Lee's Summit R-7 School District

2 Lee's Summit schools receive bomb threats | Local News - KMBC Home

How School Systems Create *That* Parent for Children in Special Education | Laurie Levy Demanding. Annoying. Angry. Unrealistic. Unreasonable. Every teacher, principal, and school district administrator knows *that* parent. In special education, there are much greater numbers of *that* parent, and I'm sure school systems feel irritated and challenged by the threats of law suits and seemingly endless fights over Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. But do they realize their role in creating *that* parent? In an earlier post, I begged  teachers not to force parents to become *that* parent , explaining that all parents, and especially those of children with special needs, want to be liked and work in partnership with their children's teachers. The incident I cited was the failure of a special education teacher to communicate with the parents of a non-verbal child, or even to answer their emails asking about the child spending time in a "quiet room" and the lack o...

Pediatricians Told To Bone Up On IDEA - Disability Scoop

Principal: Student made list of 'People I Want to Kill' at Lee's - KCTV5 LEE'S SUMMIT, MO (KCTV) - Police are investigating after a student made a hit list directed at several individual students at Lee's Summit High School. Principal John Faulkenberry said the student reached out to a staff member at the high school asking for help late Monday. The student told the staff member that they had created a list with the heading "People I Want to Kill." The staff member immediately told the School Resource Officer located at the school. The student who created the list was not at school at this time, according to the principal. District spokeswoman Janice Phelan said an e-mail message was sent Wednesday from Faulkenberry to parents. School officials immediately began an investigation that involved the school’s resource officer, the student's parents and the Lee’s Summit Police Department. "The list was turned over to school administration by the stu...

President of NEA Says Teachers Have to Adapt Curriculum for the “chronically ‘tarded and medically annoying” | Walkersvillemom

To the Moms of Children With Autism Who Came Before Me | The Mighty For the mothers with me now and for those who come after me, we must continue to advocate, educate and be heard, especially for the mothers who came before us. We are the voices of the past, the present and the future, so make yourselves heard. Read more:  http://themighty.com/2015/10/to-the-moms-of-children-with-autism-who-came-before-me/#ixzz3oZMSTZpq

Autism, PDD-NOS In more severe cases of  autism , a child may undergo an IQ test to see if there is an  intellectual disability  (also called mental retardation) present. IQ tests are imperfect tools to begin with, and the problems raised by autism can complicate an accurate assessment. The following tips are provided by Gary J. Heffner, MA for parents of a child facing an IQ test... As with most articles on my autism home page, this page started with a question from a parent: "My child was just tested and they say he has autism and mental retardation. Is he mentally retarded?" To me the added  diagnosis  is the equivalent of kicking someone when they're already down on the ground. Let me try to answer this question. I used to assess the intelligence of children and adults when I worked as a behavior specialist for the Army, a private center for persons with developmental disabilities, a state mental health program, and a state hospital. Here's what I know abo...

Special Ed Teacher Pleads to Battering Student - KSAL.com A southeast Kansas special education teacher has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery involving a 15-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy, is blind and confined to a wheelchair. The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports Matthew Ward DeMoss was sentenced Thursday to three months in jail for the January 15th incident in Pittsburg. The sentence was suspended and DeMoss was placed on unsupervised probation for a year and ordered to write a letter of apology to the victim. The boy’s mother says DeMoss grabbed her son by the nose and screamed at the child, who could not defend himself. DeMoss was allowed to resign his position with SEK Interlocal 637 after he was charged earlier this year. The Kansas Department of Education says DeMoss still holds a valid teaching certificate in the state.

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: It's hard to tell when special-needs parents are 'drowning' In 2010, our darkest times as a family, I began to use the analogy of a swimming pool to describe the difficult parts of our adoption and disability journey. I hope the analogy will strike a chord with other people who struggle to care for another family member, young or old. When my husband and I decided to pursue adoption, we never expected it to be easy. However, there was no way to know how very hard it would be, until we’d experienced it ourselves. Throughout the adoption process we were told again and again that to bring an older child into our home from the foster care system would be a huge leap of faith. I now picture the adoption process as a huge leap into a swimming pool. In the adoption classes everyone stands around the pool. During the home study process and disclosure you get your feet wet. If you want to adopt after that, you better be willing to j...

Blog | Special Ed Justice | Connecticut Special Education Lawyer “The Control Freak” This can be a teacher, therapist, service provider, or an administrator, really anyone who completely over-reacts whenever their opinions, responsibilities, recommendations, or expertise are questioned or challenged. Sadly, The Control Freaks of the special education world are largely responsible for the number of disputes between parents and school districts. These are the people who really, truly believe that they have learned everything they need to know about their area of expertise. Therefore, if a parent implies, or states outright, that their child’s special education needs perhaps cannot be properly evaluated or met by this person, they cannot handle it. One of the biggest problems I see when I am brought into a dispute by a parent is that some educators simply cannot allow themselves to admit that they made a mistake or don’t know everything about a particular child or disability. Good profe...

Feds: School Resource Officers Must Be Mindful Of ADA - Disability Scoop The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing in on the responsibilities of law enforcement officers stationed at schools when they interact with children who have disabilities. The federal agency filed a  statement of interest  late last week in a  lawsuit  charging that Kenton County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Sumner handcuffed an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl while working as a school resource officer in Covington, Ky. In three incidents involving the children, Sumner is accused of handcuffing the children around their biceps for 15 to 30 minutes at a time while the kids cried and struggled. The restraint was allegedly used as punishment for behavior relating to the children’s disabilities, the lawsuit states, and neither child was arrested or charged with a crime. The Justice Department said it is not taking a side in the case, which was filed in August, but submitted the statement of intere...

Study Questions Effectiveness Of One-To-Ones In Special Ed - Disability Scoop Many students receiving special education services are supported by one-to-ones, but new research suggests these assistants may not be pulling their weight. A study looking at how one-to-ones spent their time in nearly four-dozen autism support classrooms finds that paraprofessionals are engaged in instruction or support just 57 percent of the time. By contrast, teachers were engaged in such activities 98 percent of the time while classroom assistants were involved 91 percent of the time. “The low rate of one-to-one assistants’ engagement suggests an inefficient use of an important resource,” wrote researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington and the University of California, Riverside in their  findings  published online this month in the journal Teacher Education and Special Education. The findings are significant, researchers said, because one-to-ones are the fastest...

Blue Springs parents file lawsuit after alleged sexual assault happens on elementary school playground | fox4kc.com

Blue Springs School District's insurance company settled bullying lawsuit for $500,000 - KSHB.com

Initial Common Core scores higher than expected but goals unfulfilled LOS ANGELES — Results for some of the states that participated in Common Core-aligned testing for the first time this spring are out, with overall scores higher than expected though still below what many parents may be accustomed to seeing. Full or preliminary scores have been released for Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. They all participated in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of two groups of states awarded $330 million by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 to develop exams to test students on the Common Core state standards in math and English language arts. Scores in four other states that developed their own exams tied to the standards have been released. The second testing group, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is still setting benchmarks for each performance level and has not released any results. Even when...

Marshall Democrat-News: Local News: Marshall School Board lowers tax levy (08/25/15) The Marshall Board of Public Schools voted Tuesday night, Aug. 25 to set its tax levy at 2.75 percent. Lee's Summit tax levy is $8.9883

I’m a teacher, and I know IEPs aren’t being followed. What do I do? | The Wrightslaw Way This is the norm.  I know of teachers that have forced to resign because they tried to make sure that kids on IEPs were getting what they are Federally entitled to.  In what school district, you ask.  Why Lee's Summit, of course. “I am a teacher in — and I know that IEPs are not being followed…What do I do? I have already talked to people in the school system. I want information that explains why it’s so important for teachers to take this seriously, including the legal ramifications. I want our new teachers to understand their accountability with regard to this aspect of teaching.” What should you do?  I think it depends on – whether the administration is aware that IEPs are not being followed, and if they do know, why they haven’t put a stop to it? In 1992, there was a case in West Virginia styled  Doe v. Withers . A high school history teacher refused to provide the...

Achievement Level 4 Report - Public Missouri Assessment Program Achievement Level Report District: LEE'S SUMMIT R-VII (048071) Please note that the alternate assessment data MAP-A are not included in these totals.   The MAP-A data are anticipated to be available in September, additional updates will be provided as they are received.     Assessment results for 2015 in the content areas of English language arts, and mathematics for grades 3-8 and End-of-Course (EOC) assessments in English II (E2) and Algebra I (A1) are not comparable to prior year data.  This is the first year for the assessment aligned to the new standards.   NOTE: The Map Performance Index (MPI) will be calculated upon receipt and verification of MAP-A data. District Overall                       Eng. Language Arts                         ...