From Hilary Jenkins-Spangler:
The rally on Wednesday was a success and a good start – and this is just the start. We endeavor to strengthen the special ed programs, intervention services and support the teachers. We received good coverage on the 5 o’clock and 10:30 news. Ryan Burbey from the Teacher’s Union, Jeanette Jennings, the former principle from Hickory joined us. We are planning another rally for next month. My husband had a brilliant idea to honor the amazing special ed teachers in the county; while also continuing to bring awareness to the importance of supports for special educators and the specialized training required for many classrooms.
Jeanette Jennings believes this will have to be a sustained and ongoing effort to keep the administrators accountable. Challenge is healthy, it keeps people focused and systems strong. We can’t have a healthy school system if one part of it is weak and failing. An organization is only as strong as its weakest link.
In an earlier letter I mischaracterized a child as being behaviorally disturbed, a more accurate description would be his behavior disturbed others, it was highly disruptive, and was not receiving the benefit of guidance that would equip him in ways to more appropriately express himself. I now understand, it’s a CSP classroom – not a Regional Autism Program I was told by Robin Meyer. It’s my son who is in the wrong classroom, I guess it’s just another of those many ‘misunderstandings’ I seem to have had with Central Office (which was why I sent a follow up email after the Central IEP meeting to Robin Meyer and our attorney to clarify the main points – the placement was in a Regional Autism Program for high functioning kids on the spectrum who did not have disruptive tendencies. If there had been a misunderstanding, the professional response would have been to reply and correct error – surely?) One of the things that concerned me most in the classroom was the complete absence of a behavioral therapist on site. My son’s brilliant and wonderful private speech therapist would have a lot of highly effective strategies to deal with the type of behavior this child was exhibiting, unfortunately, his teacher didn’t. His unruly behavior stood in the way of his, and everyone else’s learning. This further illustrates HCPS denial of special needs children and their educational rights. I wonder how much educational benefit this child is getting? Free appropriate education (FAPE) is every disabled child’s right, but the parents are the enforcers. Laws are typically enforced by state or federal agencies, for example if you speed, a cop will give you a ticket. FAPE doesn’t work that way, the parents are the ones who have to hire attorneys and be the enforcers, so receiving FAPE isn’t so straightforward.
At our first Central Meeting (which had taken seven weeks to schedule) an hour into the meeting the head of the team announced they did not have all the necessary documents, so another meeting would be necessary. Now, if they had re-scheduled the meeting as soon as we got there, there could have been a compliance issue, but by doing it this way they cleverly achieved three things: 1, they got to further delay things, 2. They know attorneys and advocates are expensive, ($3,000, for conference calls, prep and meeting time, for a non-meeting) and most people can only spend their finances down so far, this speeds things up a bit. 3. It also made it highly frustrating for us, thus increasing the likelihood we would eventually walk away, or maybe even as some parents have done, move to another state…
My son likes to be read the same Pokémon book every night at bedtime. It’s mind numbingly boring as far as bedtime stories go, but he loves it. Each page starts with the name and picture, followed by possible moves: tack-down, switchero, double-team etc. When I think of the games the Central Team played with us, put in Pokémon terms of possible moves it would be: lie, prevaricate, withhold information, deceive, exhaust parents financially and emotionally, marginalize, disempower. The list could go one, but you probably get my point, at best it’s disingenuous.
Harford County is pretty far behind the curve, (or maybe under the curve when it comes to special education!) There is also a public misnomer that these kids aren’t going to amount to anything so why waste money that could be put to better use. Special education isn’t necessarily about have a low IQ, it’s more about remediating things that stand in the way of learning – for example, dyslexia. Thirty years ago dyslexics were often thought of as lazy or lacking intelligence, which we now know isn’t the case. In fact quite the opposite, people suffering from dyslexia, statistically tend to be more intelligent. One thing I really wish we could find a cure for is willful ignorance, it’s one of the most destructive forces I can think of. I guess it’s up there with narrow mindedness and being closed to new ideas. A strong system thrives on challenge, opposition and new ideas.
Hilary Jenkins-Spangler
Our experience at another elementary school was similar. Our son has ADHD. IEP team members made the process exhausting and we spent thousands hiring the necessary people to get him what he needs according to the law. Much of the difficulties could have been helped by basic “best teaching” practices, which would help all students, unfortunately, for the Principal, Vice-principal, Teachers, Special Educators, and HCPS Psychologist in the room who looked at us blankly.
I neglected to mention this morning that the one teacher, not in the room, that has helped the most is not a special ed teacher, but one with the gift of listening and a reputation of being one of the “good ones!” Without her we would have lost a year of school and our son would not be persuaded to go to school at all. Your idea of a rally for the “good ones” is great – those teachers that haven’t given in or given up! They need our support!!!
You are on point Ms. Jenkins-Spangler! Your earlier comment about warehousing kids was dead on.
Let me try to understand the intelligence, you are rallying with the principal connected with Hickory abuse. As principal, she should be aware of what is going on in her building, but that would have required her to actually leave her office or be in school. If she really cared or really wanted reform, why did she wait until her removal was part of the reform? Are you having spray bottle teacher at your next rally? Maybe she and principal could carpool.
I don’t know anymore than what was in Leslie Margolis;s report which said there were accountablility issues on every level. It was a system set up for faliure. The administrators never visited the program, the principal’s concerns/requests seemed to fall on deaf ears. She reported the abuse immediately when it was discovered, yes, ultimately a principal is a supervisor, and has responsibility, but I don’t think it’s so black and white. The special ed programs have been dreadfully neglected, now the attention is on, and it seems like the right time to take an honest look at what needs to change. Don’t we want a strong school system? I think a lot of it begiins with placing a value of special ed programs and monitoring them closely. After meeting Jeanette Jennings, I can only say she is a very warm, kind and caring woman…..
It seems that you are using what happened to the children at Hickory for your own platform.
Old people have a better chance of having autistic children.
Mr Spangler should have known better
Absolutely….because it’s connected! My platform is to bring awareness to a program that is failing children and point out the systemic problems that link it to the abuse at Hickory. The administrators apparently never visited the program at Hickory and until Thursday, Susan Austin had never visited the CSP at RP. Last Tuesday I spoke with her for over an hour, she talked about the training the teachers and paras had received and how the program had been turned around. I asked her if she had ever visited my son’s classroom and she admitted she had not.
Another part of my ‘platform’ is to make people aware of the culture within the Central Office. We were were lied to and deceived into accepting the placement at RP. Blaine Hawley told us it was a Regional Autism Program for HF kids on the spectrum. Robin Meyer said the program was specifically for HF kids who had sensory issues and not behavioral. After the meeting I followed up with an email to Mrs Meyer and copied my attorney to clarify these main points. If I had been ‘mistaken’ the professional response would have been to reply, and point out the ‘misunderstanding.’ I did not receive an email and we did not receive a copy of the IEP until August. On page 62 of my son’s IEP, I now see it states ‘Regional Classroom Support Program’, but I worked on the (naive) assumption that high paid professionals who work at Central Office don’t tell outright lies, and if there were any discrepancies my attorney would be responsible for them. I was grossly mistaken on both accounts.
We spent four years at YBES, which is a fabulous – a school that everyone is proud of, with some of the best teachers I have ever had the privilege to meet. Not once in four years did I have a single conflict or disagreement – with anyone! I am not a difficult person to get along with, I do not have an axe to grind about teachers, public schools etc., The administrators were always reasonable, fair and extremely pleasant. Conversely, what I have experienced at the hands of Central Office is not expected behavior, actually it’s scandalous, maybe even criminal – my sense of decency, honesty and fair play have been completely violated. There are some whom I believe do care, Missy Romano being one of them. She has always been very professional, friendly and straightforward. I regret any hardship my rally against the other administrators may cause her. The rest of could benefit from a behavioral program that modeled honesty, decency, and high ethical and moral standards……..
You have hit the nail on the head in more ways than one. Central Office is so removed from what is really happening in schools and lack the compassion and urgency that the teachers have to do what is right and best for kids. Unfortunately, teachers are at their mercy in many ways.
You are also right about Missy Romano! She is the exception and is amazing. If more at central were like her, we would be a far better school district.
I’m sure deep down you not a truly unkind person (I’m not being sarcastic). There are risks involved in everything, but we live in a 21st century civilized society, the eugenics movement of the 20th century resulted in horrors previously unimagined. There are no perfect formulas for ‘perfect’ children related to your way of thinking. I encourage you to open your mind – it will probably make you a happier person, or at the very least those around you. FYI I copied this from the Mayo Clinic:
‘Autism spectrum disorder has no single known cause. Given the complexity of the disorder, and the fact that symptoms and severity vary, there are probably many causes. Both genetics and environment may play a role’
The above is for you ‘Educate’.
I am truly happy this has happened. HCPS Cental Office needs to be exposed. These people in Central Office will not provide principals and schools the resources needed to implement IEPs and to do what’s best for kids. Keep digging because there is more to be exposed. Those of you who don’t care should because HCPS is warehousing some of these extremely disruptive students in your child’class.
If you have perfect kids, just be thankful, others don’t need your advice. If you have no kids, you don’t know as much as you think, and others don’t need your advice.