List of schools funded by DCPS

[Anonymous]

I am finding a list of schools on the OSSE website that are approved for funding by DCPS. Here's the link http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/NP%20List%20-%20Day%20-%205.4.15.pdf

My question is -- if your child is being funded but none of those schools is the right fit, can they fund a different school? Specifically I am thinking of schools that I'm almost positive had funded kids in the past, though maybe I'm just wrong about that. If other schools could be included, how would one find out about those?

For the record so we don't have to discuss it, yes, my child has been approved to be placed in a nonpublic placement to be paid for by the city.

[Anonymous]

Cant answer your specific question Op but this is a great list in general, I bet MCPS has most of the same schools on their list.

how difficult was it to get funding for your child?

[Anonymous]

There's a pretty serious process to get an additional school approved. You have to jump through major hoops to prove a) that DCPS can't provide what your kid needs, and then b) that NONE of the schools on that list can provide what they need. What school were you wishing was on the list?

[Anonymous]

What school are you thinking of? Someone might know.

Some schools don't want to deal with the hassle/paperwork/hoop-jumping of kids funded by the school system. Some schools don't want kids with the kind of severe SNs most school systems are willing to fund.

[Anonymous]

There wasn't a specific school. There were just a couple of schools that I had heard about in the past as having funded kids. Also, a friend has a kid at a school that's not on the list. Just wanted to make sure that I have every option in front of me, that's all. There's certainly plenty of options on the list, but I want to have the maximum amount of information possible.

In answer to the question of whether it was hard -- what we have gone through with DCPS has been unbelievable. The fact that they are finally funding us wasn't hard to achieve, but the fact that it has taken so many years of failing my child and then not even dealing at all for the last 2 years makes me want to bash my head repeatedly against the wall. At least now they're doing the right thing and I"m appreciative of that opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There wasn't a specific school. There were just a couple of schools that I had heard about in the past as having funded kids. Also, a friend has a kid at a school that's not on the list. Just wanted to make sure that I have every option in front of me, that's all. There's certainly plenty of options on the list, but I want to have the maximum amount of information possible.

In answer to the question of whether it was hard -- what we have gone through with DCPS has been unbelievable. The fact that they are finally funding us wasn't hard to achieve, but the fact that it has taken so many years of failing my child and then not even dealing at all for the last 2 years makes me want to bash my head repeatedly against the wall. At least now they're doing the right thing and I"m appreciative of that opportunity.

Can you just ask your friend how she got her child in the school that isn't on the list?

[Anonymous]

I tried to get a non-osse listed school funded after the district agreed to a private placement. I was told the district cannot legally place a kid in s school that hadnt gone through all.the regulatory checks to be funded. The only was to get that is to sue.

[Anonymous]

I was told something similar in Fairfax. If you don't like any of the approved options, you can place your child in private and then sue FCPS for tuition reimbursement. It is risky and very hard to prove that none of the private schools they offered provided FAPE.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you just call the admissions officer at the school you're interested in and ask if they accept funding from DCPS? They will be honest with you. As the pp's said, it is a very arduous process for the schools (my dc used to be a student at a school that went through the process and I remember the director stating how expensive and time-consuming it was). I don't want to mention the school since my dc was there several years ago and I don't know if the school still accepts kids with funding.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thanks so much for this great info. My friend who has her kid in a school not on the list did go through due process so I"m sure that's part of the situation. I certainly don't want to have to sue when there are many good schools on the list and they have given us funding without suing (miracle upon miracles) so we will just go ahead with this list. Again, thank you for the info. Getting info out of DCPS/OSSE is feeling like talking to a wall.

[Anonymous]

We're going to have to sue/go to due process to get reimbursement for one of the schools on the list. Stupid DCPS didn't identify my child as eligible despite literally dozens of experts begging them to. So bizarre.

Glad you've had a reasonably good outcome, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're going to have to sue/go to due process to get reimbursement for one of the schools on the list. Stupid DCPS didn't identify my child as eligible despite literally dozens of experts begging them to. So bizarre.

Glad you've had a reasonably good outcome, OP.

This is the norm. The school district doesn't want to shell out the money so will fight you tooth and nail. Usually you have to lawyer-up, which is stressful on the entire family and takes forever. In one case I know of, the school district actually pulled funding mid-year for a student at a school not on the list. Think it through before going down that road because it's an ugly and expensive process at best.

[Anonymous]

What i have observed is that the special ed schools that are approved to get public funding are for the most part very unappealing to families whose dc need challenging (or even grade level academics). Or the one school that might be a good fit that your district will pay for is a two hour bus ride away. Or they have a wait list for your grade and are picky about who they will accept. Etc.

The special ed schools that aren't approved or don't take public funding are the schools most people would actually want to send their kids to, but only parents with a LOT of resources can afford to put their children into those schools, pay the tuition up front, and then pay a lawyer to sue for reimbursement.

The whole system is a hot mess.

[Anonymous]

What are some of those other schools?

[Anonymous]

Be careful what you wish for. If DCPS OSSE agrees that your in bounds/neighborhood school is not able to properly accomodate your child, they have the right to send your child to an out of bounds, Full time, DCPS, special ed only school like Jeffeson or Macfarland. Those school only deal with special ed kids.

In 2012, Jefferson had an enrollment of 369 and that same year they had over 400 suspensions.
They put kids with all different disabilities in the same classes, for example, a child with language based ld, such as mixed receptive, receptive disorder could be in class with a child who had emotional disorders. That often means that the classrooms are more managing behaviors than learning reading or math.
DCPS is despicable and shamefull with their special ed population.