Just One of The Many Issues That I Dealt With At Lee's Summit High School

I just talked to the principal at Jake's school.  It seems that this class is not what I had been informed that it would be.  While the district has conceded to letting Jake take the class, I feel that it would not be in Jake's best interest.
 
The class would involve working with different partners.  That is not in Jake's best interest or the partner's best interest.  He has limited social skills and this would not be a proper teaching technique for Jake.  The other child's grade would be affected by Jake and this would lead to him being more alienated. 
 
This class involves some very abstract math and ideas.  Something that is not a high skill area for Jake.  It would also involve advocating for himself.  That is on his IEP as one of his weaknesses.
 
The math involved is very complicated and some of the higher end students have an issue with it.  They did offer to have a para in the class to help Jake, but I don't know how that will work when the district refuses to train paras in the area of autism.
 
Jake has issues with short term memory and working memory.  He can't follow multi-step directions.  I'm sure that would be an issue as well.
 
I asked the principal why they EXPERTS would recommend that Jake take this course when it is obvious that it is such a poor.  I took their advice, against my better judgment, and this is what happens.
 
He stated that he wasn't as familiar with Jake as the rest of the staff.  I assured him that he is every bit as familiar as the rest of the staff.  None of them understand his disability, his strengths, or his weaknesses.
 
I told him that I know that he is familiar with me.  I told him that I understand my reputation in the district.  However, I will not be hurt by the actions of the district.  The district won't be hurt by the actions of the district.  The only person that is hurt by the actions of the district is my son.  They have done these things to him over and over.  This is not the first time that the autism coordinator recommended a class for Jake that is totally inappropriate for a child with autism. 
 
I told him that they need to be more diligent when they make these recommendations.  This is a child's life that we are talking about.  Everyone in that room knew what his issues are.  I have told them over and over.  There was a vice principal, special education coordinator, OT, ST, autism coordinator, case manager, counselor, math co-teachers, history co-teachers, English co-teachers, resource room teacher, and some elective teachers.  Someone in that room should have known that this was not a good idea.  It was May.  They have had three months to figure out that they messed up.  Why wait until the first day of school?
 
I told him that I do NOT want district personnel talking to Jake on the phone or in person about these issues.  It is totally inappropriate.  They are to correspond with ME ONLY. 
 
I explained the issue to Jake.  He was crushed.  He was looking forward to the class.  Once again, they have stolen any chance of Jake wanting to go to school.  I told the principal that I have to medicate Jake to just get him to school.  These constant issues and noncompliance make it even more impossible.
 
The solution, as of today, is that Jake will stay home tomorrow until second hour.  I will take him up there then.  He won't go to school for first hour until they can find a class that will replace this class.
 
Some days I just want to throw in the towel and say, "Enough is enough." and home school him. 
 
I just received a phone call from the high school stating that Jake is not qualified for the Technical Engineering class  that the IEP team suggested that he take.  I did not pick this class.  The team recommended it and I agreed.  It was the only class that Jake was excited about.  I would have thought that the team would have investigated it before they recommended it and had Jake enrolled in it.
 
The counselor called Jake last night and talked to him about it.  That was not appropriate.  Jake didn't tell me about it and I'm sure he didn't have a clue what was going on.  His father received a phone call on his cell phone and called me to say that he got a call from the district and he didn't know what they were talking about.  His father travels for his job and I handle these issues. 
 

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