Nathan is Gone

After weeks of Nathan's status turning and twisting in the bureaucratic winds of public education, we received that dreaded piece of paper. My principal summoned me to her office and handed me the document. It was a Request for Records form. Nathan's name was at the top of the sheet and the location of the school was in another state far away. It appears that he's moving back to the state where he spent his toddler years. So that was it. Ironically, my district had just figured out how to transport Nathan back to our school; it only took about 6 or 7 weeks. A bus went to his shelter to pick him up and the family had moved out over the weekend. He's another kid that was a challenge and just when we poured our resources into him and saw a positive change, he moved away. Simply heartbreaking.

BBC

You Give and You Give II

It started as a side comment, and I didn't put much stock in it. Then by the end of the day, I received the dreaded salmon colored sheet; someone was transferring to another school.

A couple of weeks ago, we held an initial PPT for a student who enrolled in our school at the beginning of the school year. Let's call him Allen*. Allen came to us from the city, which meant that it would take several weeks to receive his educational records. When they arrived a month and a half into the school year, it was discovered that he had been retained twice prior to enrolling in our school. To make matters worse, my principal, in reference to information that Allen's father gave her, re-enrolled Allen in 4th grade, although he had completed and passed 4th grade last year. Furthermore, Allen's 12th birthday just passed. Therefore we had a 12 year old in 4th grade and at that rate he would be driving in middle school. The team decided to bring in the father and devise a plan that would consider testing him for special education. Preliminary assessments showed that he was barely reading on a 2nd grade level and that his behavior was sometimes a problem (hello, he should be in 7th grade, yet he was in 4th!). We were also going to move him up a grade or two, but we wanted to hear more about how he was functioning in his current classroom. His father came to the meeting and talked about what little he knew about Allen's upbringing and schooling. Dad knew that Allen was really struggling and needed assistance. It wasn't hard to sell testing to him. We explained the evaluation procedures, filled out paperwork, then Dad signed the consent for evaluation form. The team also decided that Allen should be instantly promoted to fifth. And so it was. Until today.

This morning, the special ed teacher was walking around with Allen and wanted me to hear something from him. Allen told me that he moved yesterday and that he was now living in the city. Word reached my principal and she started investigating. My district, like others, has been cracking down on non-residents attending our schools. When word gets out that a student has moved, then the authorities look into it. By authorities, I mean my principal, because my district only has residency officers at the middle and high schools. My principal talked to Allen's grandmother, because she was listed as the apartment's lessee. The grandmother said that Allen and his father moved out because of a dispute. When my principal talked to the father, he said that there was a misunderstanding and that he expected to work things out and still reside with his mother. Two hours later he came to school to withdraw Allen. Apparently he couldn't work things out with his mother and ended up moving for good. So now Allen is gone, for now.

I was sickened when I heard this. I told my principal that I was distraught because this has happened several times now. We've lost another child that we were trying to help. Some people already started their evaluations, luckily I hadn't. There's a chance that he isn't gone for good, some students return after a short stint away, my school's population is very transient. I hope he returns, for his own sake.

BBC

Sad Father

Since school started before Labor Day, I couldn't take any of the children's absences seriously, especially those who missed every day of the brand new school year. Those kids could always show up after Labor Day, following their own idea of what truly marks the end of summer vacation. There was one particular girl who hadn't shown up at school and was officially going to receive "No-Show" status. The school receptionist finally contacted a family member and was told that the family moved back to the city.

I was disappointed but I can understand how difficult it was to make that decision. The city's school district was the one that retained the girl twice. The family had enough and in the middle of last school year decided to move into the suburbs to give their daughter a fighting chance. We noticed right away how underdeveloped her skills were. She had some real deficits and after interventions didn't work, we tested her. She became eligible for special education at the end of last year and we designed a program that would have been implemented this year. It was disheartening to put forth the effort only to have to child leave the school, especially since she was returning to her former school district. I suspect that my suburban district was too expensive for the family. I remember near the end of last year having a difficult time trying to contact them. I've learned that disconnected or non-working phone numbers are sign of financial trouble. To their credit, the parents did stay in touch with me during the evaluation process, they were extremely helpful and grateful for the attention and assistance their daughter was finally going to receive. And now they've left. The father came by the school today to see the principal. My principal called me into the conference telling me that she had a "sad father' who wanted to speak to me. As I walked down the hall I was trying to figure out who it could have been and what it was I did to make him sad. When I saw who it was I was relieved. He stopped by to find out what he needed to do to ensure that his daughter's special ed program would follow her to the new school. I explained the procedure and informed him of his rights as a parent. He also expressed how he wished they could have stayed in the district but things didn't work out. That was nice of him. So many people just leave and we never find out why. My district is very transient that way. While someone has left, we have plenty who will take her place. Everything has to balance out-special ed homeostasis.

BBC