All That Glitters Isn't Gold

The following came from the Lee's Summit R-7 District Website.  They sent this out in an email to all in the district, in a district newsletter, and it is on their website.  They also had stories in the Lee's Summit Journal, Lee's Summit Tribune, and Kansas City Star.  As you can see, most of the information that they provided was false.  They have made no attempt to correct this and most of the public continues to believe that they are the best option for children in the Kansas City area. 

Missouri education officials select Lee's Summit R-7 School District to present program on autism education at state-wide conference
Selection based on district's exemplary services for special-needs students

This is not only wrong, it is immoral to let people believe that Lee's Summit is doing anything but a poor job with our children.  I can give you the names of numerous families that will testify to this.  Many have already sent letters to Heidi Atkins-Lieberman about this.
        The Lee's Summit R-7 School District was recently selected to present information on the district's services for students with autism at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Annual Cooperative Conference for School Administrators, scheduled for early August. Just two districts in the state were chosen for this presentation, and selection was based on the district's outstanding programs for students with autism, according to state officials. (Who made these decisions?  Lee's Summit has had quite a few due process cases and child complaints filed because of the lack of services that they offer children with autism)

        Lee's Summit R-7 and Kirkwood School District officials will share their exemplary practices in the area of autism education at the conference, which is attended by superintendents and other school district leaders from across the state. The presentation is designed to showcase these two outstanding programs and to help other districts better serve their students with autism spectrum disorders, a growing population regionally and throughout the nation. (The families in Lee's Summit would like to see these wonderful programs implemented.  They look good on paper, but they are not put into practice.)

        Among the 17 Missouri school districts with enrollments of more than 10,000 students, the Kirkwood and Lee's Summit R-7 School Districts rank first and second statewide when comparing Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores among special-education students in both communication arts and math. (Lee's Summit didn't do well on the MAP test scores according to DESE and the district.  "Although repeatedly recognized for our students' outstanding scores on the Missouri Assessment Program tests, our district has still been placed in the "District Improvement Level 1" category based on the scores of a very small number of students in two sub-groups. These students were in the sub-groups of special-education students and "English language learners" (students who do not speak English as their first language). Although we do single out these two sub-groups as part of this explanation, I want to make it clear that we are proud of these students and their efforts and believe that they did their best on the state-wide tests, demonstrating improvement in a comparison of 2006 and 2007 test scores.") (Kirwood's enrollment is 5267)   KIRKWOOD R-VII District Status Not Met Y Kirkwood doesn't have a special education program. Special School District of St. Louis County provides special education services for students in the Kirkwood School District. A variety of placement options are available in the Kirkwood Schools and in other special education settings.

        The R-7 School District currently serves approximately 250 children who have an autism spectrum disorder. The district is recognized for both its excellent special-education programs as well as the comprehensive training it offers for staff members.

(They only serve 83-88 students with educational autism.  Out of the 250 that have a diagnosis of ASD the district will only give 83-88 and educational diagnosis.)

        For the past 10 years, the R-7 School District has offered training in the area of autism for staff and parents.  "Working with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Educational Environment" began as a two-day workshop but has grown to be an intensive 4-day training.  Approximately 125 educators and parents attend this intensive session each year, including a number of attendees from other districts and other regions. The program has been recognized by districts throughout the state and has drawn participants from as far away as Illinois.

        In addition to the popular four-day workshop, the R-7 School District offers workshops on functional communication, applied behavior analysis, and other topics related to the field of autism. The purpose of these workshops is to provide staff and parents with quality training on a variety of issues facing those working with children with autism spectrum disorders. (According to Jerry Keimig, regular education teachers and paras will only receive this training if they do it on their own time.  The district will not pay them to attend this workshop.  Many children with autism are in regular education classes with teachers that have no training in their disability. )

        Just as important as the intensive workshops are follow-up training and assistance provided for R-7 staff members by the district's four coordinators focusing on autism and behavior disorders. These coordinators help conduct assessments, design programming and work with teachers and families on each child's individualized education plan. They also work with R-7 staff members to help educators effectively use materials and equipment, including specialized technological equipment designed to help children with autism in the areas of instruction and communication. (These four individuals are not full time employees and according to Stacey Martin, she has to attend to all of the children in Lee's Summit with an educational diagnosis of autism.)

        This team of R-7 specialists also helps coordinate and oversee two very unique programs in the Lees Summit District. STARS (Structured Teaching to Acquire Readiness Skills) is an early childhood program designed to meet the needs of children, ages 3 to 5, who present challenges in early learning behaviors. Lee's Summit R-7 is one of only a few districts in Missouri to offer this exemplary type of programming. STARS began during the 2006-07 school year and provides very intensive services, including a one-on-one aide for each child. (The district will not provide families with any information about this program.  Repeated requests have been met with denials of information.)

        STARS was so successful during its first year that the R-7 School District implemented PASS (Promoting Academic and Social Success), a similar program for kindergarten students enrolled at Longview Farm Elementary. Both programs have generated interest among other school districts throughout the region. (One student that was in the STARS program regressed so much that the parent had to remove him and send him to a private school in Kansas.  Another family had to remove all five of their children because of psychological damage that was done to their children.  Still another family had to remove their child from PE because Jerry Keimig refused them the alternative of adaptive PE without any basis.  When the family found out that the teacher was the adaptive PE teacher and met with him, he told the family that he knew more about this child than any "Autism specialist, any psychologist, or the mother.  He went on to say that he would push this autistic child socially, emotionally, and physically beyond his comfort level.  When the administration was notified of this they stated that the family would have to get a note from their physician before the child would be taken out of PE.  The family's psychologist quickly complied as to avoid further damage to this child.)  This program was taken from a copywrited program and used without the publisher's permission.  They have only used part of it.  They used district money to bring the publisher to Kansas City to provide a seminar and then failed to use the whole program and used part of the program without permission.  This conference was James Partington. 

 

We would like to know how we can request an audit of our school district.  We have tried to hold the district accountable in every way that we can imagine.  We have filed child complaints with DESE, we have filed due process cases with DESE, we have filed complaints with OCR, we have ran for the school board, we spoke at school board meetings, we met with the special education director, we met with the superintendent, we've written to Heidi Atkins Lieberman, we've written to the Commissioner of Education, we've written to the United States Department of Education, we have went to newspapers and television news.  We went to our Representative in the House and he told the school everything that we shared with him and now our school board is publicly endorsing him for reelection.  Frankly, most of my members are now broke and defeated and their children are no better off than they were before.  There are no answers for us.  The school district has an insurance policy to pay attorneys fees.  They have blatantly stated that they have no fear of going to due process.  I know of two families that have spent $13,000 and $12,000 in due process and it made little difference.  One of those families is being forced to go back to due process just one year after the last one. 

 

Failing schools

 

About 200 public schools and 167 districts in Missouri were unable to meet standardized testing requirements for two years in a row, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 

Now the federal government isn’t pulling any punches and is demanding that the state review those failing schools. A U.S. Department of Education team documented dozens of problems in Missouri schools.

 

“This is really a worst-case state,” said Phyllis McClure, a Washington consultant who helps monitor states on education law.

 

According to federal reports, the government has reprimanded most states for problems complying with the requirements of the relatively new No Child Left Behind law.

 

Becky Kemna, Missouri’s new coordinator of school improvement, said some problems are a matter of difficulty for state employees to interpret the rules. Some problems were fixed before the feds even left, she said. The state must respond to the federal request for the state to review its schools by mid-September.

Is the federal government coming down too hard on Missouri, or do the state’s schools need this kind of pressure to improve? Why?

 

We ask that you help us.  We want our district audited.  If you need more people to write to you, I would be glad to do that.  I will get a petition signed.  Whatever it takes, we'll get it done.  Our children's lives are depending on this.  My son has already passed the critical time where intense intervention would have made a difference.  He will never be able to live independently.  I beg you not to let that happen to one more child.