Reply to Waiver for HB Woodlawn

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No one is getting into HB through a waiver because your doctor thinks it's a better fit. You would have to have some really really compelling reason. [/quote]

How do you know?  I know kids who have gotten in 10th who tried 9th but lost WL.  Then, all of a sudden, after a terrible/traumatic/awful 9th grade at regular zoned HS, they were magically moved to HB (and thriving).  I don’t fault family and it’s great for the kid.  Mom is super “involved” type that does/could work the system.   Now, it’s possible that kid magically got a higher waitlist number second go round but I don’t believe it for a minute.  Mom and schools worked it out so kid ended up in a much better place.  Possible bullying and also likely medical conditions played a role.   My point is: these admin transfers are still happening and there is no visibility into who/how/why, meaning maybe you do need a doctors note (and probably a super engaged family, lots of paperwork documenting issues, agreement by teachers/schools?).  But because it’s not just lottery then who knows?[/quote]

First, it's unfair to jump a waitlist with hundreds of kids on it. Second, your kid isn't more important than the kids on that waitlist.

Finally, sending a sped kid to HB was effective when the school had only a few kids needing extra assistance. There is not much of a benefit anymore since so many of them have enrolled. Also, not all these HB kids are diagnosed as sped, there're also a large number of kids whose parents label as "quirky," which I have no idea what clinical definition that falls under but there are a bunch of underwhelming students who are allowed to basically do whatever they want. The small size of HB doesn't have the resources to handle this compared to the larger schools. The result is the inability to teach normal kids since most classes are mixed and all the help and office hours are going to sped kids. The teachers already wear multiple hats as advisors/counselors and they're also expected to be sped experts as well. I wish some of those parents who think their kids will "thrive" at a particular school spent more time actually parenting their kids when they were younger instead of expecting other adults to parent for them--we're not talking about the minority that actually have real unavoidable special needs.
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This is a weird response. HB was always for the quirky kids who didn't fit in in the regular high schools. It used to be called Hippie High! All teachers everywhere are supposed to teach sped students as well as all other students, that's no different at HB.[/quote]

Not fitting in doesn't mean underperforming. HB used to be one of the highest ranked schools in the entire region. It's not the same kind of not-fitting-in kid that's attending these days than years past. Also, yes gen ed teachers are expected to teach sped kids elsewhere but HB is different in several ways. The teachers at HB are expected to be counselors/advisors unlike other schools. There are only ~70-130 kids per class. The small number of kids limits the number of sections in core classes. Each kid as a whole number is way more significant when you're talking about a school population of 100 kids versus 1000 kids. So you end up with almost every class with a large number of sped kids and quirky kids mixed in with the regular kids. Gen ed kids cannot receive the same amount of attention and remediation. And there is a teacher burnout in almost every school as it is because of added burdens before adding in the additional problems at HB. [/quote]

Lots of long tenure teachers at HB. And my non-sped kid loves it. Getting all As too. Where's the data to support your claim of decline? Also, it's a lottery so there's no way it's a SpEd school like your acting. [/quote]

Maybe it should be a Spec Ed school. I think it would be the right thing to do after the years of poor services and support for Spec Ed students. [/quote]

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