Advocates vs attorneys when seeking DC district private school placement

[Anonymous]

Hi and thanks so much to this group and members for sharing their insights.

Due to ongoing job loss and family structure changes, we are not able to continue to self-pay for our dyslexic/ADHD/anxiety/ARFID-diagnosed child.

Thoughts on best next steps to explore DC paying for school going forward? We sold our home and relocated to DC thinking our situation would be temporary. Job prospects are aren't better and dyslexia schools full back "home."

Thanks so much in advance!

[Anonymous]

You will eventually need both an attorney and advocate/expert because it's almost definite that you'll need to go to due process. It's not impossible, but you have a high bar to showing that nonpublic is necessary when you haven't even tried DCPS.

Is the current school a special ed school like Lab or a gen ed school with lots of kids with disabilities like McLean?

[Anonymous]

What school are you currently enrolled in?

There is a list of schools that DC does private placement for - so if you are in one of them it might be a little bit easier to make a case.

For a lawyer - I would go straight to Michael Eig: https://lawforchildren.com/

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, you will have to enroll in public school and show that your child cannot learn in a public school setting. This could take a long time. If your child does show growth (which is good) will make it more difficult to make your case.

[Anonymous]

It is almost impossible to get a school to pay for a private placement without ever being enrolled in their district. The only time I have seen this is when a child has a private placement funded by one district, and they move to a new district, and the new district decides to keep the child in their current placement.

I'm not discouraging you from talking to a lawyer or advocate, but this is an extremely unlikely possibility. Especially for learning disabilities - most students in private placements have complex and severe developmental or behavioral needs. Has your child ever been evaluated by a school district and been eligible for services? Did they make any progress with those services? Those are the questions they'll ask. The first step I'd suggest is requesting a special ed evaluation from DCPS to see if they would even qualify for an IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is almost impossible to get a school to pay for a private placement without ever being enrolled in their district. The only time I have seen this is when a child has a private placement funded by one district, and they move to a new district, and the new district decides to keep the child in their current placement.

I'm not discouraging you from talking to a lawyer or advocate, but this is an extremely unlikely possibility. Especially for learning disabilities - most students in private placements have complex and severe developmental or behavioral needs. Has your child ever been evaluated by a school district and been eligible for services? Did they make any progress with those services? Those are the questions they'll ask. The first step I'd suggest is requesting a special ed evaluation from DCPS to see if they would even qualify for an IEP.

+1

[Anonymous]

Talk to a lawyer before you request DCPS to do an assessment.
DCPS central office is known for not determining a child eligible if they think you are rich enough. If you navigate this the right way, you might be able to claim child find - but you need a lawyer to help you go through the steps.
Here is a link to the schools DC will place students at: https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/COA%20Approved%20List%20Day%2010.22.25.pdf

The Chelsea School and Lab are the 2 that are known for supporting students with dyslexia