Funnies/Quotable Quotes
If you have a REALLY good sense of humor, these quotes taken from real discussions, hearings and written evidence will amuse you.
Taken from an email written from a teacher in Clay Community Schools on May 15, 2003, to the school psychologist about a child with clearly diagnosed SEVERE ADHD by several qualified medical professionals:
“STUDENT (name changed to protect the innocent) is a strange case. We all feel that his biggest problem is that his mom and dad are looking for any excuse to explain STUDENT’S bad behavior. I do believe that he is somewhat ADHD; however, we have had much more severe cases – (name omitted), for example. STUDENT doesn’t get along with any other student – he picks and complains and antagonizes one and all. I can also say that no one likes him. Not because it is the popular thing to do, but they really don’t like him. His academic levels are low because he has had the crutch of “it’s his disability” used so often that he no longer really tries. He and his parents expect everyone else to do his work and not hold him accountable because it is “his disability”. He won’t start working in class on assignments unless he is specifically told to do so, and he wants to try the excuse “I’m thinking’ when the exercise clearly doesn’t even take any thinking. I don’t know how to counteract a life of parents telling him that there is something majorily (sic) wrong with him. They have tried every test, counseling, medicine that is out there. I can’t imagine how he is to deal with constantly being told that there is something terribly wrong. We have found that if we tell him “that’s it, you act like that or do that again, and you’re outta here,” then he can control his behavior. However, theline (sic) must be drawn in the sand for him to see that he has reached the limit of what we’ll tolerate. The parents and the behavioral plan said we were to do three warnings, but we found that one worked as well as three. We’ll all be interested to get the results of his testing.”
An advocate was having a discussion with an administrator at a case conference. After much discussion about the student’s need for more one on one academic instruction (independent evaluator was at meeting and making very clear case for same), the school decided not to offer more one on one instruction, anyway.
Advocate: OK. So I need to be clear that I understand the school’s position with regard to increased one on one instruction. The school’s position is that additional one on one instruction is not warranted, is that right?
Team chair: That is correct.
Advocate: OK. Will you be certain to send the required written notice to the parent?
Team chair: (blank stare, pregnant pause): What are you talking about?
Advocate: Well, whenever a parent asks a school to change their child’s program in some way, and the school refused to do so, IDEA requires that the parent be provided with written notice.
Team Chair: Well, we’re not refusing to do anything.
Advocate: The parent requested additional one on one instruction. The school’s position is that this is not needed and will not be provided. Therefore, you are refusing to change the child’s program as requested by the parent.
Team chair (now getting very annoyed and huffy): Ms. Advocate, I’ve already told you once: We are not refusing anything. We simply feel that the additional instruction is not needed.
Advocate (now tired of arguing with team chair): Uh, OK.
Written team meeting agenda for a child’s three-year reevaluation meeting:
Total time allotted to meeting 30 minutes
Introductions: 3 minutes
Setting ground rules for how meeting will be conducted: 3 minutes
Eval 1: 3 minutes
Eval 2: 3 minutes
Eval 3: 3 minutes
Eval 4: 3 minutes
Eval 5: 3 minutes
Parent questions: 3 minutes
Develop IEP: 3 minutes
Summarize meeting: 3 minutes
Note from special education director to staff members, found in student file. Important: Time of year is summer:
“When Mrs. Advocate comes in to review student’s records, one of you will have to sit with her to be sure she doesn’t take anything. Also, I would prefer that she use a room that is not air conditioned.”
An advocate asked the school to provide written notice to a parent requesting a service that was refused:
Advocate: OK. Will you be certain to send the required written notice to the parent?
Team Chair: We don’t do that here.
Advocate: Well, you have to. It’s required by law.
Team chair (very angry by now): Mrs. Advocate, the law is all well and good, but you need to understand the day to day realities of how schools operate.
This scenario occurred in a case in Northern Indiana:
The child had severe behavior problems and was eligible for special education and related services under the area of Emotional Disability.
Several of the documents in evidence and several of the witnesses had testified that when the child became stressed out at school, he would either flap his arms in the air or roll on the floor.
During a break, while the attorney for the parent was out of the room. the next witness, a school employee, came in to testify, and he was obviously nervous.
The parent reported to her attorney after the attorney returned to the room that the school's attorney, who works for one of the largest, most respected firms in Indiana, had said to the nervous witness: "Well, perhaps if you flap your arms in the air and roll on the floor, you'll feel better."
Needless to say, the parent of the child was very upset that the school's attorney felt it was OK to make fun of her child with disabilities.
Transcript at 96 From Kathryn M. v. Hyde Park Central SD (NY)
Chair of IEP team: “. . . I had discussed how K. was coming to school fairly consistently with the exception of being out every other day . . .“
The following is an email from a special education director in a large metropolitan school district in the Indianapolis area, dated 04-20-04, who apparently thinks the laws are all well and good but that they don’t apply to this particular district:
“Mrs. Mother (name changed to protect the innocent), your request for all of you (sic) child’s school records were (sic) passed to me. Many of the things that you requested such as deficiency notes, and correspondence from parents to mane a few are not kept and put in a child’s cumulative record file. I would imagine that you can get such things as the attendance records, schedules and the grades from our website. If you would contact (NAME OF SCHOOL OMMITTED) they can give you more in-depth directions as to how to access these. Regarding the evaluation report, IEP etc., those would have been given to you at the case conference. You are welcome to make an appointment to come in and review your child’s file in our office if you would like but unless if (sic) we are in a due process situation, we do not make copies of the records.”
The following is contained in an email dated January 12, 2005, from a principal to a parent’s advocate.
First, the advocate wrote: “The (NAME OMITTED FAMILY) want (STUDENT’S NAME OMITTED) back in the home school. What do we need to do to get him there?”
The principal responded, “When is this supposed to happen? I need to give my two weeks notice. Ha ha.”
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The following is contained in an email written between two school employees and dated March 23, 2004. It was found in the student’s file by an advocate working with the parents who went to view the student’s file:
- Find out how old is the doctor’s written script which states that pull-ups are detrimental and that using a toileting schedule is not appropriate. If it is over six months old, the parents should be requested to get an updated script.
- Invite the doctor to come to the case conference. Taylor would probably have to pay him since Taylor would be doing the inviting.
- Convene the conference and develop goals for teaching toileting skills. In this way, you can then show a hearing officer (if it comes to that) that the school has addressed this in his IEP.
- If the parents continue to refuse to have him wear pull-ups and/or follow a schedule, then the school should make it very clear to the parent that this is a health and safety issue for, not only Brandon, but for the other children as well. If the parents continue to refuse, let them know that this may be a child abuse or child neglect and that you will be reporting this to Welfare.
- Make sure that you are establishing a written record.
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The following is a long-time parent advocate’s account of what she witnessed at a recent case conference in Hancock County:
Yesterday I attended an IEP with a family at XXX Middle School. We did tape the meeting, but I wish we had videotaped it too! (THE DIRECTOR) attended the meeting...His only comment the entire time was, "I am sorry I am late." However, the highlight was that the Assistant Principal asked when he walked in what kind of a meeting is this? He kept falling asleep during the meeting. After the meeting the parents and I walked out of the school building, and the Dad's first comment was "Who was that guy?" The three of us broke out in laughter. (Tho' it should have been tears!).
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