Will FCPS fight to keep from giving out 504 plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took our son to his pediatrician for a ADHD diagnosis. We then took that to the school and there was no hesitation at all to a 504 plan.

We are now back looking for a possible IEP. Son has done well with the accommodations put in place under the 504, but he is still have lots of difficulty with reading and writing and there are concerns that something just isn't right. We have ruled out eye issues. The local screening committee all agreed to an evaluation.

My son has a diagnosis of ADHD from a psychologist. I brought the report to the screening committee and they said a 504 isn’t necessary because the teacher will provide accommodations (also he was still able to do the class work, not failing). So far the teacher is providing sufficient accommodations but it’s frustrating that they won’t and give him the 504 plan.

But you’re getting what you want (the accommodations) and your kid is doing fine. Don’t create drama where none is needed.

An experienced teacher probably knows what’s going on better than anyone. And they should of been doing what they could to help the kid before any hearing or else they didn’t want to do much to accommodate anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak to FCPS but I can tell you my child has diagnosed anxiety and slow processing and was denied a 504 because they said she had no "educational impact." Never mind that she's in AAP and gets 2 in language arts and barely passes her reading SOLs. And never mind that her teachers complain that she doesn't complete her work and seems unfocused. We wanted a 504 to allow her to take the SOL in a small group or alone. We also wanted a 504 to give extended time on written assignments and to allow for her to get class notes from someone else or take pictures of the board because she can't write notes down fast enough. But they said no.

Did you prensent the teacher complaints as evidence when you asked for it?
Did you have an advocate or just ask on your own?

Yes and the teacher was there and said nothing. Didn't back me up but didn't go against me either. And no one asked her. I had out emails though.

I was on my own.

I’ve been teaching in elementary schools in FCPS (upper grades) for over 20 years. What are you talking about with copying notes from the board? I have a really hard time believing that this is happening on a regular basis or so much that it is impacting anyone. That is not how we teach.

OP here. Based on what I’ve seen from my child’s current teacher and the administration involved I can see this happening. I can actually see her trying to go against me in our situation. Hope I’m wrong though

[Anonymous]

My experience with FCPS was 100% flipped from OP. This is from Madison HS.

DD was struggling emotionally, but not academically (much). She is an A student with a weighted GPA over 4.0. She also does really bad on long tests (e.g., PSAT's, etc) and in high stress settings.

In our case, we were focusing on depression. In that context, we found out that DD is on the spectrum and has ADD/ADHD. More specifically, she has poor executive function with really bad working memory (particularly when she is fatigued).

We had a most positive response: the attitude is what can we do to help her? She has extended time, and the ability to take exams in small groups. She also has a plan in place if she gets upset: she goes to the counselors office to decompress.

As for the extra time, she almost never uses/asks for it. She plays it by ear with how she is feeling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience with FCPS was 100% flipped from OP. This is from Madison HS.

DD was struggling emotionally, but not academically (much). She is an A student with a weighted GPA over 4.0. She also does really bad on long tests (e.g., PSAT's, etc) and in high stress settings.

In our case, we were focusing on depression. In that context, we found out that DD is on the spectrum and has ADD/ADHD. More specifically, she has poor executive function with really bad working memory (particularly when she is fatigued).

We had a most positive response: the attitude is what can we do to help her? She has extended time, and the ability to take exams in small groups. She also has a plan in place if she gets upset: she goes to the counselors office to decompress.

As for the extra time, she almost never uses/asks for it. She plays it by ear with how she is feeling.

NP to this thread and the SN forum. We are going through the exact same thing, although our child is in early elementary school. Thank you so much for positing this! I am really worried we will get pushback from the school when we request a 504 because our child has always had excellent grades. Our child hasn't finished all the educational testing yet and we haven't asked for a meeting because the tests aren't done, but I'm glad to hear of a case where the school was accommodating. I am crossing my fingers for a similar outcome!

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school. I know of a case where the counselor was lazy and didn't want to deal with the paperwork. This is for a similar child with ADHD, poor working memory and executive functioning with decent grades and high test scores but horrible anxiety leading to behaviors. Committee said no educational impact. The teacher who asked for a meeting in the first place suddenly became mute.

[Anonymous]

What I’m not understanding is why a teacher who persistently raises concerns will just clam up when they get in the meeting around counselors and administrators?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I’m not understanding is why a teacher who persistently raises concerns will just clam up when they get in the meeting around counselors and administrators?

the only thing I can think of is that the teacher wants to make the Principal happy and the Principal does not want to issue an IEP or 504. Anyone have a logical explanation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I’m not understanding is why a teacher who persistently raises concerns will just clam up when they get in the meeting around counselors and administrators?

the only thing I can think of is that the teacher wants to make the Principal happy and the Principal does not want to issue an IEP or 504. Anyone have a logical explanation?

You nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I’m not understanding is why a teacher who persistently raises concerns will just clam up when they get in the meeting around counselors and administrators?

the only thing I can think of is that the teacher wants to make the Principal happy and the Principal does not want to issue an IEP or 504. Anyone have a logical explanation?

You nailed it.

So the teacher thinks it’s more important to keep the administration happy than help that kid in her class that needs help? SMH. How many teachers would say “f what the administration wants, my student needs help and I’m going to do what’s right”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak to FCPS but I can tell you my child has diagnosed anxiety and slow processing and was denied a 504 because they said she had no "educational impact." Never mind that she's in AAP and gets 2 in language arts and barely passes her reading SOLs. And never mind that her teachers complain that she doesn't complete her work and seems unfocused. We wanted a 504 to allow her to take the SOL in a small group or alone. We also wanted a 504 to give extended time on written assignments and to allow for her to get class notes from someone else or take pictures of the board because she can't write notes down fast enough. But they said no.

Did you prensent the teacher complaints as evidence when you asked for it?
Did you have an advocate or just ask on your own?

Yes and the teacher was there and said nothing. Didn't back me up but didn't go against me either. And no one asked her. I had out emails though.

I was on my own.

What school did this happen?

Certain Principal’s feel like they can get away with screwing people over who aren’t as knowledgeable and don’t have the resources to fight their administration and the FCPS legal team. But expose them for what they are doing because I’m sure you aren’t only one they are treated this way and when you stick together you will fix these problem administrators. Preferably by getting rid of them.

Their goal should be to help the children, not to be to avoid the irk of creating and maintaining 504 and IEP plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the school. I know of a case where the counselor was lazy and didn't want to deal with the paperwork. This is for a similar child with ADHD, poor working memory and executive functioning with decent grades and high test scores but horrible anxiety leading to behaviors. Committee said no educational impact. The teacher who asked for a meeting in the first place suddenly became mute.

Was this at McNair Elementary in Herndon?

[Anonymous]

Our older child had an IEP and our younger one has a 504.

We had zero trouble getting the older one the IEP, but we had independent psychoeducational testing supporting it as well as teacher feedback. We ended up pulling for SN private because of poor implementation of the IEP and a parade of poor teachers/case managers, and our kid is a much easier case than a number of their classmates (not disruptive, pretty agreeable, does well with checklists and small prompts). Honestly, though, I think our elementary school just sucked because a friend with a similar variety of child is at another FCPS ES and has had a completely different and entirely positive experience.

My younger one is in AAP, and their teacher actually referred for 504 to formalize classroom accommodations that they were already providing and ensure they followed our kid from class to class. Again, we had independent testing done, but they referred BEFORE we provided it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took our son to his pediatrician for a ADHD diagnosis. We then took that to the school and there was no hesitation at all to a 504 plan.

We are now back looking for a possible IEP. Son has done well with the accommodations put in place under the 504, but he is still have lots of difficulty with reading and writing and there are concerns that something just isn't right. We have ruled out eye issues. The local screening committee all agreed to an evaluation.

My son has a diagnosis of ADHD from a psychologist. I brought the report to the screening committee and they said a 504 isn’t necessary because the teacher will provide accommodations (also he was still able to do the class work, not failing). So far the teacher is providing sufficient accommodations but it’s frustrating that they won’t and give him the 504 plan.

But you’re getting what you want (the accommodations) and your kid is doing fine. Don’t create drama where none is needed.

I agree with first pp that it's better to get it in writing, e.g. 504. It means that s/he should be guaranteed the accommodations should the teacher change or decide to stop implementing them. It provides a basis to continue the accommodations for next year. If it's already being given, why should the school hesitate to write them down and make them enforceable? That's not drama; that's protecting your child's access to his education.

[Anonymous]

We had no issues. In fact, the K teacher had put accommodations in place without a 504 and the principal requested that it be documented/codified.

[Anonymous]

Getting a 504 in writing is very important so that they can obtain accommodations in high school and on important tests (SAT/ACT). I’m sure the process differs in different schools. We had to get private testing but once we had it, school has been good about 504 accommodations. Also, if note taking is an issue, get tested for dysgraphia.