Separate thread: please post if you've received an in-person slot notification

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel full of despair and devastation.

This business of not rank-ordering IEPs based on the level of need is beyond insane. Moreover, it undermines the whole point of bringing in the neediest kids.

So a kid who qualifies for an aide doesn’t go back but one with a 15-minute a month OT consult does? Insanity.

But there won’t be any one-to-one aides in the classrooms anyway; so if they did put your student in the classroom, s/he wouldn’t have the aide.

Just saying, DCPS has lost any bragging rights that their plan is intended to serve the neediest kids.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the above. I’ve been trying to check my privilege because this new plan significantly disrupts DL and my K kid is barely hanging on. It’s so disappointing to hear that it’s not even serving many of those who need it most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you Chancellor-
For creating the absolute worst program for our children.

DCPS had failed to provide the required support for my children time and again.

The systematic unfairness of this program. If your placement was at one school but at another you did not.

My assumption with not bringing back 100% of the children in self contained classrooms is that these rooms are smaller (I know the SLS classroom at Lafayette is about 1/2 the size of a typical classroom). So could they not have moved the SLS classroom into a different classroom that was not being used this year? Or did they and they are still only bringing back 1/2 the class?

It likely has less to do with space and more with the kind of supervision needed to keep self-contained students distance and masked. But I agree that is should be priority number 1 and there have to be solutions.

[Anonymous]

I think the idea with bringing back 50% of self-contained children is the lack of staffing. I'd imagine only around half of SpEd teachers assigned to self-contained agreed to return in person. My best bet is that the lottery will select 50%, then the school brings in an additional two (if they have the staff allowing them to be in compliance with the teacher to student ratio).
As for services, OT and PT will be in person but speech won't. This is what they said in a reply to a question during the information session on Oct 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the above. I’ve been trying to check my privilege because this new plan significantly disrupts DL and my K kid is barely hanging on. It’s so disappointing to hear that it’s not even serving many of those who need it most.

I hope that the two appeal slots will capture some of these high iep students.

[Anonymous]

I really believe this will all culminate in a huge lawsuit of epic proportions. And DC can say goodbye to its statehood efforts after the nation and world see what a failure our nation's capital is in serving residents and their children. So much ineptitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the idea with bringing back 50% of self-contained children is the lack of staffing. I'd imagine only around half of SpEd teachers assigned to self-contained agreed to return in person. My best bet is that the lottery will select 50%, then the school brings in an additional two (if they have the staff allowing them to be in compliance with the teacher to student ratio).
As for services, OT and PT will be in person but speech won't. This is what they said in a reply to a question during the information session on Oct 6.

I would sue for private placement. DL for these kids is beyond the pale.

[Anonymous]

This is already an epic disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is already an epic disaster.

I'm making my peace with it. If they can't get teachers to go back, this is the second best plan. It certainly can't be worse than what is happening now, especially for iep kids. It's it possible that most who want a cares classroom will be able to get one. DL will need to change to more small group instruction, which woks better anyway. DL teachers will likely have to up their contact hours, which seems fair.

[Anonymous]

My kid who receives services is every category totally several hours a week did not get a spot but multiple classmates did who get speech therapy twice a month. WHAT THE HELL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid who receives services is every category totally several hours a week did not get a spot but multiple classmates did who get speech therapy twice a month. WHAT THE HELL

How do you know this already? Did you talk to the parents? Do you know their situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is already an epic disaster.

I'm making my peace with it. If they can't get teachers to go back, this is the second best plan. It certainly can't be worse than what is happening now, especially for iep kids. It's it possible that most who want a cares classroom will be able to get one. DL will need to change to more small group instruction, which woks better anyway. DL teachers will likely have to up their contact hours, which seems fair.

Sorry, but failing to give my high-needs IEP kid a slot, and instead putting her in a virtual classroom with 35 kids IS making a bad situation worse.

A 35-person virtual classroom overseen by an untrained CAREs person won’t be a solution. That would make, horrible, to worse to far worse.

[Anonymous]

My kid also didn’t get a spot. He has an IEP for 5 hrs a week of special ED and an hour a week of speech. We’re in PK at an Upper NW school. Can’t imagine many kids there who are at risk or homeless. Not happy. He won’t do any of his therapies virtually and DL is a joke for him.

[Anonymous]

This is why the teachers had to be involved. DCPS has made a horrible situation a million times worse for the majority of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is already an epic disaster.

I'm making my peace with it. If they can't get teachers to go back, this is the second best plan. It certainly can't be worse than what is happening now, especially for iep kids. It's it possible that most who want a cares classroom will be able to get one. DL will need to change to more small group instruction, which woks better anyway. DL teachers will likely have to up their contact hours, which seems fair.

Sorry, but failing to give my high-needs IEP kid a slot, and instead putting her in a virtual classroom with 35 kids IS making a bad situation worse.

A 35-person virtual classroom overseen by an untrained CAREs person won’t be a solution. That would make, horrible, to worse to far worse.

But they can't get enough teachers to go back. They can't even get one teacher per grade to go back with covid numbers low. DL is so bad I don't really see a difference between 24 and 35. This way at least 100 students pr school won't be left behind. The current way all will be left behind.