Yesterday I get a call from the principal at Meggers school telling me she was putting me on speaker, that she and Meggers ESE teacher would like to speak to me. I was really caught off guard and didn’t have time to process everything they were telling me. Here’s the gist of what I got out of the conversation…
The ESE teacher that pulls Meggers for reading and math is overseeing three grade levels and they’d like to move Meggers to a different classroom because it would make things easier for him. Now that I’ve had time to talk to my husband and process everything this didn’t sit right with me.
I told them that Meggers doesn’t do well with change and that she’d been doing really well in her current classroom and I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with this. They told me that Meggers had been going down to this other classroom, already had a friend in there, and seemed to do fine in that classroom. This made me a little angry because they hadn’t informed me she was being integrated into another classroom or even discussed the possibility of a move. I ended the conversation saying I’d like to discuss this with Meggers and meet with everyone involved to make sure this move would be in Meggers best interest and wouldn’t set her back.
After I got off the phone I called and relayed the conversation to hubby who wasn’t convinced this was in Meggers best interest and the more I processed what was said the more I agreed with him.
At the end of last year Meggers teachers, therapists, hubby and I decided as a team, that Meggers would repeat Kindergarten this year. Everyone involved agreed the extra year would give her the opportunity to strengthen her reading skills, her social skills and give her a chance to mature emotionally. She would stay in the same classroom, where already knowing the routine would give her a chance to really get a head of the game and feel like a leader. She would be going through some medicine changes and her current team had already handled a seizure, knew the signs to look for which would put hubby and I at ease. We also agreed that because Meggers had a late birthday and wasn’t yet six it really wouldn’t set her back.
So, I called the principal back and left a message with her secretary, expressing my concern, she called me back and I have a meeting with her on Tuesday. I called the ESE parent liason and explained the situation to her and asked if she would be present for the meeting, I wanted to make sure Meggers best interest was at heart here and that this wasn’t just a move of convenience.
I’m a little upset by the whole ordeal! I know there’ve been budget cuts this year and from this conversation it’s clear that they’re probably a little understaffed. Maybe they need to hire another ESE teacher? The thing that really gets me is the classroom that they want to move her to is the next one over, there’s one classroom separating them so I really don’t see how this benefits Meggers. Anyway, I’ll know more on Tuesday, but my gut is telling me I might have a fight on my hands, let’s hope it’s wrong.
Coffee, Chocolate & Xanax 
I hope you don’t have a fight either. But if they are really only moving her down the hall two classrooms away from her present location – how much “more convenient” is it really going to be for the pull out? Are you sure they don’t have another motive they don’t want to share with you? I don’t know, but the whole situations just feels like “parent managing” to me.
If the move is purely for the efficiency of the school and has no impact on the services Meggers is receiving under the IEP, the school probably has the right to make the change. But if the classroom she is currently in was picked by the IEP team to meet specific elements of Meggers program (including familiarity with the classroom and class routine; the chance to enhance social skills and leadership skills by being the “oldtimer”; a staff who is knowledgeable about her medical condition and would recognize the warning signs and know what to do) – Make them prove that all of these will be met in the new placement.
Good luck!
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I don’t know, Kirst. It seems like moving her in to a different room *could* be hard on her. Surely the other teacher doesn’t follow the exact same teaching patterns, so she might miss out on something she needed to learn. I’m uncomfortable with it.
On the other hand, though, eventually she will have a new teacher who hasn’t had to deal with a seizure. Every year you’re going to need to sit down with the teacher and teach them what to look for. It seems like the change could be good for her since she’s already been in the class for a while and has made a friend. It could even give her a chance to start over if things haven’t been going well with her classmates.
It seems like the best thing to do is get Meggers’ true feelings about it. Whatever you decide, don’t let them do something you’re not comfortable with. The school is owned by the taxpayers, so they work for *you*. You have the final say, not them.
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
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It sounds like this was poorly handled from the beginning. Decisions like this should not be made in a phone conversation. I think you are doing the right thing to have a meeting and it sounds like you may need to dig your feet in. Sadly sometimes it’s not your child’s best interest the school is looking out for but what’s convenient. Good luck. I’ll be anxious to hear what happens.
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“This made me a little angry because they hadn’t informed me she was being integrated into another classroom or even discussed the possibility of a move. ”
You have every right to be angry. You are the expert where your daughter is concerned, and NO CHANGES should be made without your prior knowledge. You are going to have to be assertive here so that this doesn’t happen again.
You’ll know more about the whole situation on Tuesday, but it doesn’t affect what I’ve said above. My son of 28 still needs my assistance and I’ve had years of fighting for him against officials who are only concerned with finances and/or have little knowledge of his needs.
Good luck for Tuesday!
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Um, HELLO! Reading this really ticked me off because 1.) It sounds like they already did something about it to some extent and put her in another classroom without informing you first and 2.) What do they mean by “easier for him”? The teacher? Please tell me I read this wrong.
You need to do what’s best for Meggers… if you go to this meeting and you come out if it thinking that maybe it would be the best thing, then go for it. They don’t know her like you do, and I hope they listen to what you have to say. If you think it’s not in her best interest, then put your foot down (be a pain in the neck if you have to, sometimes it’s the only way to get results) but don’t let them make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with.
Keep us posted and I’ll be thinking of you Tuesday… good luck!
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Any change for a child that doesn’t start with the question, ‘What’s best for the child,’ should be questioned. Any change that starts, ‘What’s best for the teacher/adult/supervisor,’ should be thrown out. I agree with you (and your readers): insist on what’s best for Meggers, and take time to figure out what that is (like you’re already doing 😉 ).
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hope you didn’t have a fight. i know how it feels to have not being informed first hand before the school decides on something. though it’s not right for the teacher to move her to other classroom to make it easy for him, i hope you’ll understand their situation. i’m a teacher myself and i pity those kids who are still not doing too good. but we do not have the authority to move the child without him/her being certified by a professional (doctor, therapist etc).
hope things work well. no fighting, no no. 😛
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To me this doesn’t sound like it is in Megger’s best interest. What would really bother me is they obviously had this planned, had started moving her and then figured you would just buy into it. That isn’t right to me. It might be for the best, though, so hear them out. Still…I would question why they did not contact you before starting to move her. That would really burn me up.
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