FCPS Early Release Mondays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents in the AAP forum have admitted to using tutors to keep their kid up to speed in AAP because they are so sure that the Gen Ed class room is awful. Several Moms spent an entire thread discussing how they were not sorry for appealing their kid into AAP even though they knew their kid would not be able to keep up and would slow the class down.

I am sure that there are parents at schools that are very focused on AAP who use tutors to get their kid to a place that they look like they need AAP and then keep using tutors to keep their kid in AAP. That is very different then the parents who use tutors because their kid is on grade level but struggling and the parents want to help the kid be more confident.

This area is a bit ridiculous in its desire to have kids in the most advanced everything, AAP is not immune.

You have to look at why people want AAP. Some want it because if it being the most advanced. Others want it to get a class free of the worst disturbances. Our kid had a year in class with a chair thrower. Evacuating a couple of times a week plus regular disturbances that didn't require leaving the class is not what most parents want for their kids

Agreed. Then people complain about the money and special services for kids with IEPs. There is no winning. You want the disruptive kids out of the classroom? We need to have specialized programs for those kids and a means of quickly moving them out of the regular classroom into those programs. That costs money. We need more options for small classroom environments for kids with emotional regulation issues but those cost money because you need 1) space 2) more specially trained teachers.

We also need for a more streamlined process to remove kids who are disruptive from the classroom that takes less effort from Teachers. Teachers spend a lot of time documenting what they are doing for kid with IEPs because if they don't the school district is sued. And they spend lots of times at IEP meetings because there is a requirement for Teachers to attend meetings and parents can call one at pretty much any time. But the process needs to be easier and there needs to be a faster process for kids who are disruptive whose parents refuse to enter into an IEP process or consider moving their child. I know a family that has moved every year of MS and HS in order to avoid acknowledging their kids needs. The kid was suspended multiple times in ES and MS. There is nothing the County can do.

There are kids who have been approved for private schools due to the district not being able to meet their needs and no spaces are available. And some of those spaces are pretty much warehouses for kids and pretty dismal.

Regarding the “chair throwers”- it is extremely difficult for FCPS to get the student into an alternate placement. Because of Least Restrictive Environment, politics, and litigious parents. I am 100% for inclusion of students with disabilities. But some students need alternate placements for their growth and for the safety of others. You would not believe the meetings, documentation, and justification that teachers/admin have to do to make this possible (even when parents agree!!). It’s terrible.

It also doesn’t help that the schools are filled and there’s waiting lists for kids to get in.

There are hundreds of fcps kids where the iep team has agreed they should be in a special ed only school and they cannot be moved because there *are no seats*. Its a huge problem that is never discussed. We need more special ed day schools. The current system of relying on private organizations to open up schools is ridiculous.

Fairfax can barely staff the positions we have now, let alone a special ed only school.

v

FCPS already has multiple “special ed only” schools. They are called comprehensive service sites (CSS). Also pulley-Davis center. They are staffed by FCPS. FCPS also has push-in and pull-out sped services in all k-12 schools. FCPS also offers “sped only” preschool. All staffed by FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like what they have isn't nearly enough to cover the demand, if they have kids sitting at home or disrupting general ed because they have nowhere else to send them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents in the AAP forum have admitted to using tutors to keep their kid up to speed in AAP because they are so sure that the Gen Ed class room is awful. Several Moms spent an entire thread discussing how they were not sorry for appealing their kid into AAP even though they knew their kid would not be able to keep up and would slow the class down.

I am sure that there are parents at schools that are very focused on AAP who use tutors to get their kid to a place that they look like they need AAP and then keep using tutors to keep their kid in AAP. That is very different then the parents who use tutors because their kid is on grade level but struggling and the parents want to help the kid be more confident.

This area is a bit ridiculous in its desire to have kids in the most advanced everything, AAP is not immune.

You have to look at why people want AAP. Some want it because if it being the most advanced. Others want it to get a class free of the worst disturbances. Our kid had a year in class with a chair thrower. Evacuating a couple of times a week plus regular disturbances that didn't require leaving the class is not what most parents want for their kids

Agreed. Then people complain about the money and special services for kids with IEPs. There is no winning. You want the disruptive kids out of the classroom? We need to have specialized programs for those kids and a means of quickly moving them out of the regular classroom into those programs. That costs money. We need more options for small classroom environments for kids with emotional regulation issues but those cost money because you need 1) space 2) more specially trained teachers.

We also need for a more streamlined process to remove kids who are disruptive from the classroom that takes less effort from Teachers. Teachers spend a lot of time documenting what they are doing for kid with IEPs because if they don't the school district is sued. And they spend lots of times at IEP meetings because there is a requirement for Teachers to attend meetings and parents can call one at pretty much any time. But the process needs to be easier and there needs to be a faster process for kids who are disruptive whose parents refuse to enter into an IEP process or consider moving their child. I know a family that has moved every year of MS and HS in order to avoid acknowledging their kids needs. The kid was suspended multiple times in ES and MS. There is nothing the County can do.

There are kids who have been approved for private schools due to the district not being able to meet their needs and no spaces are available. And some of those spaces are pretty much warehouses for kids and pretty dismal.

Regarding the “chair throwers”- it is extremely difficult for FCPS to get the student into an alternate placement. Because of Least Restrictive Environment, politics, and litigious parents. I am 100% for inclusion of students with disabilities. But some students need alternate placements for their growth and for the safety of others. You would not believe the meetings, documentation, and justification that teachers/admin have to do to make this possible (even when parents agree!!). It’s terrible.

It also doesn’t help that the schools are filled and there’s waiting lists for kids to get in.

There are hundreds of fcps kids where the iep team has agreed they should be in a special ed only school and they cannot be moved because there *are no seats*. Its a huge problem that is never discussed. We need more special ed day schools. The current system of relying on private organizations to open up schools is ridiculous.

OMG, yes! But it’s only going to get worse.

The state now requires special education students to average 80% of their day in gen ed. That’s averaged over all of the kids. But every kid who goes to a special school is 100% OUT of gen ed. The thousand multiple disabilities kids who are self-contained are 100% out of gen ed. So there will be fewer other kids getting specialized help outside of the gen ed classroom. How many fewer getting what they need? A LOT. Fairfax has to hit a target of 80% - they are currently at only 54%.

Things are about to get WAY worse.

What? That makes no sense.

The Post needs to do an investigative report on all these kids sitting at home due to FCPS's incompetence. If the private sector isn't providing enough seats, FCPS needs to open and run their own special ed schools. The private day schools are being bought by venture capitalists, or they are poorly run by charities with no oversight or standards, etc. Basically just warehouses until the kids drop out.

FCPS already has schools (and/or systems in place) to support this need. They may be at home waiting for a spot, but the majority of them are still being taught (virtually or in-person).

You have no clue what you are talking about. Every special ed school is running a long waitlist. FCPS breaks the law every day and just hopes no one will sue them.

When you agree to the transfer they tell you there’s a waiting list, so aren’t you agreeing to it. (Kind of hard to sue then.)

That's not how it works. The IEP team agrees that the correct placement is a "special ed private day school" (This is NOT a private school like Sidwell Friends.) IEP is signed. Then, FCPS sends the child's information to whatever "private" school they think might be appropriate. The school has to accept the student. If they don't have any space, they don't accept. Then the information is sent out to another school. That school can decline or accept. There are only a handful of schools, total, so if they are all full, the student has to wait and see if they will be accepted once a spot opens up. In the meantime, they are sitting at home out of school or on "stay put" at their current, ill-suited school.

But it was explained that there would be a wait, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like what they have isn't nearly enough to cover the demand, if they have kids sitting at home or disrupting general ed because they have nowhere else to send them.

So taxes should go up for the rest of us because parents can’t raise their kids to behave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like what they have isn't nearly enough to cover the demand, if they have kids sitting at home or disrupting general ed because they have nowhere else to send them.

So taxes should go up for the rest of us because parents can’t raise their kids to behave?

You sound ignorant. Many special needs that manifest in behavior issues are not caused by bad parenting. But you already know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents in the AAP forum have admitted to using tutors to keep their kid up to speed in AAP because they are so sure that the Gen Ed class room is awful. Several Moms spent an entire thread discussing how they were not sorry for appealing their kid into AAP even though they knew their kid would not be able to keep up and would slow the class down.

I am sure that there are parents at schools that are very focused on AAP who use tutors to get their kid to a place that they look like they need AAP and then keep using tutors to keep their kid in AAP. That is very different then the parents who use tutors because their kid is on grade level but struggling and the parents want to help the kid be more confident.

This area is a bit ridiculous in its desire to have kids in the most advanced everything, AAP is not immune.

You have to look at why people want AAP. Some want it because if it being the most advanced. Others want it to get a class free of the worst disturbances. Our kid had a year in class with a chair thrower. Evacuating a couple of times a week plus regular disturbances that didn't require leaving the class is not what most parents want for their kids

Agreed. Then people complain about the money and special services for kids with IEPs. There is no winning. You want the disruptive kids out of the classroom? We need to have specialized programs for those kids and a means of quickly moving them out of the regular classroom into those programs. That costs money. We need more options for small classroom environments for kids with emotional regulation issues but those cost money because you need 1) space 2) more specially trained teachers.

We also need for a more streamlined process to remove kids who are disruptive from the classroom that takes less effort from Teachers. Teachers spend a lot of time documenting what they are doing for kid with IEPs because if they don't the school district is sued. And they spend lots of times at IEP meetings because there is a requirement for Teachers to attend meetings and parents can call one at pretty much any time. But the process needs to be easier and there needs to be a faster process for kids who are disruptive whose parents refuse to enter into an IEP process or consider moving their child. I know a family that has moved every year of MS and HS in order to avoid acknowledging their kids needs. The kid was suspended multiple times in ES and MS. There is nothing the County can do.

There are kids who have been approved for private schools due to the district not being able to meet their needs and no spaces are available. And some of those spaces are pretty much warehouses for kids and pretty dismal.

Regarding the “chair throwers”- it is extremely difficult for FCPS to get the student into an alternate placement. Because of Least Restrictive Environment, politics, and litigious parents. I am 100% for inclusion of students with disabilities. But some students need alternate placements for their growth and for the safety of others. You would not believe the meetings, documentation, and justification that teachers/admin have to do to make this possible (even when parents agree!!). It’s terrible.

It also doesn’t help that the schools are filled and there’s waiting lists for kids to get in.

There are hundreds of fcps kids where the iep team has agreed they should be in a special ed only school and they cannot be moved because there *are no seats*. Its a huge problem that is never discussed. We need more special ed day schools. The current system of relying on private organizations to open up schools is ridiculous.

OMG, yes! But it’s only going to get worse.

The state now requires special education students to average 80% of their day in gen ed. That’s averaged over all of the kids. But every kid who goes to a special school is 100% OUT of gen ed. The thousand multiple disabilities kids who are self-contained are 100% out of gen ed. So there will be fewer other kids getting specialized help outside of the gen ed classroom. How many fewer getting what they need? A LOT. Fairfax has to hit a target of 80% - they are currently at only 54%.

Things are about to get WAY worse.

What? That makes no sense.

The Post needs to do an investigative report on all these kids sitting at home due to FCPS's incompetence. If the private sector isn't providing enough seats, FCPS needs to open and run their own special ed schools. The private day schools are being bought by venture capitalists, or they are poorly run by charities with no oversight or standards, etc. Basically just warehouses until the kids drop out.

FCPS already has schools (and/or systems in place) to support this need. They may be at home waiting for a spot, but the majority of them are still being taught (virtually or in-person).

You have no clue what you are talking about. Every special ed school is running a long waitlist. FCPS breaks the law every day and just hopes no one will sue them.

When you agree to the transfer they tell you there’s a waiting list, so aren’t you agreeing to it. (Kind of hard to sue then.)

That's not how it works. The IEP team agrees that the correct placement is a "special ed private day school" (This is NOT a private school like Sidwell Friends.) IEP is signed. Then, FCPS sends the child's information to whatever "private" school they think might be appropriate. The school has to accept the student. If they don't have any space, they don't accept. Then the information is sent out to another school. That school can decline or accept. There are only a handful of schools, total, so if they are all full, the student has to wait and see if they will be accepted once a spot opens up. In the meantime, they are sitting at home out of school or on "stay put" at their current, ill-suited school.

But it was explained that there would be a wait, correct?

Unlikely. They want parents to agree to what fcps is suggesting. They aren't telling people their kid will be out of school for 6 months.

[Anonymous]

FCPS explicitly promised in writing that they would supervise children during the esrly release. Has anyone followed up with their school board rep or principal to confirm?