This is my DUE PROCESS COMPLAINT with Broward County Public School System ~ This is my 12/17/12 Amended email I sent to Superintendent Robert Runcie. Read it and tell me if any of these sort of things have happened to you when you've been advocating for your Child's education?
Re-reading this still makes my stomach turn! What has systematically taken place to FORCE my daughter onto the NON-DIPLOMA "Special Diploma" track and to have her iep goals replaced with "canned" goals without me being in attendance to be goals she had already mastered from the previous IEP's from a year ago. This seemed to be strategically done to make her look more behind than she actually was as she was entering her Middle school years.
What has been allowed to take place here in Broward County Public School District should not have gotten to this level with such a long laundry lists of complaints from me.
Here is my final orders from the Due Process I filed with the Florida Department of Education on December 12th, 2012. Click here
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7675/urlt/0069820-12-3961.pdf
I am Mariah's mom, doing what any good parent would and should be doing; advocating for my daughter's right to an education.
The amount of excessive waste of TAX-Payers money $$ defending themselves $$ by forcing me to file a Due Process is shameful! It never should have gotten to the level to file a Due Process in the first place if the district was supportive to the education of my daughter.
My goal is that my Little Princess be provided a Quality Education and is actually EDUCATED, with the ESE Supports & Services that she needs to be successful!
Instead my daughter's abilities were written on 5/30/2012 much differently, lower to make her look more behind, her iep goals went backwards to be goals she had already mastered previously. Mariah's future educational goals and dreams for a career to eventually become a Vet Tech have all been taken away from her with the Special Diploma Track she has now been forced on and at my losing in the Due Process I filed.
She will not be allowed to be educated to learn and earn a real high school diploma. This I am still not in agreement to!!!
What I see happening with many of our ESE students today is when they are taken off the Regular Diploma Track then their education becomes a;
"VERY EXPENSIVE BABYSITTING SERVICE!!"
Listen to the NPR-National Public Radio clip
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Hello Superintendent Runcie,
Sad to inform you of the little girl with Down syndrome that
is learning how to play the Violin and you have ‘’connected with” on several
occasions since you became our Superintendent but at this time I am requesting
a Due Process for my daughter, Mariah Harris.
She lives at ..................Fort Lauderdale,
FL ....-....
She attends Parkway Middle School of the Performing Arts.
Accepted and participating
In the STEM Magnet Program.
*1st Student with Down syndrome to be accepted
into the STEM MAGNET Program!
1.
I am not in agreement with the proposed non-phonics based reading program,
Failure Free Reading for my daughter Mariah Harris, since she already knows
phonics and knows how to read as a solid upper 2nd grade reader. It seems at
the suggestion from the ESE Department Director, Denise Rusnake, that 20 Middle
Schools in Broward will now be using the Failure Free Reading Program, and it
seems even if the student has working knowledge of PHONICS the school is now
pushing this NON-PHONICS BASED program on my child no matter what, which I
absolutely disagree with for my daughter, Mariah Harris. I was not provided any information about
this program, I researched it myself on their website and I don't see
it being what is best suited for my daughter.
1a. I believe it would be better
for my daughter to continue with the WILSON READING PROGRAM that my daughter loves
and is very familiar with and has shown much success in….if taught by a CERTIFIED WILSON TEACHER only, as the teacher she
has now is trying to show she is not progressing just to push her out of her
classroom and into the NON-PHONICS BASED program in and ESE Resource room, I
believe. She showed success her 1st year in Wilson at Stephen Foster
Elementary school. Both Wilson teachers
are NOT CERTIFIED WILSON TEACHERS!! AMENDED on 12/17/12. Both of Mariah’s 5th grade
and 6th grade WILSON READING TEACHERS did not and are not providing
FAPE via the WILSON READING INSTRUCTION as intended by the Barbara Wilson
Reading Program because both 5th and 6th grade WILSON
Reading teachers are not FULLY CERTIFIED in WILSON READING INSTRUCTON. Broward
County School District ESE Department does not require Broward school teachers
that teach WILSON to actually be certified in WILSON READING as the company
recommends for the program to be taught with fidelity.
1b. AMENDED on
12/17/12. Persistent recommendation from Mariah’s Intensive READING
teacher, Ms. Maxwell and the IEP team, (district employees only) to move Mariah
to the most restrictive ESE classroom placement for a non-phonics based reading
program without any discussion about exactly what that Failure Free Reading
curriculum would exactly be, after requesting information about it in writing
ahead of the TIEP meeting, denies her right to LRE-Least Restrictive
Environment for her Specially Designed instruction for intensive reading.
1c. AMENDED on
12/17/12. That Mariah be provided WILSON READING INSTRUCTION by a
WILSON CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR the way the Barbara WILSON READING Program was
specifically designed in relation to class size and the WILSON Certification
requirements recommended by the WILSON READING Company.
2.
I am not in agreement with my daughter being
pulled out from her Gen. Ed. 6th grade math class to be put into an ESE class
for a Math program that was never discussed as to exactly what it would be.
Mariah loves Math, but has not had the support from her Gen. Ed Math teacher,
Ms. Wavde from the beginning of the school year, as she has made it perfectly
clear she does not wish to teach my daughter grade level math in a diversified
math classroom. I requested a Math teacher change because of this, which has
not been taken seriously. There has to be another Math teacher that would be
supportive and collaborative having Mariah in their classroom. AMENDED on 12/17/12. Recommendation from Mariah’s Math
teacher, Ms. Wavde and the IEP team, (district employees only) to move Mariah
to the most restrictive ESE classroom placement without any discussion about
what the ESE Math curriculum would be, denies her right to LRE-Least
Restrictive Environment for her Specially Designed instruction in 6th
Grade Level Math instruction.
2a. The solution for Math would be to find a
teacher that wants to be supportive of a student with Down syndrome and give
the teacher ESE Support or a Co-Teaching model to continue to teach my daughter
GRADE LEVEL Strategies to help my daughter with both teachers having high
expectations of my daughter instead of the low expectations from her current 6th
grade math teacher.
3. I am in disagreement with questions number #2
and #3 pertaining to State and District Testing. I am also in disagreement that
the IEP team that haphazardly constructed the IEP document on 5/30/12 saying
she had been on Access Points and the Alternate Assessment her final year of
elementary school as she took the FCAT 2.0 her 2nd year of 5th grade, so that
is lie that she was *AMENDED
on 12/17/12. ever on
Access Points during the 2011-2012 school year AMENDED on 12/17/12. or ever!
3a. I feel my
daughter is being discriminated against because she has Down syndrome and she
gets Level 1's on her FCAT's over the years. My recommendation is for my
daughter, Mariah Harris to be put back on the STANDARD DIPLOMA TRACK immediately
and be provided any and all support she will need to be as successful as she
possible can on the FCAT! The law does not state that if students get a Level 1
on their FCAT’s that that they must then be FORCED OFF the STANDARD DIPLOMA
OPTION which is what is being done to my daughter, Mariah Harris. This feels like discrimination and
retaliation from your 9th floor ESE district staff! AMENDED on 12/17/12. Stephen
Foster Elementary Principal, Mr. Ricky Grimaldo, CENSORED all of my emails and
denied teachers the entire 2011-2012 school year, other than my daughter’s
homeroom/science teacher from freely communicating with me when I sent emails.
Mr. Ricky Grimaldo, denied my right to a request for an interim IEP on March 10th,
2012, ultimately my parental involvement my daughter’s final year at Stephen
Foster Elementary was not what it had been in previous years. Censorship and Retaliation
against me as an involved parent advocate for my daughter, Mariah Harris was
met with closed doors by the new Principal, Mr. Grimaldo. Ultimately at my
daughter’s 5/30/12 IEP I felt I was bullied out of the IEP meeting that I had
originally wanted back in March to discuss 5th grade math issues
going on and an upcoming 16 hour away out of County Field Trip I had concerns
about my daughter’s 1:1 Unique Aide not being allowed to assist my daughter.
This was a decision made by Mr. Ricky Grimaldo and no other.
She is receiving SES Tutoring services and would not have
been eligible for those services if she hadn't be on a Standard Diploma track
and taking the FCAT. A solution would be
for her to be put back on the Standard Diploma Track as she has always been
with all allowable Accommodations and the support of and ESE Support teacher as
a co-teaching model if that is what the Gen. Ed Teachers need to support Mariah
in Gen Ed.
4. I am in
disagreement with my daughter missing 2 entire class periods each week just to
receive her Speech and Language services, when it is causing her to miss 2
entire class periods. (Social Studies & STEM class period)
4a. To continue to provide Mariah her Speech and Language
services as she has always had over the years while attending Elementary school
of just 20 minutes at the very beginning of every day so she isn’t missing 2
entire class period each week that only sets her back in those classes. The way
it it is being done is causing her to suffer in those classes.
5. I am in
disagreement with statements made that my daughter is prompt dependent from Ms.
Carole Weisel her Unique Aide.
5a. I requested and suggested a fading of support once
Mariah is within her classrooms and to provide Mariah with peer support when
needed. Mariah has the ESE Support of Peers but I don't believe that is being
provided as it has in the past. I have
always made it perfectly clear in my Parent Input and at every IEP that
FIN-Barbabara Krakower can help implement the PEER BUDDY PROGRAM that should
have already been up and running in at least 1 of our Public Schools and I
am willing to help at Parkway with this. Peer support that my daughter and
others would benefit is more cost effective and children respond better with
their same age classmates. Parkway ESE Staff are stating that my daughter,
Mariah Harris has become; “prompt dependent’, which is their doing because
Mariah is very independent!
6. I am in disagreement with the Student Interview that was inserted
into different parts of the TIEP as I did not give permission for my daughter
to be interviewed. There are things noted that are totally inaccurate and paint
a different picture that just are not true of my daughter Mariah Harris. They
would not remove the untruths or put in my parent input.
6a. I am requesting
the information that my daughter Mariah spoke about when she attended her own very
1st TIEP meeting several meetings ago, that the that information she
shared be added as part of her Student wants and needs of herself and what she
wants for her future. She was able to share clearly what was important to her
and why, but none of this information has ever been capture in any of the 5
TIEP meetings held. She has attended several of her TIEP meetings and none of
her input at that time has been captured in writing thus far. Some staff sat
their and ‘rolled their eyes’ while she was speaking and showed no respect to
her input or my desire to have her present herself in the positive way she did.
My parent input has
always been “tampered with”, omitted and changed around and then saying
there is no way to include it into the TIEP document because it was
a…”multi-meeting IEP”, but they would include it in a FAX Attachment. My parent
input needs to be included in the IEP document itself and not as an attachment
FAX!
7. I am again
requesting that my daughter be provided an alternate drink (Almond Milk) during
lunch as has always been provided a non-milk substitute for her lunch drink
since she was 4 years old throughout all her elementary school years. My
daughter has not been provided even a simple cup of water or ice tea which
could have easily been accommodated since the start of school on August 20th,
2012. To find out at the end of November that she still has not been provided
an alternate drink to go with her lunch is a violation of her right to an
alternate drink because she is lactose intolerant. Her Doctor signed paperwork
had been LOST and I have provided this same paperwork now going on 3 different
times from my doctor’s office. Not once has anyone from the school told me she
still was not being provided any drink during her lunch meal. I found this out
by my daughter telling me she is thirsty at school. Mariah's Doctor's office has
always complied with providing the needed paperwork pertaining to her need for
an alternate drink and her restricted 1800 calorie a day diet with adult
supervision to make low calorie choices during her lunch meal.
8. I am not in
agreement with many of the lower expectation goals that were created at the
5/30/12 and now AGAIN at the 11/29/12 TIEP meeting as they have been written in
such a way that makes Mariah out she like she was not on her way to being an
emerging 3 grade level reader. I am not in agreement with the results of DAR or
the DRA's as they always say 1.1 or 1.2 which I find outrageously low because
she is reading upper 2nd grade, 2.5 - 3.0 on a consistent basis according the
AR/Accelerated Reading Program.
8a. All the goals that my daughter was working on last year
in 5th grade at Stephen Foster Elementary school have been
“adulterated” and closed out without my
parent input, goals that have been set as mastered and weren’t, goals that
were discontinued that she should still be working on are lost in all the crazy
rush to tear down my daughters well written IEP by the ESE Department Head
Denise Rusnake and her handful of Program Specialist, including our Due Process
person, Lida Yocum (retaliation against me as a Advocate for Down syndrome)
(prior to the 5/30/12 IEP meeting) she had in
place before her Transition IEP into Middle school just to confuse and
create lower expectation goals. The goals do not match the AR records and her
progress made in reading.
8b. I again am requesting that her AR records be taken into
consideration and used as a more accurate snapshot of my daughters reading
abilities. Also, I have asked if AR can be used while she is attending Middle
school, but not one person replies back to me on the use of AR while in Middle
school. CAN the AR- Accelerated Reading Program be used for Mariah while
attending Middle School?
8c. AMENDED on 12/17/12. My FULL PARENTAL PARTICIPATION was not
allowed or encouraged as it relates to the continuation of the 5/30/12 IEP
meeting because I was ‘bullied out of’ the IEP Process by a ESE Department sent
District Program specialist, K. Edie. I was the party that requested to have an
IEP in the first place back on March 10th, 2012 with the meeting taking
place finally on 5/30/12. I asked to STOP the meeting, because within 7 minutes
of beginning and before introductions of IEP team participates were named, it
was recommended that I ‘could do recourse’ if I was NOT IN AGREEMENT to making
this particular 5/30/12 IEP meeting into Mariah’s ANNUAL IEP. Again I was the
one that had requested for an INTERIM IEP to update her IEP before
transitioning over and onto Middle school. I was denied to ever have an INTERIM
IEP that had been requested since March 10th, 2012 yet was not
provided any IEP meeting until 5/30/12. The meeting started out contentious and
I was being forced to making it my daughter’s ANNUAL IEP to which I was not
prepared for an ANNUAL at that time and was told it was the District “BEST PRACTICE
POLICY”. I had requested from the district this policy in writing 2 weeks prior
to the meeting and then again during the 5/30/12 IEP meeting to which I was not
provided the districts, BEST PRACTICE POLICY that was being forced on me. My daughter’s Annual was not due till the end
of September, 2012.
8d. AMENDED on 12/17/12. To
consider the goals that were closed out,
discontinued, rewritten without my parental participation to lower standards,
some goals stated as mastered, that those original goals be brought back to the
table and looked at with fidelity with my daughter’s unique and specially
designed instructional needs in mind.
9. At this time I am requesting that my daughter’s AT-Assistive Technology (laptop &
software programs) be used as they always have been. Parkway teachers and ESE
Support staff have not been allowing my daughter, Mariah Harris access to using
her laptop and software programs to help her with her goals for writing and
accessing alternate format of core class content.
10. At this time I
am in total disagreement with the 11/29/12 TIEP meeting and how I feel I was
"water-boarded" because of the time that was spent at this particular
meeting. It was recommended that the meeting would be from 9AM till 2:30PM. I
had emailed a request for it to end at 12:30PM because my daughter had a dental
appointment at 1pm. *No one responded to my email request for it to end at
12:30pm but at the beginning of the meeting it was noted that it would indeed
go till 12:30PM, but ended up going till 5:30PM long after my husband, he was
only able to attend for about an hour and my advocate had to leave to pick up
her own 2 children from the bus and she had left earlier in the day. They
wanted me along without support of my husband or my advocate. I learned from my
experience that this district will go ahead and do whatever they please if a
parent requests to STOP or set up another meeting that you don’t walk out of a
meeting because that is what happened to my meeting on 5/30/12. They will go
ahead and have the meeting without you and your input. Broward County Public
School ESE Staff at the District level (9th floor administrators and
at the school level, ESE Specialist just do not really care about our students
needing ESE Supports and services!)
11. At this time I
am requesting that my daughter Mariah Harris not be interviewed, tested,
assessed or removed from her General Education classrooms without my written
permission other than the testings approved at her reevaluation plan meeting
that was recently held.
12. At this time I am requesting maybe a change in school
may need to take place since the attitude of the ESE Specialist at Parkway has
always been unprofessional, contentious and unworkable with Mariah’s parents. I
am thinking that there has to be a Middle school out there that has workable
ESE Staff (Specialist) and Gen Ed teachers that have a better attitude towards
students & their families with disabilities. I have heard that Falcon Cove
Middle school is doing some awesome things that maybe should be the leader in
how other Middle schools treat their ESE population of students and their
parents…with respect. If Parkway ESE staff continue with treating my daughter
like she can’t ‘function’ and they don’t provide the ESE Support and services
that she needs I will have to ask that we find a better school suited for
Mariah Harris. Parkway Staff need Down syndrome specific training in order to
make my daughter’s 3 years of Middle school worthwhile… I would recommend
bringing in Kansas City Down syndrome Association to do a District wide Down
syndrome specific training for all of Broward County Public School ESE Staff
and Gen. Ed teachers that may have a student now or in the future sitting in
their classrooms. There has never been any Down syndrome specific training ever
in this district and the time is now for it! We do not need to continue to deny
the same educational opportunities for students with Down syndrome just because
there is still a prejudice towards a whole population of students here in
Broward County Public School system.
13. AMENDED on 12/17/12. At
this time I am charging that my daughter’s elementary school, Stephen Foster
Elementary did not provide FAPE to my daughter, Mariah Harris. A public agency
must provide an eligible child with a disability special education and related
services. Under 34 CFR §300.39(a), special education means specially designed
instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child
with a disability. Specially designed
instruction means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child
under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction: (1) to
address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability;
and (2) to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the
child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public
agency that apply to all children. See
34 CFR §300.39(b)(3). Therefore,
regardless of my
Here is the link to my Final Report to my Due Process I filed with the FDOE on December 12th, 2012
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7675/urlt/0069820-12-3961.pdf
