy was very high. So we were pretty much back to square one, but with a few mild ideas to help Jon out. Jon had begun taking karate lessons and enjoyed it immensely. This was also helping Jon to control his coordination and sustain effort to a task. In fact, his friends from school were also there, and one of them was in his class. The three friends were now seeing each other out of school, but their playground problems did not come to karate.

The school still felt that Jon had attention issues and now knew about major sensory processing issues. No concrete plan came out of the meeting with the exception of the occupational therapist consulting with the teacher. The school wanted a 2nd

grader to sign a contract that would put him in the position of accepting responsibility for all his actions, whether he was in control of them or not.“Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered the most that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” Haile Selassie

Jon’s loving father 

To be continued 

Part 5 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude Posted on May 17, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

Chapter 4: of strange noises, anxiety, and a Frenchman’s discoveryThe Game Of Puppets Fact

#7: On June 2nd, 2010, the Common Core State Standards was released. Delaware’s governor, Jack Markell, supported Common Core, which is designed to make children in the USA ready for college and work.The Game Of Puppets

Fact #8: Between 2002 and 2009, disabilities in children rose 16%. After the behavior contract and the meeting about sensory processing disorder went nowhere, things seemed to calm down between the school and Jon’s parents. Miss Summertop even loaned Jon’s parents a book about sensory processing disorder, and said it had a lot of good ideas she was going to use for her class.

Meanwhile, Jon’s father continued to help Miss Jackalope at the high school with her math class. He enjoyed helping the students. He had told Lady Hammerspeak, the principal of the high school, while he was willing to help with any class, math was at the bottom of the list. But that was what he was given, and he accepted the challenge. Miss Jackalope, in his opinion, was an excellent teacher. Once a student connected with her, they wanted to do the best they could do. There were no major behavior issues, even with the eighth graders. There was a lot of anxiety and energy about where the students in 8th to 11th grade would go the next year since the high school was closing. A decision was made to keep the 11th graders in the school the next year so they wouldn’t have to spend their senior year at a new school. Jon’s father had one favorite part of the day, and that was when Jon would come on the school bus from the elementary school to the high school. Jon would meet him and on the drive home they would talk or go to karate.

Jon loved karate, but even the instructors there would advise Jon to stop moving his body when the situation didn’t call for it. Jon had decided to let his hair grow longer and it began to hang over his face. Jon’s parents noticed he would frequently blow out his mouth. Jon’s father thought he was trying to get hair out of his eyes. Jon’s mother explained to them about Jon’s sensory processing disorder. They listened, but it eventually became too much for Jon, so he chose to quit karate. Jon’s parents had tried t-ball, softball, gymnastics and basketball. It would be great in the beginning, but the novelty would wear off. One thing Jon would never waver from was drawing. He would draw anything! Whether it was his favorite characters from his Wii or Nintendo DS games, superheroes, lego characters, his favorite pop singers, or even his friends.

Jon also loved to play videogames. Jon’s parents were concerned about the nature of some of his games, but Jon enjoyed them, and he wasn’t showing any violent tendencies. When Jon would play, he was calm and at peace. He wasn’t stressed about school or friends. It actually had a calming influence on him most of the time. The summer passed by, and Jon would go to summer camp, or go to the beach, or just hang out at home. Like most students, summer was a more relaxing time for Jon. He was not surrounded by the demands of the school and behavior contracts and having to stay in his seat and do schoolwork. Jon’s parents were more relaxed as well. They would all spend afternoons playing in the pool or watching tv or go to the movies.

As 3rd grade grew closer, so did Jon’s anxiety. Jon’s parents noticed Jon developed a new habit where he would make a noise with his mouth, like air coming out of a balloon. They would tell Jon to stop, but he would keep on doing it. School began, and the elementary school at that charter school in the County of Kent was moved to where the high school used to be. Jon and his parents went to the opening of the new elementary school. Members of the school board, Lady Ellen (the superintendent of the school), some local politicians and members of the new Kindergarten class cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. An open house was held where Jon could see his teacher. Of course, since the 2nd and 3rd grade classes were joined together, Jon had Miss Summertop as his primary teacher. But Miss Volume moved to the Kindergarten class, so Jon had a new math teacher named Miss Toms. Jon’s father used the open house to let teachers know he was available to sub Tuesday to Friday.On the second day of school, Jon’s father received a call to sub for the paraprofessional in another 2nd-3rd grade classroom. Miss O had been sick, so Jon’s father served as her sub for the next two and a half months. The teacher in the classroom, Miss Jeter, was a very good teacher. Her classroom was clean and tidy, and the students would respect Miss Jeter when she spoke. She had a commanding presence, but she would take the time to listen to students questions. Jon’s father quickly noticed there was no fighting in the classroom. Students wouldn’t openly

tease each other. Sure, there were the same problems you would see in most 2nd or 3rd grade classrooms, but nothing like students being sent to the office all the time. Given what Jon had observed in other classrooms at that charter school in the County of Kent, he surmised that students could actually do well there given an orderly environment.

Miss Summertop approached Jon’s father one day about concerns she had with Jon. She stated that Jon would not produce any work and he would have issues with his peers. It was like no time had passed at all and the complaining was beginning again. It was Jon’s father’s opinion that Jon would not be able to change if the teacher wouldn’t change. No plan was ever given by Miss Summertop for Jon or his problems. It was as if Jon was there, like a favorite chair. It’s broken, been there for a long time, and falling apart, but it’s a part of the room. Jon’s father didn’t really know how to respond to her. He had heard the song before, many times, but without a plan, what was the point? Jon’s father had some similar problems in school growing up, but Jon’s seemed to be magnified to a higher degree.

Jon’s mother was at the same point as Jon’s father. Her emails with Miss Summertop would frequently reference Jon’s sensory issues as neurological. Miss Summertop would email back how other staff and teachers agreed and nobody saw Jon’s behavior as bad. But Jon was still sent to the office when his “bad” behavior manifested or he would be sent to the hallway when he was unable to control his reactions. Jon’s father would frequently pop in, and he noticed an environment that was vastly different from Miss Jeter’s classroom. It also seemed as if it was worse than the year before. Usually Miss Summertop’s reaction to this chaos would be to change the room around. This was done at least five times during the first trimester of school. Eventually Jon was moved to his own special section in the classroom away from other students. The negative effect of this was that when Jon wanted to be heard or had a question, he was louder. He would have to get out of his seat constantly to communicate with peers. The sensory stimuli Jon was receiving in the classroom was overwhelming to him, and his reactions to this were getting worse.Jon’s mother requested that Jon receive an IEP based on his sensory processing disorder. An IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan. Jon’s mother researched the IEP process, and found that certain children qualified for an IEP based on their disabilities. The purpose of an IEP is to grant accommodations to students with disabilities in the hope of making their educational outcome better.

When Miss Summertop emailed Jon’s mother about issues she was having with Jon (inability to focus, interrupting, unable to comply with teacher’s requests), Jon’s mother asked her if she had read the occupational therapist’s report about Jon’s sensory processing disorder. She emailed back that she had done that a few weeks before. This was four and a half months after the meeting Jon’s father had attended where no services would be rendered by the special education department. Miss

Summertop knew Jon would be in her class in 3rd grade and she never read the report for the last part of 2nd grade or over the summer. She had read a book on the subject, but never bothered to read the report for over four months. The report addressed Jon’s deficits directly. Jon’s father believed she wanted to help Jon, but she didn’t know how. She indicated that it was hard for her to help Jon as well as manage a classroom of twenty-one students. This was her second year of teaching, and it appeared to Jon’s father that she was feeling overwhelmed. He wondered how much support she may or may not be getting from the administration at the school.Jon’s father sensed that some children in Miss Jeter’s class had disabilities, but no information was ever shared with him about any of the children in Miss Jeter’s class. Unlike the high school, he was never given information about who had an IEP or a 504. This was true of all the classes Jon’s father subbed for during Jon’s 3rd grade year at that charter school in the County of Kent. He thought it was on a need to know basis and he didn’t need to know.

All of the teachers there became very apprehensive and concerned when it came time for the fall DCAS testing. This test didn’t count, but teachers were measured by how much growth the students experienced between the first test and the third one, administered the following Spring. Jon’s father started hearing the term common core being used more and more. Three groups of students in each class went to different reading groups. A simple subtraction problem was broken down into several components which then had to be taught to the students. Jon’s father began to see a look of defeat on many teachers faces. They were no longer able to teach how they wanted to. They had to follow a very specific standard set forth by the Kingdom Of Del.

On one occasion, Jon’s father was asked to sub for MIss Summertop’s class. He was very nervous about subbing in a class with his own child. It was hard for him to be objective and do what was best for the whole class while dealing with his own flesh and blood. But it did help him to understand what kind of daily life Jon had. Jon’s father knew that it wouldn’t be exact, but it would give him a general idea. Both father and son were at their wits end by the end of the day, and Jon’s father told Miss Summertop he could never again sub for her again if Jon was in the class. The part that troubled Jon’s father was that Jon did very well in his Miss Tom’s math class. The behavior issues weren’t there, and Jon was very quiet and more focused on his work.

Jon’s mother had decided to switch Jon from a general physician to a pediatrician. She made an appointment for a physical for Jon with his new doctor. Dr. K was considered to be one of the best pediatricians in the area and she had never heard any complaints about her. During Jon’s physical, Jon did the blowing-out-of-the-mouth-sounding-like-air-coming-out-of-a-balloon thing. Jon was very nervous about the appointment because his worst fear would come to pass…the flu shot. What Dr.

K asked Jon’s mother was the centerpiece to the puzzle that was Jon. All the other pieces of the puzzle connected to that one piece. Dr. K asked Jon’s mother if Jon had Tourette’s Syndrome.

Tourette’s Syndrome was discovered by a French neurologist by the name of Jean-Martin Charcot. He named Tourette’s after one of his students, Georges Gilles de la Tourette. During this time, Tourette’s Syndrome was seen as a bizarre and strange behavior. Many people mistakenly assumed that anyone who had this disorder would swear, curse, and say inappropriate social remarks to people. While this is a part of Tourette’s called coprolalia, it only exists in about 10% of Tourette’s patients. What patients of Tourette’s exhibit is defined as having multiple physical motor tics and at least one vocal tic. The tics can come and go, called waxing and waning. In many cases of Tourette’s, it is accompanied by what are considered co-morbidities. These are conditions that are a part of the spectrum of Tourette’s. For many Tourette’s patients, this can include Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD), Anxiety, Depression, Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and Sensory Processing Disorder. These conditions are neurologically based and can often be seen as behavior issues when the reality is that sufferers of Tourette’s cannot control many of their actions.

For Jon and his parents, this opened a new window to the world. This diagnosis explained so much in Jon’s history. Jon “hitting” other students in lines was usually Jon swinging his arms and was a tic. Jon biting his sleeves or his nails was a tic. Jon’s frequent and different noises were tics. They would come and go, but Jon was not in control of them. Tics can be suppressed, but only for a short time. Usually after suppression, the person with Tourette’s is mentally exhausted. This explained why Jon’s behavior could be so different at home. It also explained why Jon’s behavior manifested itself in so many ways in school. Jon was going through days where he may have been fighting the urge to tic, dealing with his sensory processing issues with so much stimuli, and trying to focus. Jon was simply unable to do these things, especially in an environment not conducive to his issues.

Dr. K also strongly suspected a diagnosis of ADHD and referred Jon to a very well-respected neurologist in the County of Kent. The puzzle was finally coming together. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together. And now, in addition to Jon’s sensory processing issues, a firm diagnosis of Tourette’s Syndrome and a possible ADHD were added to the list of Jon’s diagnoses for his IEP evaluation. Jon’s parents thought for sure he would get an IEP at that charter school in the County Of Kent.Meanwhile, Jon was starting to get the feeling that he was different from everyone else. The look in his eyes was one of confusion and fear. He just wanted to be normal. The days when Jon had been invited to lots of birthday parties had long since past. He had seen friends shuffle in and out of his life. He had his parents, who he knew loved him very much, but he wanted and needed more. Jon’s parents would

hear things such as “I hate my life” or “Nobody likes me” and their hearts would cry. Their boy needed them but there were times they felt as lost as he did.

“Go to my room and I close my eyes, I make believe that I have a new life, I don’t believe you when you say, Everything will be wonderful someday.” 

Jon’s loving father

To be continued

Part 6 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude Posted on May 22, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

The Game Of PuppetsChapter 5: of eligibility, bubblegum, and a missing psychologistThe Game Of Puppets Fact #9: Under IDEA, each parent is given a copy of The Procedural Safeguards, which details exactly what parental rights are during the IEP Process. One key component of this is the right for parents to be included in meetings about their child’s placement or education.

The Game Of Puppets Fact #10: According to The National Institutes Of Health, “All students with TS (Tourette’s Syndrome) need a tolerant and compassionate setting that both encourages them to work to their full potential and is flexible enough to accommodate their special needs.”

Jon’s family was waiting for evaluations to be done prior to the IEP eligibility meeting at that charter school in the County of Kent.  Jon had received a preliminary diagnosis of Tourette’s Syndrome from his pediatrician Dr. K, but a neurologist named Dr. V would give a firm diagnosis. In the meantime, Jon’s parents had met with the IEP team, which consisted of Lady Kathryn, Lady Ellen, the school nurse, Miss Summertop, and Miss Storm and Miss Short from special services.  Miss Short was the special services instructor assigned to manage the case.  The parents were not happy with how things were going in the classroom as well as the lack of communication from the school. Jon’s mother wanted more observation in the classroom.  Both Miss Short and Jon’s mother had called Miss Smooth to discuss occupational therapy accommodations for Jon in the class, but she wasn’t returning calls.  The school psychologist, Miss Diagnosis, did not attend this meeting.  Jon’s parents left the meeting thinking tests would be done for Jon.  It was a matter of signing forms.  The team agreed to meet before the Thanksgiving holiday to go over the eligibility part of the IEP decision.

Jon met his neurologist Dr. V, and he quickly determined that Jon had Tourette’s Syndrome. As well as the sensory processing disorder, he also thought Jon had a strong case of Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD for short. He stressed quite vehemently that Tourette’s and ADHD together are very common, but the danger with using a stimulant to treat the ADHD can cause tics from the Tourettes to become out of control.  So any medicine prescribed would have to be something that could be used for both.  Jon’s parents really didn’t want to medicate their son.  If they could have tried alternative routes first, they would have done so.  They would decide on their next visit in a month how to deal with that decision. In the meantime, Dr. V felt getting Jon on an accommodation plan would help.

Meanwhile, Miss Summertop started sending many behavior referrals to the office. This is not something she had done prior. In Jon’s records, there were no written behavior referrals to the office from Miss Summertop until after Jon’s parents requested an IEP. One example, from early November, stated the following: Behaviors-disruption to the learning environment regularly, antagonizing others, other-refuses to participate in class activities regularly.” For the description, Miss Summertop wrote “Jon had a chance to participate in reading time, was asked to get a book 3 times given suggestions. Did not read, chose to draw instead.  Was then not able to complete book report activity. When given the opportunity chose to still not read and respond so I collected his unfinished work and told he could just sit and wait if he was not participating in the classroom activity- then chose to crawl out of seat on the floor.  Asked 3 times to return to sea.  Instead snuck up behind another student who was working at her desk and scared her. Sent to office for above checked behaviors.” When Jon’s mother would see these types of reports, her first reaction would be “What types of strategies would you use to help Jon?” This was usually answered by “it’s very hard to determine that because he doesn’t listen”. Upon reading this particular report, Jon’s parents saw very few suggestions given to Jon by his teacher, or strategies along the way that might have generated another outcome.  Miss Summertop’s reaction would usually be that she had a classroom of twenty kids, and it’s hard to give that kind of attention to one student. When Jon would get sent to the office, the behavior reports would say either removal from class or reflection time.  For reflection time, Jon would have to write on the behavior reflection form about what happened. One question on the form for the student to answer was “What support or help do you need to do things differently?” Jon wrote “don’t know”. And apparently, neither did Miss Summertop.

Jon’s father helped out in Miss Jeter’s class fairly consistently until the Thanksgiving break.  As a result, since it was in the same grade level as Jon, he was able to see Jon’s interactions with his peers during lunch and recess. He would usually be with his two other friends from the previous year. At recess, the three of them would run around and play tag, laughing and having fun. Frequently, their tag game would affect other peers since all three of them were very focused on the tag and not others

around them. Many students would come up to Jon’s father about what they had perceived Jon had done. Sometimes they were right, and other times they were wrong.  Jon was not always in control of his movements, especially when he would swing his arm out. This was one of Jon’s tics, and Dr. V had told his parents the motor tics usually come before vocal tics. There was evidence of this from Jon’s planner with Miss Cersi going back to first grade.  As well, Jon’s father would frequently observe Jon in Miss Tom’s Match class during his break, and he noticed Jon seemed to be able to focus more. Miss Toms would call out students for perceived behavior issues, but it was done in a more calming, positive way than his father had seen with Miss Summertop. Jon would move around, but he wasn’t all over the place like Miss Summertop had submitted in behavior referrals.

The day of the IEP Eligibility meeting arrived, in the beginning of December, much later than Jon’s parents had been told. This was just the start of a communication problem between Jon’s parents and special services. Present at the meeting were Mom, Dad, Miss Storm, Miss Summertop, Lady Kathryn, and Miss Short. Miss Diagnosis did not attend this meeting either.  There was an issue right away because Jon’s parents had not been given the notice of meeting which is required by law for the parents to sign. Miss Short asked if Jon had given it to Jon’s parents.  Obviously he hadn’t.  Nobody knew where the form was. Miss Summertop insisted it was put on Jon’s bookbag. The form was signed at the meeting.  Lady Kathryn assured this would never happen again.

Miss Short indicated that they were meeting to determine eligibility for a 504 and to develop a plan. On the eligibility report-section 504 form, it showed Jon as being eligible for a 504 due to a disability of Tourette’s Syndrom/Sensory. It further stated that “the impairment affects the student’s ability to attend to classroom instruction; remain focused on a task; work completion; successfully and appropriately transitioning, especially during unstructured times.” Not checked off was the section showing a student has no physical or mentail impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities.  Miss Short advised that the next time to determine eligibility would be in a year. Miss Short wanted a psychoeducational evaluation done to determine if he met the criteria for an IEP. Jon’s mother wanted a reevaluation done for the sensory processing issues, but Miss Storm told her she would like to see more information from the doctor and to try some interventions in the classroom before doing that. Plus, the other evaluation had just been done eight months ago. IDEA stipulates that a permission to evaluate form be filled out, and Miss Short wrote that the plan for evaluation would include achievement and intelligence. Other areas that could have been checked off were diagnostics, perceptual, social maturity or adaptive behavior, speech/language, occupational therapy or other.

So now it was time to plan the 504 plan.  A 504 plan is like an IEP, but it doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of an Individualized Education Plan. There is no IDEA funding for a 504, just accommodations implemented by the school.  The parents, do have a right to help determine those accommodations.  Jon’s parents felt like the school finally knew what they were doing and Jon was going to get the help he needed and they would even get to be a part of it!

The 504 accommodations began with a Friday of Fitness activity.  Jon’s mother strongly stated that she did not want Jon to lose recess or the Friday of Fitness activity. Every Friday, for an hour, every student had to follow certain plans for exercise. This was usually done by grade levels, and activities could include taking a walk outside, jump rope, Wii Dancing, or even walking around the school. Since half the activities were planned for outside, rainy days would consist of half the school walking around the building about twenty times. It was very loud and chaotic, especially since the cafeteria had loud videos playing for children to dance to. For Jon, with his sensory processing issues, it was way too much stimuli.  So the 504 would address this by going over each activity planned for his class prior to the Friday Of Fitness. Jon would be given a choice if he wanted to go or not. The goal was to have Jon participate.  If Jon chose not to, he would meet with a paraprofessional in a quiet place and he could read, talk, or play computer games.The next accomodation given was work completion/on task behaviors.  No goals were given or suggested. Jon would be allowed to use a computer for writing assignments. He would also be offered frequent breaks during class time so he could unwind or relieve stress.  To give Jon a sense of confidence, everyone thought it would be a great idea for Jon to be given made-up errands such as bringing a book to the office.  He would also be given a specific time limit to complete a task (which all teachers tended to do at that charter school in the County of Kent). Another accommodation was “ensure expectations of task are clear, explicit, and firmly stated directly to Jon”. Jon was to be given his own special area of the class to work by himself, which Miss Summertop had already done months prior because Jon was too distracting to others. When Jon had to work in groups, it was written that he wouldn’t work with more than two students and using friends would work better for him.

For reading, Jon would be offered the use of audio books.  Assignments would be modified when appropriate, for example, instead of doing 20 problems on a math worksheet, Jon would only be required to do 10. Or for essay work, he would only have to write 3 paragraphs instead of 5. Every morning, Jon was to give his teacher his backpack and put his communication planner in a tray.  At the end of the day, Jon was to write about his end of day activity on the computer, print it, cut it out, and paste it into the planner.

In the notes for the meeting, Miss Summertop indicated that Jon was having “mini breakthroughs” and he had already been starting to use the computer for morning work. She also said Jon can be moved in the class sometimes to have his own island. Jon’s parents had a big concern about substitute teachers. As Jon’s father was a sub there, he was never given information about what students had special accommodations. Miss Storm agreed this should be put into the sub plans for each time. Jon’s father notated he had read Tourettes sufferers may tend to repeat what others are doing. He asked for observation to see if this may be going on in behavior issues prior to him getting into trouble. He also asked how others were viewing Jon’s tics, to which Miss Summertop said she hadn’t noticed.  Miss Summertop had some good ideas about reading with a buddy, but Miss Storm suggested “we just try some things to see what works and then we can write something into the plan”.

In the Kingdom of Del, all public school students were required to participate in the statewide standardized testing. Jon had done poorly on the Fall testing, and it was suggested that Jon be pulled out of the class and take the test with a small subgroup of students.  Everyone thought this was a good idea. It was agreed that communication would improve between Miss Summertop and Jon’s parents. All parties agreed the best method would be weekly email.  Jon’s mother asked what information Jon’s related arts teachers would receive and Miss Short said just a copy of the 504 plan. Miss Short said she would meet with each of them to discuss Jon’s plan.  His parents asked if they should get anything from the doctor on his next visit, and Miss Short said a recommendation for Jon’s 504 plan is good to have in the records. This was not written in the meeting notes. Jon’s parents didn’t know a good deal about the whole special education process, but it seemed like they really knew what they were doing.  While they didn’t walk out with an IEP, they had a 504 plan which was something more than they had before. The hard part was over, now the school just had to implement the plan.

About a week later, Jon’s parents took Jon to an emergency appointment with Dr. V.  Jon had started a new tic with the inside of his jaw moving, and it was causing him excruciating pain. Jon was given a medicine called Intuniv, which would help with the Tourettes as well as the ADHD which was now confirmed by Dr. V.  A potential side effect, although rare, was heart issues, so Dr. V wanted Jon’s blood pressure checked each day by the school nurse for a period of five weeks. Jon was also allowed to chew gum in class when this tic would start to manifest. Jon loved the original Hubba Bubba flavor.

Jon was starting to frequently have problems with one of the members of the trio of friends he was a part of. The other one would usually do something to Jon, to which Jon would have an equal or greater reaction to. As in the previous year, the initial behavior would often go unnoticed, but Jon’s reaction would and Jon would be sent

to the office. Lady Kathryn began to see this, and told Jon’s father she would try to examine both sides of the story more often.

2012 was ending soon, and Jon would be off for the holiday break.  Miss Summertop was very enthusiastic about the plan, and Jon had very little behavior issues for the next couple weeks. In the meantime, Miss Diagnosis, the school psychologist, would be doing her pyschoeducational evaluation. In fact, her testing date coincided with the same day Jon started his new medication.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

The Game of Puppets Correction #3: Lady Kathryn (the principal of that charter school in the County of Kent) did attend the meeting with Miss Smooth (Chapter 3)The Game Of Puppets Correction #4: Mr. Namor was the writer of the very first “can’t keep hands to himself” concern (Chapter 1) not Miss Cersi. She wrote it in the planner, but records show he had emailed Miss Cersi with that information.

Jon’s loving father

To be continued

Part 7 : A father’s cry for his son Re: failure of a Delaware charter school promise #netde   #edude Posted on May 24, 2014 by kilroysdelaware

The Game Of PuppetsChapter 6: of accommodation records, maps, and a growing illnessThe Game Of Puppets Fact #11: As Common Core implementation has increased in American schools, so has teacher dissatisfaction.

The Game Of Puppets Fact #12: The two most common co-morbitities that can accompany Tourette’s Syndrome are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

2013 was here, and that meant a fresh new start for Jon.  He was enjoying the XBox he got from Santa, and he was talking to lots of friends on there. This was very therapeutic for Jon because he didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing his tics, and he could have conversations with people about anything.  Jon’s parents quickly found out how difficult it would be to get Jon off of it when he needed to, but for Jon’s well-being, the benefits outweighed any negative aspects. Jon loved to play Minecraft. It was creative, artistic, and he could build whole new worlds.  His parents

would hear him laugh all the time, which was something Jon desperately needed to do more of. 

One day, when Jon’s father was going on a break while working at that charter school in the County of Kent, he saw Miss Cersi. Jon’s first grade teacher was always very polite with Jon’s father. But Jon’s father never trusted her. There was something off about her, and he always felt that Jon’s best interests were not a part of her agenda.  Jon’s father made a point to tell her about Jon’s diagnosis of Tourette’s Syndrome. She tried to take credit and said “I told you there was something there.” He told her that had he gotten Jon diagnosed with ADHD two years before, Jon would have probably been given a stimulant medication and that would have made Jon’s manifesting tics much worse. Miss Cersi just laughed and said “Everything happens for a reason.”

Before 2012 ended, Jon’s teacher was on top of the 504 plan. There was a problem with the school nurse and the blood pressure being read, but for the most part, the school followed through on Jon’s accommodations. But once the students returned from the holiday break, things started happening, all at once. 

As part of Jon’s 504 plan, weekly communication via email was supposed to take place between Miss Summertop and Jon’s parents.  Instead of email, Miss Summertop would give Jon’s father a copy of the 504 plan with her updated notes from the classroom.  It was very hard to gain any useful information from her notes. An example of her notes under the goal of explain instructions to Jon would be “directions explained to Jon one-on-one”. Essentially, it was Miss Summertop explaing what the goals were but that Jon did them. There was no data to support it, nor was there any further explanation. Was it working all the time? There was no way of knowing. Constant emails were sent from Jon’s mother to Miss Summertop requesting information. After a while, she would partly answer her questions, but not to either parents satisfaction.  Jon’s mother emailed Lady Kathryn about who oversaw the 504 plan.  Nobody really knew. Was it Lady Kathryn? Lady Ellen? Miss Short? Miss Summertop? Or maybe Jon could figure it out.  It became a bit of a joke. Jon’s mother had to request that Miss Summertop get training for monitoring and reporting on the 504.  The final straw for Jon’s mother was when Miss Summertop asked Jon in class if had taken his medication in front of the whole class. 

A meeting was soon scheduled to go over these issues, as well as to go over Miss Diagnosis’ evaluations. Miss Short referred to it as an ER meeting. The lack of communication and the failure to fully implement the 504 were the main focus of the meeting.  As the head of the school, Lady Ellen hadn’t returned any of Jon’s mother’s emails. The meeting took place, and in attendance were Jon’s mother, Miss Summertop, Miss Short, Lady Ellen, and Miss Diagnosis.  Jon’s father was not able to attend. Miss Diagnosis went over the results of her evaluations. For observations,

Miss Summertop and Miss Toms wrote about Jon’s strengths and weaknesses. Miss Summertop stated that Jon needed one-to-one attention to complete tasks and that he is easily distracted by others and calls out, especially during transition times. Miss Summertop wrote that Jon used good self-direction in Math, while Miss Toms said Jon lacks focus during Math.  Both wrote that he liked to draw and doodle. Neither wrote about strategies they used to redirect that behavior, aside from Miss Tom writing about shortening his assignments.  Miss Diagnosis wrote that Jon had been referred for a “psychoeducational evaluation to determine if additional services via an IEP are needed to maintain academic progress”.

For the testing, a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV was done.  Jon scored average or higher on every test. These included verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory skill, and speed of visual processing skills.  She also did a Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III which Jon, of course, did average or better on everything. For Social/Emotional/Behavioral Assessments, the school psychologist did no formal testing. She did ask Jon some questions though.  What do you do at home? Do you think school is hard?  What is your favorite subject? What problems do you have at school?  Miss Diagnosis concluded with the following summary: “A 504 plan currently addresses needs associated with Tourette Syndrome and sensory integration disorder.  Possible diagnosis of ADHD is pending.  Jon appears to be a capable young man however has difficulty focusing and completing assignments in a timely fashion.”  So even though Jon had Tourette’s Syndrome, Sensory Processing Disorder, a strong likelihood of ADHD, couldn’t focus in class, wouldn’t complete assignments, had difficulty with peers, wouldn’t read at school, and doodled half the day, he still didn’t meet the criteria for an IEP plan. Because he was too smart. So on the Eligibility Determination, it was checked off on “Does not meet the eligibility criteria to receive special education and related services in the following disability category: Learning Disability.” In the Statement Of Assurance section, Miss Short wrote “Based on evaluation results, Jon’s functioning is at or above age expectations in all areas. Therefore, he does not meet the state’s criteria as a student with a learning disability that would require support from special education services.”

Since it took so long to go over the IEP denial (again), and the meeting had been scheduled at the end of the day, there was not much discussion about Miss Summertop’s lack of communication and her inability to follow the plan.

Jon did receive support from one of the paraprofessionals at that charter school in the County of Kent. Jon’s father had met Miss Kindheart while working at the high school. She was one of the few paras that stayed on at the elementary level. She was a very sweet woman, and you could see in her eyes how passionate she was about helping students in need.  She would help Jon during the Friday of Fitness, and Jon enjoyed his time with her. Another source of help was in the form of an outside

counseling agency that was placed in the school. Miss Auburn would help Jon with social and behavior strategies. After each session, she would write down what Jon could do, and both would sign it.  Jon would tape it on his desk. For the next few weeks, whenever Jon got in trouble, he would go see Miss Auburn. And another behavior contract would be signed. Which would have been great, however Jon didn’t have the ability to commit to a signed contract.

Miss Summertop seemed to be doing a better job on the weekly communications. But she would complain about how he still needed reminders to do things. She wanted more involvement from Jon with these everyday events. But she didn’t realize that Jon would have done all those daily events if he got reminders. That was the whole point of the 504 plan! The snowball that was rolling down the hill quickly gained traction, and got bigger and bigger. His 504 notes would say things like “did not require any breaks this week” or that he “stayed on task during academic time” even though other notes would say things like “did not use time to finish questions, given more time, sat in chair with feet up”. Jon’s parents began to wonder why there were so many conflicting statements in these reports.  The purpose of the breaks was for Jon to wind down and decompress. If he wasn’t taking any or being directed to, no wonder he wasn’t completing work. And the great idea of giving Jon errands to do was done once. It seemed as if Miss Summertop was disengaging, and when that occured, the behavior reports came roaring back!

It was about this time that Jon’s father was getting a lot of calls to sub for the middle school levels at that charter school in the County of Kent, especially math. He couldn’t get away from it. Jon’s father noticed that a lot of kids seemed to be out of control. Everything that was written about Jon in the behavior reports was being mirrored in these older children. Jon’s father was never given any IEP or 504 information on these kids, so he had no idea what to think.  If a student got too unruly, he would have to send them to the office. Once in a while, someone would come to him and say “He/She has some issues, but we will take care of it.” Jon’s father had floor hockey sticks thrown at him in gym class. In an English class, one student cursed at him, and as the student was going to the office, he said the same word over and over again. It wasn’t just Jon’s class. There was a systemic behavior problem in the entire school. Jon’s father noticed a lot of the students seemed to be very angry. He hadn’t seen that in the high school. It was an enigma to him. Jon’s father didn’t have a lot of faith in his son’s future abilities at that charter school in the County of Kent.

Jon’s behavior was getting worse. Communication from Miss Summertop just stopped for a long time. Almost a month had gone by and nothing.  The one student Jon had probably tangled with the most was becoming a more frequent event. The two had played together well out of school many times, but in school they were in such competition for another friend’s attention that conflict would ensue often.  But

the other friend didn’t even need to be there.  Jon would tell his parents how his “friend” would get other people to chase him or attack him. The game of tag wasn’t that fun for Jon anymore. Around this time, Jon started to not comply with adult requests. As a result, teachers would argue back with Jon. And in a battle of wills at a school, the student usually loses. Jon’s parents didn’t know what to think, but something obviously was going very wrong at that charter school in the County of Kent, and Jon was getting worse by the day. It was like he was feeding off the illness that was infecting the place.

Meanwhile, many miles away, in the Kingdom of Pa, Jon’s grandmother had been put on hospice at her home. She had a long, debilitating illness, and Jon’s grandfather had been taking care of her. Jon knew she didn’t have much time left. This was something very sad for Jon, and it began to trouble him as he had never dealt with something like that before. Jon’s father had been up to see her, and he knew.Usually Jon’s mother took up the mantle of the “bad cop”. She would be the one to email everyone, and find out what was going on.  Jon’s father was usually the “good cop”.  He would talk to Jon’s teachers and the administration and try to find out what was going on. Plus, he was also in the odd position of working there as a substitute teacher, and he got along well with most of the teachers.  But Jon’s father knew his son was not being treated the way he should have been. He had a 504 plan, and they couldn’t even handle that.  His teacher was there, but something was obviously going on with her.  They hadn’t received anything from her in a month.  Did Jon even have a 504 plan anymore?  Jon’s father began to open his eyes.

“Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold” W.B. Yeats

Jon’s loving father

To be continued