S/O Has your public school allowed private therapists to treat your child druing the school day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's another issue.

If a child needs services in a public school, the school is on the hook to provide them via an IEP or occasionally a 504 plan.

If the school is not providing those services, but makes provisions for a private therapist to do it, couldn't it help a parent make the case down the road that the school wasn't providing FAPE?

Clarifying -- i mean if they were to allow a private therapist, chosen and paid for by the parents.

The corollary is that you can't send your own math teacher or tutor into a school to just work with your child instead of, or in addition to, the school's teachers.

[Anonymous]

Sending in a therapist to work with your child means that the child is missing class. The county is obligated to teach the curriculum and a student cannot weekly miss class to work on other skills. You can take your child out of school for a weekly appointment because it is your right as a parent to excuse them from school. The school doesn't have to support this in their own building. THe school cannot excuse your child from the curriculum. Additionally, the school doesn't want to be responsible for another adult in the building who is not an employer, but who will be working directly with students. And where would this person work? Schools already have no space. There is also the issue of privacy for other students.Private schools can chose to do this because they can also have parents sign a contract stating who is responsible for what if something goes wrong.

[Anonymous]

I have had a child meet with a social worker once a week during school before. They were county government employee, and not school. Talk with your counselor or case manager and see if a contract could be drawn up about release of liability and accountability for missing classwork.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you should expect to be able to have ongoing pullout therapies at shool or academic interventions using private therapists. That seems disruptive and I can see why they would not want to overlap with class time or their own special ed teams. But I do think things like having an outside consultant observe behavior and/or social skills and possibly provide interventions might be more defensible, particularly if it is to evaluate the child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's another issue.

If a child needs services in a public school, the school is on the hook to provide them via an IEP or occasionally a 504 plan.

If the school is not providing those services, but makes provisions for a private therapist to do it, couldn't it help a parent make the case down the road that the school wasn't providing FAPE?

Clarifying -- i mean if they were to allow a private therapist, chosen and paid for by the parents.

The corollary is that you can't send your own math teacher or tutor into a school to just work with your child instead of, or in addition to, the school's teachers.

FAPE means provides "access" to the curriculum--not succeed at the curriculum. If your kid needs more services that what the school provides, then you pay out of pocket for services that in general wouldn't be provided on public school grounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had a child meet with a social worker once a week during school before. They were county government employee, and not school. Talk with your counselor or case manager and see if a contract could be drawn up about release of liability and accountability for missing classwork.

That is a bit different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had a child meet with a social worker once a week during school before. They were county government employee, and not school. Talk with your counselor or case manager and see if a contract could be drawn up about release of liability and accountability for missing classwork.

That is a bit different.

Why is it different?

Lots of talk of "liability" and "obligations" here but does anyone actually have a link to something in writing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Volunteers do not work one one one with kids outside the classroom.

They make copies, come in and read stories to kids, help with library books, etc.

What you are asking for makes no sense.

I am not OP. And our public school system does allow volunteers to work one on one with students "unsupervised". They require training and a criminal background check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had a child meet with a social worker once a week during school before. They were county government employee, and not school. Talk with your counselor or case manager and see if a contract could be drawn up about release of liability and accountability for missing classwork.

That is a bit different.

Why is it different?

Lots of talk of "liability" and "obligations" here but does anyone actually have a link to something in writing?

It's a government employee tasked with that child or family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is an issue of where they would work with your child? The school can't provide office space. And what I'd something happened on campus while the private therapists were treating your child? Could the school be found liable? The logistics seem tricky.

This. It's totally preposterous to think that a school would allow a non-staff member to work with your child during the school day. Who would be responsible for ensuring that the child moves from the classroom to this office space that the school would have to provide? What happens during a fire drill? Who accounts for OP's kid?

Whatever. These concerns are excuses. They could make it work if they actually cared about what was best for the child. They allow volunteers; why not professionals?

Our private ST has been going into our private school for years. The therapist is an adult with a brain so when they evacuated, just this week, due to a bomb threat, she followed everyone out of the building and kept DS with her until she found his class. Then she helped with all the kids because she couldn't leave anyway.

The school staff love her and value her input.

Don't be ridiculous. Liability laws aren't just made up on the spot. A private school has more discretion as to whom they allow on campus and probably have more space available. Have you been to a public school recently? They are incredibly over crowded. There aren't empty offices sitting around. Get a grip and get out of your bubble.

This is the real answer. Once your child enters those school doors the school has accepted responsibility for their safety and well-being. Outside personnel (those without MCPS approval and background checks/fingerprinting) have to be accompanied at all times. That means that the school would have to devote someone to observing your child's therapy session in the hallway, while classes are going on. In most of the schools I've worked at the OTs and PTs haven't had a workspace because there simply isn't room, and occasionally the SLPs. The school does not have the resources to do this and cannot afford to get sued if something should happen. If you want therapy during the school day you have to go through the process of removing the child from their care, or making use of the school SLP if they qualify for educational speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Creative Minds has the space and has a slew of professionals they contract with. It will not allow private therapists even with the therapists having their own liability insurance and parent signing a waiver of liability. It is ridiculous.

Isn't that the whole point of the school? That makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creative Minds has the space and has a slew of professionals they contract with. It will not allow private therapists even with the therapists having their own liability insurance and parent signing a waiver of liability. It is ridiculous.

Isn't that the whole point of the school? That makes no sense.

CMI employs and contracts with many therapists to provide students with the therapies called for in their IEPs.

They do not allow additional therapists, paid for by the parents, to treat children on school property.

This seems completely appropriate to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteers do not work one one one with kids outside the classroom.

They make copies, come in and read stories to kids, help with library books, etc.

What you are asking for makes no sense.

I am not OP. And our public school system does allow volunteers to work one on one with students "unsupervised". They require training and a criminal background check.

+1. We explored this for private academic therapy for DC, and were told it was possible, though would be subject to space availability and b/c our school is so over-crowded, was likely impossible midday; we were told we could look at right before and right after school however (i.e. 7-9 AM, 4-6 PM). As the PP said, there is a process for outside service providers, they have a background check, go through some limited training, and reserve space in the school. For a non-profit (our tutor is affiliated with non-profit, ASDEC, which makes it cheaper), the cost to rent a classroom before or after school is $7/hour, in MCPS. They basically would follow the same process other aftercare providers/school club organizers do (i.e. Kaizan Karate, robotics club, etc.) do. If you are in MCPS, here is the link: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/CUPF/info-reservation/MCPS.html, and here is the fee chart: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/CUPF/Resources/Files/FeeChart-MCPSFy17.pdf

We didn't end up pursuing this, this year, as it turned out to be more convenient to have our AT come to our house before school b/c we get 2 hours of tutoring super early, for 2 kids. But again we were told it was an option, if we/our provider went through the process, there was room available, etc.

I'm not sure the extent a public school team would be willing to regularly interface and dialogue with private OT/AT/therapist/tutor, though, and suspect that may be very school/teacher/administration specific. We have been lucky to have amazing, communicative, kind (probably rare) Gen Ed and Spec. Ed teachers, both willing to speak with our therapist a few times, coordinate what's being worked on, etc. In our experience, if you are able to develop positive relationships with your teachers and team (not always possible, of course), much can negotiated/lubricated even if a party line from the administration is not as encouraging.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's another issue.

If a child needs services in a public school, the school is on the hook to provide them via an IEP or occasionally a 504 plan.

If the school is not providing those services, but makes provisions for a private therapist to do it, couldn't it help a parent make the case down the road that the school wasn't providing FAPE?

I think that this is the biggest issue, not liability and not space. I know several families who have been told as much. One has switched to a private who has no problem allowing an academic therapist in the school several days a week, another sees the AT three days per week before school, and the last homeschools.

In answer to a different poster, I have volunteered a lot at my kids' public and it is 1-on-1 plenty of time, especially working on reading fluency. It was NBD.