No Need to Attend

Last week I received another phone call informing me that due to the unstructured last week of school it might be best to keep David at home this week. This is not the first time I have received one of these calls, the first came at Thanksgiving break, followed by Christmas, Spring break and now end of school.

I really resent these calls. The law mandates the number of hours a child under the age of eighteen must be educated. Encouraging me to keep my son at home instead of at school goes against what is encouraged in other students. It was explained that because this last week of school would be more unstructured with movies and fun time it wasn't necessary for him to attend. We were also told to send a snack for a movie in first period if he did attend. What a wonderful way to begin the school day, hyped up on snacks.

I called the vice principal this morning and explained that the teachers are still being paid to educate the children and if the students need structure it is their job to maintain it. I also explained (again) that my job is to look long-term. When my son is employed and has a scheduled vacation in two weeks he will not be allowed to take off the weeks prior because it might be too hard to concentrate.

I was informed by the vice principal that David is going to proceed to the next grade. He has only failed one course and a student is only held back if two courses are failed. I asked what he needs to do in order to go into summer school to pass the math course that was failed. It will be interesting to see if we are told he does not have to attend, since he is in special education. Non-special education students must attend summer school, but I have been told that special ed students are not required to pass in order to graduate to the next grade.

Overall we have been very pleased with this school year, both with the school's willingness to work with us and with David's progress and growth. But, I feel if we had not been so willing to do our part as parents while explaining our reasons for decisions and expectations and followed up with the school on their part this year could have had very different results. David has had some great teachers, but also some that should not have been working with special education students. We have had many false starts with one-on-ones, but it looks like there will be a new one next school year.