Parents of Autistic Children Address R-7 Board
Parents of Autistic Children Address R-7 Board
By Brett Dalton
The Journal Staff
Two Missouri school districts have been chosen to speak at the Commissioner of Education conference in August to share "exemplary practices in the area of autism."
The Lee's Summit R-7 School District is one of those districts, according to information released at Thursday's R-7 Board of Education meeting.
At the conference, staff members from the school district will conduct sessions for superintendents and other administrators from throughout the state in order to assist them in serving their autistic population of students.
However, before that news was announced at the board meeting, a group of parents of autistic children addressed the board and expressed their dissatisfaction with how the district provides for autistic children and students with various other special needs.
One of those parents was Sherri Tucker, who lost in her bid to obtain a spot on the board during the April 8 city election. Tucker received 4,679 votes, just 386 less than Jon Plaas' 5,065. Tucker, who has a 14-year-old son with autism, made a couple brief comments, one praising the school district for its work with students without special needs. The other comment was not as supportive.
"I think if (the school district) put as much effort into special needs as they do with those (students), then my child would be able to be successful, too," said Tucker, co-founder of the Lee's Summit Autism Support Group.
Debbie Shaumeyer, who also has an autistic son and helped found the LSASG, told the board she is "frustrated" with the education her son receives in the R-7 School District.
"My husband and I are frustrated with current staff and decisions that are made behind closed doors," she said. "We are frustrated to sit in the (Individual Education Plane) meetings and decisions about our son are made before we can even sit down as a team. There is so "I" in the word 'team.'"
Shaumeyer said the R-7 School District is not adequately staffed to handle special needs students and that she'd like to see "changes made in how our tax dollars are spent." She said families are being "bled dry financially" due to what she believes to be a lack of proper services in the district.
She also expressed her support for Tucker in last week's election.
"We'd like to have seen Sherri Tucker elected to the board," Shaumeyer told the board. "My husband and I wanted Ms. Tucker to win that seat-us, along with 4,000 plus voters. We are not one, two or three disappointed parents-we are in the thousands."
Vanessa Shields, Joyce Lindsey and Christy Burgess also spoke at the meeting about their disapproval with how the school district handles special needs students.
Lindsey and Burgess said their children's disabilities worsened as a result of the services they received within the R-7 School District. Shields, Lindsey and Burgess each said their children with special needs are or will receive their education outside of the R-7 School District.
"I do not expect any action to be taken because of my comments," Burgess said. "But it my hope that the board will begin to understand that this is not an individual problem, but a district-wide system failure."
Reorganized School District No. 7
Stansberry Leadership Center
301 NE Tudor Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64086-5702
Phone: (816) 986-1000
Fax: (816) 986-1165
Office of the Superintendent
April 28, 2008
Ms. Sherri Tucker
1200 SE London Way
Lee's Summit, MO 64081
Dear Ms. Tucker:
Thank you for taking the time to address the Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education regarding your concerns about the Autism Education Services of the district. As I know you are aware, the district has a wide array of challenges in many areas that require significant time and resources to manage. While I know that you have strong opinions about how the district can improve its services for students with Autism; I have to disagree with any reference that the district does not care about or does not put the effort into these students as much as those with higher levels of achievement. The R-7 School District offers a comprehensive program and is doing all it can within the resources provided to ensure the success of each student, regardless of ability or disability.
I am looking forward to our meetings together with excitement about the possibilities that such dialogue might have. You have a perspective that I will never experience or fully comprehend and these discussions are an opportunity for me to learn from you and be a stronger leader for our district. In turn, I hope that you will be open to hearing about the many challenges that are included in my effort to meet the needs of each child in the district. As I have stated before, I do not know where our conversations will take us, but I am confident that they will lead to a stronger, more positive relationship. It is out of this relationship that greater communication will surface and ultimately school improvement will result.
Sincerely,
Dr. David McGehee
c: Board of Education
The Fight Continues
Parents protest R-7 official’s autism presentation
By Brett Dalton, The Journal Staff
A series of meetings that may have eased the tension between the R-7 School District and the Lee’s Summit Autism Support Group have been put on hold after members of the LSASG protested a conference at which an R-7 official was speaking.
After Sherri Tucker, co-founder of the LSASG, was unsuccessful in her bid for a seat on the R-7 Board of Education earlier this year, R-7 Superintendent David McGehee reached out to Tucker in hopes the two groups could find at least some common ground.
Tucker and other LSASG members have been consistently outspoken about what they feel is a lack of proper services and programs within the school district for children with special needs. In fact, Tucker admitted freely that she ran in the April election solely on the issue of benefiting students with special needs. And she pulled no punches when criticizing the school district.
While McGehee said there are some issues on which the two sides will always “agree to disagree,” he had hoped that meeting with Tucker on a somewhat consistent basis would help each side understand the other and perhaps common ground could be met — and it worked for a while.
“We had met a couple of times and there were even a couple things that came out of those meetings and we’re now looking into how to get better at those things,” McGehee said. “So I think they were productive — to a point.”
However, on Aug. 4, LSASG members, Tucker included, protested the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Cooperative Conference for School Administrators, which took place at Tan-Tar-A, a family resort in Osage Beach.
Tucker said they protested because Jerry Keimig, R-7’s director of special services, was chosen to speak at the conference based on the school district’s “outstanding programs for students with autism.” Tucker said she was appalled not only to hear that Keimig was chosen to speak but also because of the reason he was chosen. She even accused the school district of lying about why Keimig was chosen.
“They said it was because of their outstanding programs,” Tucker said. “That’s not why they got picked.”
To back up her claim, Tucker points to a recent article in The Pitch detailing the ongoing struggle between the R-7 School District and members of the LSASG. According to the article, which published July 10, Heidi Atkins Lieberman, assistant commissioner of special education for DESE, said she chose Keimig to speak after talking to “people who were very knowledgeable about autism education, and they all said Jerry would be great.”
“So basically Heidi Lieberman asked a few friends about who should speak at the conference,” Tucker said.
Lieberman told the Journal on Thursday that she chose Keimig based on several recommendations from reliable sources.
“Based on recommendations we received from numerous sources, I selected the Kirkwood School District (St. Louis County) and the Lee’s Summit School District to outline their programs,” she said. “Both districts have well-established programs, and they have in-district autism consultants who were trained by Project Access.” Last Monday’s protest was peaceful and consisted of parents, including Deb Shaumeyer and Joyce Lindsey, sitting in lawn chairs for six hours in front of a large sign that read, “Lee’s Summit R-7 & Mo. Dept. of Education Are leaving our Autistic Children Behind.”
Tucker said the protest was perfectly legal and the parents did receive permission from Osage Beach’s chief of police.
But while the protesters were greeted somewhat positively by cars passing by, R-7 officials weren’t amused.
McGehee said he decided to “take a break” from his meetings with Tucker following the protest because he thought the protest proved their meetings to be unproductive. He said he didn’t expect the meetings to end Tucker’s criticism of the school district, but he was hopeful that by gaining a better of understanding of each other, the public attacks would no longer be necessary.
McGehee said the two sides may revisit their discussions in the future, but added that at this time, he doesn’t want to take time to hold meetings that aren’t accomplishing their objective.
“My time is limited, all of our time is limited,” he said. “This is just one of many, many issues we deal with. And it is a very important issue and one I’m continuing to try to learn more about and gain a better understanding of. But at this moment, it’s time to take a break because they didn’t seem to be very productive.”
Tucker said she appreciated the chance to meet with McGehee, but never intended to “remain silent” as a result of their discussions.
“My voice is the only tool I have to help advocate for the children that are affected by autism,” Tucker wrote in a reply to the school district’s letter informing her that the upcoming meetings have been cancelled. “I truly hoped we could work together. I am and have always been willing to give it a try. However, I can not be made to be quiet in the hopes that the situation will work out in favor of our children. It’s a gamble that is too risky and too many lives are at stake.”
By Brett Dalton
The Journal Staff
Two Missouri school districts have been chosen to speak at the Commissioner of Education conference in August to share "exemplary practices in the area of autism."
The Lee's Summit R-7 School District is one of those districts, according to information released at Thursday's R-7 Board of Education meeting.
At the conference, staff members from the school district will conduct sessions for superintendents and other administrators from throughout the state in order to assist them in serving their autistic population of students.
However, before that news was announced at the board meeting, a group of parents of autistic children addressed the board and expressed their dissatisfaction with how the district provides for autistic children and students with various other special needs.
One of those parents was Sherri Tucker, who lost in her bid to obtain a spot on the board during the April 8 city election. Tucker received 4,679 votes, just 386 less than Jon Plaas' 5,065. Tucker, who has a 14-year-old son with autism, made a couple brief comments, one praising the school district for its work with students without special needs. The other comment was not as supportive.
"I think if (the school district) put as much effort into special needs as they do with those (students), then my child would be able to be successful, too," said Tucker, co-founder of the Lee's Summit Autism Support Group.
Debbie Shaumeyer, who also has an autistic son and helped found the LSASG, told the board she is "frustrated" with the education her son receives in the R-7 School District.
"My husband and I are frustrated with current staff and decisions that are made behind closed doors," she said. "We are frustrated to sit in the (Individual Education Plane) meetings and decisions about our son are made before we can even sit down as a team. There is so "I" in the word 'team.'"
Shaumeyer said the R-7 School District is not adequately staffed to handle special needs students and that she'd like to see "changes made in how our tax dollars are spent." She said families are being "bled dry financially" due to what she believes to be a lack of proper services in the district.
She also expressed her support for Tucker in last week's election.
"We'd like to have seen Sherri Tucker elected to the board," Shaumeyer told the board. "My husband and I wanted Ms. Tucker to win that seat-us, along with 4,000 plus voters. We are not one, two or three disappointed parents-we are in the thousands."
Vanessa Shields, Joyce Lindsey and Christy Burgess also spoke at the meeting about their disapproval with how the school district handles special needs students.
Lindsey and Burgess said their children's disabilities worsened as a result of the services they received within the R-7 School District. Shields, Lindsey and Burgess each said their children with special needs are or will receive their education outside of the R-7 School District.
"I do not expect any action to be taken because of my comments," Burgess said. "But it my hope that the board will begin to understand that this is not an individual problem, but a district-wide system failure."
Reorganized School District No. 7
Stansberry Leadership Center
301 NE Tudor Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64086-5702
Phone: (816) 986-1000
Fax: (816) 986-1165
Office of the Superintendent
April 28, 2008
Ms. Sherri Tucker
1200 SE London Way
Lee's Summit, MO 64081
Dear Ms. Tucker:
Thank you for taking the time to address the Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education regarding your concerns about the Autism Education Services of the district. As I know you are aware, the district has a wide array of challenges in many areas that require significant time and resources to manage. While I know that you have strong opinions about how the district can improve its services for students with Autism; I have to disagree with any reference that the district does not care about or does not put the effort into these students as much as those with higher levels of achievement. The R-7 School District offers a comprehensive program and is doing all it can within the resources provided to ensure the success of each student, regardless of ability or disability.
I am looking forward to our meetings together with excitement about the possibilities that such dialogue might have. You have a perspective that I will never experience or fully comprehend and these discussions are an opportunity for me to learn from you and be a stronger leader for our district. In turn, I hope that you will be open to hearing about the many challenges that are included in my effort to meet the needs of each child in the district. As I have stated before, I do not know where our conversations will take us, but I am confident that they will lead to a stronger, more positive relationship. It is out of this relationship that greater communication will surface and ultimately school improvement will result.
Sincerely,
Dr. David McGehee
c: Board of Education
The Fight Continues
Parents protest R-7 official’s autism presentation
By Brett Dalton, The Journal Staff
A series of meetings that may have eased the tension between the R-7 School District and the Lee’s Summit Autism Support Group have been put on hold after members of the LSASG protested a conference at which an R-7 official was speaking.
After Sherri Tucker, co-founder of the LSASG, was unsuccessful in her bid for a seat on the R-7 Board of Education earlier this year, R-7 Superintendent David McGehee reached out to Tucker in hopes the two groups could find at least some common ground.
Tucker and other LSASG members have been consistently outspoken about what they feel is a lack of proper services and programs within the school district for children with special needs. In fact, Tucker admitted freely that she ran in the April election solely on the issue of benefiting students with special needs. And she pulled no punches when criticizing the school district.
While McGehee said there are some issues on which the two sides will always “agree to disagree,” he had hoped that meeting with Tucker on a somewhat consistent basis would help each side understand the other and perhaps common ground could be met — and it worked for a while.
“We had met a couple of times and there were even a couple things that came out of those meetings and we’re now looking into how to get better at those things,” McGehee said. “So I think they were productive — to a point.”
However, on Aug. 4, LSASG members, Tucker included, protested the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Cooperative Conference for School Administrators, which took place at Tan-Tar-A, a family resort in Osage Beach.
Tucker said they protested because Jerry Keimig, R-7’s director of special services, was chosen to speak at the conference based on the school district’s “outstanding programs for students with autism.” Tucker said she was appalled not only to hear that Keimig was chosen to speak but also because of the reason he was chosen. She even accused the school district of lying about why Keimig was chosen.
“They said it was because of their outstanding programs,” Tucker said. “That’s not why they got picked.”
To back up her claim, Tucker points to a recent article in The Pitch detailing the ongoing struggle between the R-7 School District and members of the LSASG. According to the article, which published July 10, Heidi Atkins Lieberman, assistant commissioner of special education for DESE, said she chose Keimig to speak after talking to “people who were very knowledgeable about autism education, and they all said Jerry would be great.”
“So basically Heidi Lieberman asked a few friends about who should speak at the conference,” Tucker said.
Lieberman told the Journal on Thursday that she chose Keimig based on several recommendations from reliable sources.
“Based on recommendations we received from numerous sources, I selected the Kirkwood School District (St. Louis County) and the Lee’s Summit School District to outline their programs,” she said. “Both districts have well-established programs, and they have in-district autism consultants who were trained by Project Access.” Last Monday’s protest was peaceful and consisted of parents, including Deb Shaumeyer and Joyce Lindsey, sitting in lawn chairs for six hours in front of a large sign that read, “Lee’s Summit R-7 & Mo. Dept. of Education Are leaving our Autistic Children Behind.”
Tucker said the protest was perfectly legal and the parents did receive permission from Osage Beach’s chief of police.
But while the protesters were greeted somewhat positively by cars passing by, R-7 officials weren’t amused.
McGehee said he decided to “take a break” from his meetings with Tucker following the protest because he thought the protest proved their meetings to be unproductive. He said he didn’t expect the meetings to end Tucker’s criticism of the school district, but he was hopeful that by gaining a better of understanding of each other, the public attacks would no longer be necessary.
McGehee said the two sides may revisit their discussions in the future, but added that at this time, he doesn’t want to take time to hold meetings that aren’t accomplishing their objective.
“My time is limited, all of our time is limited,” he said. “This is just one of many, many issues we deal with. And it is a very important issue and one I’m continuing to try to learn more about and gain a better understanding of. But at this moment, it’s time to take a break because they didn’t seem to be very productive.”
Tucker said she appreciated the chance to meet with McGehee, but never intended to “remain silent” as a result of their discussions.
“My voice is the only tool I have to help advocate for the children that are affected by autism,” Tucker wrote in a reply to the school district’s letter informing her that the upcoming meetings have been cancelled. “I truly hoped we could work together. I am and have always been willing to give it a try. However, I can not be made to be quiet in the hopes that the situation will work out in favor of our children. It’s a gamble that is too risky and too many lives are at stake.”
Comments
Obviously Dr. McGehee's comments imply that he did expect Mrs. Tucker to "be quiet" in exchange for meeting with him. Since he is worried about wasting his time, if he would have made that condition clear from the beginning, Mrs. Tucker would have told him that she couldn't do that and then no time would have been wasted.