Hello. Also look into retaining an educational advocate.
The school should realize the liability of letting your child slip away from his teachers and caretakers w/o supervision. The fact that they let that happen more than once means the paras aren't very diligent or doing their jobs properly. I agree with documenting and going over the principal's head, b/c these are basic safety issues.
I have heard stories of parents who got fed up, enrolled their kids in private special ed schools and ate the expense. If the public school system cannot adequately educate your child, it is obligated to have someone else do so at their expense. But this entails letting your child flounder or fail, etc. under the explanation of attempting to keep the child in the "least restrictive environment." Also this is to keep costs down as much as possible. Private special ed schools can do most of the time do charge tuition that rivals college tuition. Public school systems may not be able to educate your child, but they also don't want to shell out that private school money. Hence the fight.
Personally, my view is that if you want a private school, you should go through the fight and let the public school system pay for it. If you take him out first and then try to demand reimbursement, you are probably unlikely to get it.
At this point, it sounds like a letter from you seeking a meeting of the IEP team for a periodic review is in order.
Good luck.
On a sort of related subject, there are now tax credits for children who are deemed LD and in need of a special school situation--so maybe you can get good ideas from this website:I would suggest immediately sitting down with the teacher, all three para's, the principle, and the distric Sped. Supervisor. Explain with them all together EVERYTHING that has happened and tell them this is absolutly not acceptable. Tell them the next time there is any incident that concerns you, you will go straight to the district Superintendent.
If it comes down to involving the Superintendent, tell him everything that has already happened, the course fo action you have already taken, and tell him if there are anymore incidents that you feel jepordize your son's health, safety, or well being you are going to immediately contact the State Baord of Education for a full investigation.
As another poster stated, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING, including how you responded to each incident.
I also think there are organizations that really put pressure on schools to make sure children with disabilities are getting the proper care, treatment, education, etc. Contact your County's Board of MRDD. I realize with ADHD your son isn't mentally disabled....I only mention this because I think they will know who to put you in contact with that will advocate for children with disabilities and really put pressure on the school.
Good Luck!
MamaBear
I have been having issues with my son's school this year. He's 6 yrs old and has ADHD with severe impulsivity. He's on daily meds and really has been doing great during his 1st grade year. His behavior has been excellent and he's really keeping up with his work and getting great grades. He's getting "help" from three different paras during the day who are supposed to be keeping him on track and keeping him safe since he doesn't always make the safest choices. Anyway, this year I've had problems with his school and the paras. One day he was outside by himself without a para when I came to pick him up from school. I raised hell and supposedly that issue has been corrected. (Had the same incident last year as well) Then today I get a call from the school cashier telling me that my son has .00 in his lunch account because he hasn't been buying lunch. The paras send home a report to let me know important things from school, etc. every single day because his speech is severely delayed as well. So, from what I gather, my son hasn't eaten lunch for almost 19 days of school and this is the first I'm hearing about it. Disturbing to say the least. I have more and more concerns about my son's safety and well being at his school because they just can't seem to get their act together. Does anyone know on what grounds you can refuse an IEP and get private schooling for a disabled child?? What would I need to do? Thanks for your help! When you say private schooling do you mean that you pay for or that the school pays for because they can't meet the needs of your child? I live in NC and it's very difficult and takes a long court fight to get the school system to pay for a private education for your child. I imagine having an IEP would be part of the equation and if you refused the IEP that would immediately cut you off from getting any kind of anything out of the system. I'd start by calling the district office and talking to the special ed coordinator.