What happens to IEP services in Mo Co if you decide to do private kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

My 4 y.o. has an IEP and receives services at our local elementary school in Mo Co. He is supposed to go to K next year, but I don't think he's ready. I found a nice private K (not p-k) program for him. I have been told conflicting things by the principal and services coordinator. One says if DC doesn't attend public K next year, DC loses services. Another says as long as DC is in a K program, public or private, DC can receive services through 1st grade. Anyone have experience with this? Do you even happen to know the code/law for this? I want to go into the upcoming IEP meeting prepared. TIA

[Anonymous]

There is actually a great meeting coming up on Thursday on this week about this very thing that I am attending. My 4-year-old daughter is in PEP classic and also attends a private, regular Pre-K currently. We are trying to decide whether to keep her in her private school or go the public route. Her parent educator sent the flyer home to me. If at your child's next IEP they decide that he/she still needs services, then as long as you place your child in a private K in Mo Co, than the private K must provide certain services. I learned today that they are not required to provide OT. Anyway, the meeting is on Feb 26th, Thursday from 8:30A - 10:30A at the Carver Educational Services Center off of Hungerford. It's in the Auditorium. You are probably familiar with this building if you went there for your DC's original IEP. My husband is going to get all of the info for us. Hope this helps. Oh, my paper says for more info call: Nancy Lucas, Coodinator
301-279-3181

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is actually a great meeting coming up on Thursday on this week about this very thing that I am attending. My 4-year-old daughter is in PEP classic and also attends a private, regular Pre-K currently. We are trying to decide whether to keep her in her private school or go the public route. Her parent educator sent the flyer home to me. If at your child's next IEP they decide that he/she still needs services, then as long as you place your child in a private K in Mo Co, than the private K must provide certain services. I learned today that they are not required to provide OT. Anyway, the meeting is on Feb 26th, Thursday from 8:30A - 10:30A at the Carver Educational Services Center off of Hungerford. It's in the Auditorium. You are probably familiar with this building if you went there for your DC's original IEP. My husband is going to get all of the info for us. Hope this helps. Oh, my paper says for more info call: Nancy Lucas, Coodinator
301-279-3181

Who says we're all bitches on this forum?

[Anonymous]

OP, here. Thank you for the info.! I'll be at the meeting and I'm dialing the coordinator as I type. Good luck with your daughter.

[Anonymous]

OP here again, I just got off the phone with Mo Co. Apparently, there is an office just for private and religious school students so just learning this was helpful. In case anyone else needs this info. in the future...the person I spoke with said the initial IEP (usually the one you get when the child turns 3) is good for three years if at the end of each year the child is deemed eligible/still in need of services. The third year is the K year and they have to provide services that year whether or not the child is in a public or private K program with one big exception - it is ONLY for speech language and resource services. Of course, we don't receive speech or resource services, only OT and PT - we're out of luck, but hopefully someone else will benefit from this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again, I just got off the phone with Mo Co. Apparently, there is an office just for private and religious school students so just learning this was helpful. In case anyone else needs this info. in the future...the person I spoke with said the initial IEP (usually the one you get when the child turns 3) is good for three years if at the end of each year the child is deemed eligible/still in need of services. The third year is the K year and they have to provide services that year whether or not the child is in a public or private K program with one big exception - it is ONLY for speech language and resource services. Of course, we don't receive speech or resource services, only OT and PT - we're out of luck, but hopefully someone else will benefit from this.

OP, I am in your same boat with my son who will be entering K next year. We have him in a private pre-k/K program this year, after his aging out of PEP program. My child also needs just OT and PT, and actually excels at speech! I feel it is unfair that the kids with the speech concerns are given assistance, when a kid with OT and PT needs are just as likely to have a difficult time progressing in school--sometimes more so because so much of the kindergarten year is writing and hands-on activities. I actually approached the office you spoke of (that handles MoCo kids enrolled by their parents in private school) Their explanation is that more kids need speech, so that's where they share their resources. I don't know if I have the time or energy to do so soon, but I do plan on writing a letter to their office, their supervision office, on up challenging this train of thought. Let me know if you are interested in joining a letter writing campaign. It most likely will not help our kids, but might be helpful for kids like ours who follow. (By the way, in which school are you enrolling your child?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is actually a great meeting coming up on Thursday on this week about this very thing that I am attending. My 4-year-old daughter is in PEP classic and also attends a private, regular Pre-K currently. We are trying to decide whether to keep her in her private school or go the public route. Her parent educator sent the flyer home to me. If at your child's next IEP they decide that he/she still needs services, then as long as you place your child in a private K in Mo Co, than the private K must provide certain services. I learned today that they are not required to provide OT. Anyway, the meeting is on Feb 26th, Thursday from 8:30A - 10:30A at the Carver Educational Services Center off of Hungerford. It's in the Auditorium. You are probably familiar with this building if you went there for your DC's original IEP. My husband is going to get all of the info for us. Hope this helps. Oh, my paper says for more info call: Nancy Lucas, Coodinator
301-279-3181

I don't think this is quite right. If your child has pull-out services in the IEP, the county must provide them even if you go private - you would take DC to the local school for speech, for example. The private kindergarten has no such obligation.

The meeting sounds very helpful - make sure you ask lots of questions!

[Anonymous]

Read the IDEA part B to fully understand what services must be provided.

to hte 21:03 poster - it is not about fairness, it is about the law. Become familiar with the law so you can advocate for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the IDEA part B to fully understand what services must be provided.

to hte 21:03 poster - it is not about fairness, it is about the law. Become familiar with the law so you can advocate for your child.

Yes, but haven't 'unfair' laws been changed by a few who feel they are unjust? What if the laws that were changed (segregation, women's rights, healthcare laws, laws for elderly, and I of course could go on and on) were left unchallenged just because 'it was not about fairness, it is about the law...' Obviously you are not the parent of a child in our situation. How unsupportive of you to quote a 'law' reference. I am, unfortunately, all too familiar with pathetic IDEA--all parts. And I plan to challenge it, without your support!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the IDEA part B to fully understand what services must be provided.

to hte 21:03 poster - it is not about fairness, it is about the law. Become familiar with the law so you can advocate for your child.

What an obnoxious, insensitive response. I hope you don't have a kid w/needs. The kid will not get very far with you as a non-advocate!

[Anonymous]

OP Here, to the 20:41 poster who referred to IDEA part B, thank you for your post, and I didn't find it offensive. You are correct that you have to know the law and all the fine print so you can best advocate for your child. Although I think what the PPs are talking about is that as a mom of a DC with special needs (which I would assume you are if you're in this form) is that you also need so much more....patience, perserverance, perspective and loads of charm. Once I gather all the info. I need, I go into every IEP meeting saying (to the ridiculous number of folks lined up - from the principal to each therapist, and even witnesses!, etc.) that I'm here to do what's best for my DC, and ask them how they can help my DC be the best he can be. For good and bad, the law often can be interpreted in different ways so it's not always about the law, but many times, the system and people with which you need to work. It's overwhelming as it is to care for any child let alone one with special needs, but it makes it so much more difficult when you have to advocate within a system that is based on a failure model instead of one based on DC's potential. To make matters worse, the people lined up on the other side of the table often times know less than you do. This forum is a huge resource that cuts my "chasing my tail" time way down, and makes the whole process feel so less overwhelming and like I'm the only one that has to do this. So thank you to all the posters, keep the info. flowing!