School Extremes

It has been interesting to me to watch the 2 extremes that have been going on between our local district and our ORCA "district". Today, we got another WOW from ORCA, that again proves that the 2 districts we are working with are NOT the same.

Our first experience with extremes was before school even started. We knew Colton had new and emerging medical, health and behavioral concerns. He had seen OHSU specialists several times during the Summer, which resulted in the decision to go ahead with surgeries that would impact his education, among other things.
I made phone calls and sent emails to CSD to let them know all of our new concerns, and to request a formal IEP Mtng to get all of his new stuff in place for this school year. None of my calls or messages were returned. I also made phone calls to our host ORCA school, and talked directly to the assistant principle - multiple times. I was able to coordinate and confirm that Colton would have the same teacher he did last year, that the curriculum would be modified to meet his needs, and we were offfered a special medical laptop just for Colton so we could do lessons during our hospital stays. In the midst of our medical challenges, I received phone calls and webmails from Colton's teacher, the assistant principle, and his ORCA special needs director all checking to see how we were doing and if there was anything more that we needed. We still heard nothing from CSD.

Another extreme happened after school started. We again repeated our request for a formal IEP mtng - which CSD agreed to do with us at the end of last year. My requests were not heeded in any way. I finally went directly to the CSD special needs director in our district to let her know what was going on and what we needed. Still nothing. Finally, after phone calls and webmails to our ORCA team, and communication from them, an IEP mtng was grudgingly scheduled. During that meeting, however, the special needs director did not attend, and the person in her place and those present pretty much dismissed the HUGE stack of medical and behavioral reports sitting in front of them. The PROOF that what we were requesting for Colton (that his IEP show in written form the medical needs for extra services) was valid. Their side has been that if they are not seeing him or providing services, then they arent going to comply, that they want their OWN reports.

During this waiting game, we spent our own time and money seeking several other specialists to gather more needed documentation to plead our case. The CSD speech and pysch team came to "observe" Colton for their own records. Even after many protests and attempts to request a real observation (1/2-whole day) they came and left in 90min. They observed part of our school routine, and none of the fall-out that occurred after they left because of the disruption to our morning. They weren't willing to give the time or efforts to see the things that we were trying to explain. They requested more paper reports from me and others Colton interracts with. The same set of papers we had filled out 2x already for outside specialists.
ORCA, during this same waiting period, continued with constant communication about where Colton was, what specialists we were seeing, and being completely involved as much as possible.
***Just as a side note, the squeaky wheel does get the grease - Our efforts and requests to CSD seem to be paying off now that we have a confirmed diagnosis from THREE sources to confirm Colton's ADHD, and a report from a new speech specialist concurring with OHSU team. We are hoping to take these reports and get a newly drafted IEP with all medical documentation by the end of this month.

So, back to our news of today. Here is yet another extreme. Many people know how involved we have been in the local school district. Preston has officially applied for the interim position on the board. After the 1st official vote by the board it came to a dead end and a tied vote. Between the 1st and 2nd vote, we were the subject of nasty rumors and very unkind words from board and community members. At the time of the 2nd vote, again the board hit a wall - resulting again in dead-lock and including Preston losing a vote that had been given the month before. At that time, the board chose to not make any decions and will leave the slot empty until official elections in May. Not only did they not resolve the immediate concern, they have left one area of our city not represented at all, and have put themselves in a position of constant deadlock and not being able to move forward with anything critical because there will never be a majority vote. It has also put extra pressure and stress on many of the current board members. A constant concern is that those with strongest voices will continue to pressure those with not strong voices, and a lot of ill will continue to come from the board as things are still not resolved or even brought to where they should be addressed.

So now flip over to ORCA. Preston forwarded a letter to me that he received from the ORCA parent association/school board. He has been very involved in the parent association and everything involved with ORCA since we enrolled the kids. Really it is no surprise that he received this letter. In it was a personal, official invitation to fill an open slot on the board. The letter outlined what expectations for the position would be including, "...staying informed and doing our best to particiapte and encourage others to become involved whether that be listening or giving testimony, notifiying legislators about current legislation, or visiting the Oregon Department of Education. We make goals of what we'd like to see accomplished within ORCAPA. We work with the public relations liasion for ORCA, as well as the PR from National Connections Academy. We help provide direction for the yahoo group as well."

Her final comments were these: "Please consider this position: you are such an asset. You have a beautiful calm nature about you and you have the gift to make the complex, simple."

Pretty impressive to me, considering that most of the people that Preston has had contact with so far in ORCA communications has been through email or phone calls only. He has worked hard, and others are seeing that. It is a really great opportunity for him to serve and not only advocate for our family, but for all the ORCA families in Oregon and contribute to things at the national level...It is also an extact opposite of what has happened within CSD.
We are waiting to see what other information can be gathered before he makes a final decision. It should make for some interesting posts in the future.

I am sure there are other things I could, and probably will write about. Just has been an interesting experience being in the middle of both schools and districts.