It would probably be easier to start from the beginning. I once had a beginning but lost hope and deleted it but I am now bound and determine to keep hope! So for now I'll just start from the most recent and will fill in the blanks as we go along.
My son Brandon, has a 504 accommodation plan, to help him succeed in school. His 504 is for color blindness. Also know as color deficiency. He's red/green color blind. Now I didn't know much about his blindness before we discovered it, but I took the time to educate myself after he was diagnosed. There's not a lot of research on color blindness!!! And it's not as simple as, you go to the optometrist and get a prescription for a pair of lens'. Not everyone sees the same. Meaning even though he is diagnosed with red/green color blindness and so is my brother, doesn't mean they both see the same. And then on top of being color blind it can have different adverse effects on their daily life, emotionally, physically and mentally. For Brandon some of those are behavior issues, lack of sleep, moody, insomnia, headaches, stress, withdraw. It all just depends on the day. I can never tell or expect what his day will be like. I can just hope he made it through the day and is not in too terrible of a mood when he gets home and that he managed to get through the day at school without being sent to the office.
Okay, wells that's the background for today (keep following to learn more), now on to business.
I've been begging for a second 504 meeting (usually one happens when we need to review his accommodations, he gets new teachers or something changes). I've requested it from the school, and the district. I've failed to get a response. Brandon is currently enrolled in Art this year. Now honestly - does this make sense to you, with the little knowledge you already had of color blindness and now with some of the info I've shared with you? Absolutely not. I requested he be transferred from Art the 3rd day of school. I've been emailing the counselor for a couple months now trying to get him transferred out of Art and finally have had it. Last week I got a call from the Art teacher. She left a message saying Brandon is failing and that if he does not pass Art he may FAIL 7th grade! Are you KIDDING ME! Art is a freaking elective, one that a student that has a 504 for color blindness should have never had! The school has told me the only way to change this situation is to rearrange his entire schedule or put him in chorus...well not to be a pain but Brandon has no voice...he had throat surgery last year and with puberty has pretty much been screeching for the last year. I called the Super Intendant immediately after I received the Art teachers voicemail. He assured me we would have a 2nd 504 meeting, and that he would contact the Principle to get it all set up. WELL, it's been 8 school days since we talked and still no meeting. I've forward my thread of emails to the Super Intendant and the School Board President. Sent several more emails CCing everyone and still I've been left in the dark! Tomorrow I'm dropping a written formal request for a "referral for reevaluation" basically a due process meeting.
Wish us luck!
All in all I just want my kid to receive an education. One that he is entitled to. It drives me nuts, how defense the schools become. I'm not out to call out anyone. I'm here to protect my student and obviously teach the school about federal and education code. When I say school I'm pretty much saying Administrators. It's the Administrations job to assure their teachers are knowledgeable and such situations either before or when they arise.
On another note, Brandon is an incredibly smart kid. He spent the last three years in an Accelerated Achievement program. He was in GATE. He scores advance on his Benchmark and STAR tests. Yet we struggle everyday with school. I'm looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. And usually half way through the school year I can find it. But why do I have to search for it every year!
Feed back is welcome - negative criticism is not.
Until my next hurdle
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