Attachment In June of 2013 I began calling Clarendon One School District to get my daughter, Sophia Heisch, enrolled in the Child Find Program and evaluated for an IEP. Initially I was told by Disability Services that I would need to wait until a date was set up for a Child Find Meeting and that I would receive a call back with that information. After I did not receive a call back I called the district again trying to get an evaluation for her. I was told that repeatedly that evaluations do not occur during the summer and that I would need to wait until August 5, 2013 to enroll her first. Approximately two weeks prior to August 5, 2013 I went to Summerton Early Childhood Center to request her enrollment forms and consent for evaluation. Thomas Bell initiated a confrontation with me regarding my daughter’s enrollment and the issue with her service animal accompanying her on this day. Michelle Cooper I believe was present. The police were called on this day by me to assist. Thomas Bell gave to us the enrollment packet for Sophia, however, refused to give to us the consent to evaluate stating that this could only be done after she was enrolled. On August 5, 2013 I again went to the school to enroll her and get the paperwork for the evaluation. At this time I was directed over to the district office. They copied the medical documents I brought showing Sophia’s diagnosis, but declined again to allow me to sign papers for an evaluation. After speaking with the Office of Exceptional Ed on August 14, 2013 the school finally set up a meeting to deal with Sophia’s disability issues. I believe this meeting was held on August 19, 2013. At this meeting the psychologist, Thomas Bell and other individuals spoke with me, however, they did not allow me to sign a consent for evaluation. It was not until a meeting on August 22, 2013 that they finally produced a consent form for me to sign. At this time they informed me it could be another 60-90 days before Sophia could be provided with a determination for eligibility. I informed them that she would be starting school on August 26, 2013 despite their insistence that she not attend without an IEP in place. I was told that Sophia would be evaluated the following week on Tuesday and Thursday. Sophia’s evaluation was not completed and still has not been completed to this date. I was advised in the beginning of September by Thomas Bell that the psychologist stated that Sophia was too medicated to complete the evaluation. The principal suggested that she do the evaluation without medication. I signed a medical release authorizing the psychologist to address the issues with Sophia’s psychiatrist and determine if it was appropriate for her to do an evaluation without medication. By September 11, 2013 her psychiatrist had still not been contacted by the psychologist. We did discuss the matter with her psychiatrist on the 11th and her psychiatrist stated that he would not be approving an evaluation without medication. As well, on September 6, 2013 I delivered a letter to Thomas Bell advising him that due to ongoing issues with medical neglect of my daughter in the school and their failure to accommodate her special needs that I would be temporarily be keeping Sophia out of school until we determined which course of action to take. I advised him in the letter that if she needed to be present for the evaluation that they should contact me and schedule a date and time. When Sophia returned to school on September 11th I was told by Thomas Bell that her evaluation could not be done on September 10th because my daughter was not in school, even though he had made no attempt to contact me and schedule the evaluation for the 10th. Then again on the 12th I was advised that the psychologist was present at the school and she was ready to do an evaluation that had not been scheduled either, however, the school would not allow my daughter to enter the school for this unscheduled evaluation as they had instructed police not to let her enter with her service animal who had accompanied her on the 12th. Since June of 2013 I have never once received any written communication from the school regarding evaluation times or dates. I have been told by the school and the district that I am not cooperating with the evaluation because I won’t take her off of her medication, which is not a decision I am in the position to make. This decision must be made by the prescribing physician. All attempts to obtain special accommodations for my child have been ultimately rejected or denied by the school in one way or another. When I requested that my daughter be placed in a self contained classroom, Thomas Bell stated that this is absolutely against their policy and she cannot have temporary services such as these pending an IEP eligibility determination. Although they assigned a helper for her, which they refused to refer to as a “shadow”, they also interjected the following week, stating that this person had other school duties to attend to and could not be with Sophia as needed. I will be forwarding documents to Lana Ott via email for supporting evidence as soon as all of these documents can be put together. I will also be forwarding the same documents to Rose Wilder at Clarendon One.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:18:58 +0000
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