Parents of disabled children in South Carolina could face charges of educational neglect and abuse for simply taking their children to certified health care providers for doctor-prescribed therapy.
Allow me to explain this further:
• A child has Autism or another type of disability, attends public school and is in a special education program.
• This child’s physician prescribes therapy, designed specifically to help the child cope with his or her disability.
• The parent picks their child up from school, takes them to a certified health care profession, and then returns the child to school with a note from the practitioner to excuse the temporary absence.
• Schools are refusing to excuse the absences. They are telling parents that with continued unexcused absences, they may face getting reported to the department of social services and face truancy charges, due to educational neglect. Educational Neglect is included in the state of South Carolina’s definition of child abuse and neglect.
• Parents are frightened by this threat and many are withdrawing their children from this much-needed therapy.
What does the United States Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office say about this? Federal law is quite clear on the matter. It states:
Schools are to make modifications and adjustments to rules regarding absences when a student’s absences are due to a disability.
So why are the schools bullying, harassing and threatening these disabled children? They’re doing it because they hope that the parents will comply because they simply don’t know any better. They’re doing it because it’s easier to pick on disabled children than it is to address real truancy issues. They’re doing it because federal funds are based on attendance and the state’s education department is so inept that it doesn’t realize that exceptions can be made to allow for disabled children to have temporary absences while allowing the school to continue receiving federal funding. There are many other reasons why schools are choosing to single these children and their families out for harassment, but the main reason is because it’s always easier to pick on the weakest among us. They are taking advantage of our most vulnerable children and it’s time to hold them accountable for it.
Because federal law always preempts state law, if there is a state law, statute, amendment, regulation, code or a legal opinion that is allowing schools to prevent children with special needs from having their health care absences excused, then it is directly conflicting with federal law and the state law must be interpreted in a way that complies with federal law. For the above reasons, I believe the school districts are in violation of certain requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and FAPE.
Don’t let the school district take advantage of you or your child any longer. Stand up and be a better advocate for your child with special needs. Let’s tell the schools to stop bullying our disabled children!
Danni Bloom
yourspecialneedsadvoc
Chapin, S.C.
SIC SEZ
Danni: Thank you for your letter … this website has repeated called out government-run schools in South Carolina for their failure to put the needs of students first, and nowhere is this failure more pronounced than with regard to children with special needs. That’s why we have been so aggressive in promoting parental choice – specifically school choice programs aimed at helping special needs children. Anyway, we appreciate your letter, your advocacy and your willingness to have others interested in this subject reach out to you …
85 comments
A phone call or letter from a lawyer’s office probably would solve this relatively quickly.
Unfortunately, the school district that has the worst reputation for doing this (Rich/Lex 5) already has a law office siding with them. I have a copy of a “legal opinion” from Duff, White & Turner, L.L.C. <—the law office that represents schools when they get in trouble. They choose to interpret the law in whatever way benefits the school district. However, it doesn't really matter how they've chosen to "interpret" the law, because the actual text of the law is pretty clear. Only a lawyer on the payroll of the school district that stands to reap tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars could twist the words to allow for the intimidation of special needs families. Even a certain local advocacy agency is in the back pocket of the school district as well. What I've had to do is file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Division. I'm awaiting their response now. Things have to change.
Just because one law firm is on their side doesn’t mean you can’t get your own. I’ve encountered people that think just because one lawyer says something it’s as if God himself said it. Don’t take the word of a lawyer paid by the district to defend the district’s policies. Go out, get your own lawyer. Your lawyer will untwist the words of the law. That’s what litigation is about. Both sides likely have plausible interpretations of the statute.
Given the situation, I’d be surprised if the district wanted to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to refuse to give disabled kids excused absences for receiving their therapy.
Thank you. I may look into doing just that. The problem is that I don’t have a child in the public school system. I home school my boys. I discovered that this was happening because of families I’d speak to at various health care facilities. I was so surprised to hear what was happening that I started asking questions and making phone calls. I was able to get copies of the letter that the school district sent our to their schools instructing them to no longer excuse these absences. I’m not sure that a law office would represent me, since it wouldn’t be a case on behalf of my own child. What I would like is to find a way to get these families together and encourage them to fight back. Thanks for your encouragement, though. I appreciate it.
Hell No. Enough is Enough.
Get the carts out of the barn, round up the donkeys – it is time to load up all the Bureaucratic Cockroaches and put the sons of bitches to the blade. For those eight legged little bastard buggers who are too fast to be caught let out the Hounds to run ‘em to ground
OK now for another approach.
Been on the sidelines for a few years so I am a little rusty crossing swords with the Knights Templar. It may take a little work to find a lawyer who is willing to go against any School District. There is the unwritten principal of multiplying assets when anyone goes against an agent of the Educational Bureaucracy. Not only do you take on the primary district other districts usually ally with them, the State Department of Education sides with them and then of course the Feds will help out. Bottom line is the School District pockets are deep and get real deep when their friends help out
However, to me your greatest disadvantage is that you are not an injured party. You are not being adversely affected nor is anyone for whom you are responsible is being adversely affected. You are going to have to find a “victim” and assist them in righting any wrong
Good Hunting
I’M WITH Jackie Chiles, Call a lawyer, also get this out to every single media in this state, and let the schools know you are doing it.
I’ve sent the information out to our local news stations, but they’re not interested in making waves with the schools. They’re in the school’s back pocket, too, apparently. No one wants to stir the pot when it comes to public schools in the Columbia area.
That’s not surprising, Danni! The two larger TV stations and The State have a long history of turning away from anything which might reflect unfavorably on any local “gods” or other “sacred cows”. To make matters worse, they stifled input by everyday citizens on their comment sections by requiring Facebook accounts to comment. Many who have insider info and viewpoints do not wish to be a part of this (FB) tentacle of government spying on everyday citizens. The Snowden case shows what happens to whistleblowers.
Hang in there and keep fighting the good fight! They may have bitten off more than they want to chew with you as an opponent!
You signed your letter – Chapin SC – but your website indicates you live on the other side of Columbia 20+ miles away from the district. Do you live in Chapin? Or did you simply sign it that way to give your complaints against Lexington Richland District Five the appearance of credibility?
My residence is in Chapin. I own property in Columbia as well. Thank you for your sincere concern, I’m sure.
So you have payments to your business mailed to a residential address where you do not live? I don’t buy this for one second.
Lol. You’re gonna need bigger bait than that. How I receive payments for my products is none of your business. Who mails payments anymore?? You’re quite entertaining with your wild accusations. Please put on your tap shoes and continue to dance for me.
How about the fact that the Richland County Assessors office still shows the mailing address on your website, the one 20+ miles away from Chapin, as your “legal” address? According to the Richland County records you also paid the 4% primary residence tax rate. Are you lying to the county regarding your legal address?
Since you’re so “sincerely” concerned about my primary residence, I’ll indulge your “obsession”. We moved to Chapin in October. Am I going to need to get a restraining order against you? haa…You seem unhealthily obsessed about where I live. Let me ask you, which district do you work for? Let me guess…Rich/Lex 5? If you have any more personal questions for me, you can email me. I’m sure you know the email address. Better yet, call me. I’m sure you have my phone number, too. You’re a joke.
So every single “government-run” (Sic Willie’s favorite term) school in SC does this?
The title is a bit misleading. This is a local school district doing this, not a statewide policy or widespread issue. Or, at least, if there -is- a state law, it would be SC government, not the schools themselves. This “gubmint skulz bad, vowcherz gud” stuff is really getting old.
Actually, in the letter that the Rich/Lex 5 school district sent out to their schools, they say that the South Carolina State Department of Education supports the refusal of doctor’s excuses. So, yeah…it kinda is a statewide issue.
If that is how it is worded then any doctor’s excuse can be refused. This is how it should be. Business operates the same way. Perhaps you are unaware that you can “buy” excuses.
So you think it’s okay for a disabled child’s parents to face charges because they take their child to therapy sessions that have been prescribed by the child’s physician? Is that what you’re saying?
No. I think that it is within their purview to disallow an excuse.
Well, by disallowing these children’s doctor’s excuses, the parents risk facing charges of neglect. Clearly, any school who refuses to excuse a disability-related therapy appointment would be in violation of federal law, regardless of what individual states or school districts may adopt as part of their own attendance policy.
Federal law always preempts state law..always.
I under faked excuses and have fired people for fake obituaries and doctor notes, but Businesses are different than public schools.
Even is school a fake excuse would be handled differently than real ones.
Speech Therapy for someone with a disability Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 3pm can be easily verified, especially since the school would be aware of the disability. This is all about collecting federal education $$$s and not wanting to have to document the exceptions.
Not really a problem. No school is not excusing children going to speech therapy, or any “real” therapy. Ask yourself if you really think parents are being prosecuted for taking their kids to legitimate therapy?
This is a real problem. I have the letters from the district to prove it.
I’m sure these childrens’ every special need would be met at a market-based private school for a modest tuition.
Teabagger cutting core services just cost taxpayers more money..
http://m.wistv.com/#!/newsDetail/24396144
Sounds like you need to bully them back, and this would be the right kind of way to do that. Get it on TV news and somehow I think this crap will change real quick. Good luck, buddy.
A little more about how this is happening…
Why do schools get away with bullying special needs families?
It’s because some parents are struggling just to understand their child’s condition and how to cope with the challenges that they face each day. These parents may not even totally grasp what their child’s diagnosis means yet, much less have the energy at the end of the day to sit down and attempt to understand special education law and their rights.
Unfortunately, quite often, parents find themselves biding time until their child is old enough to enter the public school system. They have this misplaced optimism that the school district will somehow decide what’s best and everything will just magically work itself out. For whatever reason, these parents have found it easier to just send their kids to school and hope for the best.
I want to show them that they have to start helping their child long before they enter the school system. I want them to understand that the biggest differences are made at home. They have to get out of this state of despondency that they’re in and educate themselves and get involved in learning everything about their child’s disability and the impact of their disability on education.
For some, it’s too daunting a task to undertake and I want to break down the process into simple, easy steps so parents can see that they can do this. They must do this. They have to be made to realize that they are their child’s best advocate. They can’t sit back and allow the schools to make all the decisions regarding their child’s education because, no matter how honorable their intentions may sound, the school district is always most concerned about the bottom dollar. Maintaining state and federal funding is their primary goal. They simply want your child to show up for school. What happens after that is based on parental involvement. If parents aren’t involved, their child will get the bare minimum. No one wants the bare minimum for their child. When you have a child with special needs, you have to be involved. I want parents to understand that no one else is going to stand up for their rights. They have to accept the responsibility of campaigning for their child, supporting their child, encouraging their child… if they choose not to do so, they have no room to complain when they see no progress or improvement. If they sit idly by, they are doing more harm than good. I must make parents understand this…somehow.
Sorry, don’t believe it.
Would you like to see a copy of the letter from the school district? Email me and I’ll send you a copy. Better yet, call Richland/Lexington School District 5 and simply ask them if it’s true. Marlene Metts, Director of Special Services is who wrote the letter.
My apologies, ma’am, my post was poorly worded. I should have said that I suspect there’s another side to the story – I just find it hard to believe that the district is “picking on” or “bullying, harassing, and threatening” disabled children. Perhaps there is a valid reason for the District’s action that can be explained by something other than animus against these children.
Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that there is. A particular organization is claiming that children with perceived life long disabilities aren’t “ill” and therefore medical excuses related to treatment of that disability don’t count. The schools have offered no alternative excuse for their behavior, so if there was one, why not use it? Federal law is clear on this matter, and in fact, many school systems outside of the Columbia area are set up in such a way to allow children access to therapeutic services during the normal school hours without threatening legal action.
All these school districts/private organizations want to offer to parents is that they should put their children in therapy late into the evening and on weekends, and that therapists should accommodate these schedules regardless.
“a particular organization is claiming that children with perceived life long disabilities aren’t “ill” and therefore medical excuses related to treatment of that disability don’t count.”
I just re-read the letter. It does not say that the district is claiming that the kids “aren’t ill,” it just says that the district is refusing to accept some excuses.
Again, there may be a valid reason for this. There simply is no verifiable information here for me, at least, to conclude that the district is doing anything wrong, let alone “bullying” disabled children.
Let Danni send you all of the documents. It’s there. I’ve read it. Sorry to have commented knowing all of the information.
Well…actually, when I notified ProParents of SC about this situation, they did in fact state that children with life long disabilities are not considered to be “ill” children. So, Therapist’s argument is valid. ProParents also chooses to side with the schools when, in fact, they should be siding with the rights of parents. Unfortunately, they are just another cog in the educational bureaucracy that is destroying family’s lives.
So you wonder why someone with no children in public school would be razing this issue? Always follow the money!
Maybe because they care about someone other than themselves and their own?
Call me a skeptic. But We’ll see..
Good job Danni. Keep fighting the good fight. It’s pretty well known that the Rich/Lex 5 school district is one of the most corrupt. Just look at their budget. How much of it actually goes to the students and how much goes to their pockets and ‘special’ programs, and how much is mysteriously unaccounted for.
Danni – the funds that schools are forced by federal law to spend on disabled kids is astounding. i’ve been in classrooms with 6 students and 4 or 5 salaried adults. i have nothing but sympathy for disabled kids and their families, but schools must take action to guarantee the funds to pay for these expensive classrooms. the families of disabled kids are quick to sue a district for not providing federally mandated services. so i can’t blame a district for making sure that registered students attend class. parents cannot use schools as a drop-in daycare when their child is out of therapy. the school is obliged to provide the therapy that the child needs. if they are not providing it, the parents need to make their case. but they can’t decide to pursue private therapy (essentially private school) for their child, but also be registered at their local school.
completely aside from this, a disability is not an illness.
It IS kind of ironic to see a bunch of tea party types (not sure about Ms. Bloom, but Sic & some of these commenters sure are) expressing OUTRAGE that a local school district is (allegedly) not following a federal mandate. ;)
First of all therapy is not private school. It is nothing like private school. And actually, parents are allowed to pursue private therapy as well as school therapy. School therapy is totally different, and often will not fully meet the needs of the children. School systems have their own qualifications for therapy, and some kids may not even qualify for school services. This is why private therapy is needed. Private therapy is 1 hour. For children who have severe disabilities they might receive physical, occupational, and speech therapy. That’s 3 hours a week… Hardly a drop in daycare for the school when you consider what these kids need.
I’m sorry I’m not buying any of this. Ms. Bloom does not even have children in the public schools. She gets this from talking to other parents?? I am well aware of what our public schools do for their special needs children, and I assure you they are not bullying special needs children..
Does this type of attack on public schools sound familiar? Ms. Bloom, in the interest of full disclosure, are you involved with the School Choice crowd or do you have a financial interest in this issue?
Geeze, please forgive her for speaking ill of public schools. She must have forgotten to say her daily mantra/prayer. “Public schools are great, public educations is good. Let us thank them for our food.”
Follow the money!
I have absolutely nothing to gain by doing this. I am a non-paid Autism advocate simply because my son has Autism and I can relate to what these parents are going through. I’ve been there. Is it wrong to do the right thing…simply for the sake of doing the right thing? Shame on you for even suggesting otherwise.
Again, perhaps I misunderstood the nature of SugarPea Products. Because it looks as though you are involved with selling home school educational products for children with autism. Am I wrong? Are you giving those products away to help families with Autistic children? If I am mistaken, I will happily admit it, and I am glad that you are doing what you think is right. If I am not, I think full disclosure is fair. Don’t you?
Yes, it appears that you have, in fact, misunderstood the nature of SugarPea Products. When our son was diagnosed with Autism, he was two and a half years old. We didn’t know what to do to help him. We hired a private agency to train a team of therapists to come to our home every single day to do in-home therapy (Applied Behavior Analysis).
They would start knocking on our door at 9 a.m., change shifts every three hours and continue working with him until 7 p.m. After paying (out of pocket) for over two years for an expensive agency to run our home ABA program, we decided to learn everything we could about Autism, the various methodologies of ABA and behavioral techniques that we could use to create our own program, hire our own therapists, train them and oversee our own program.
We were successful in doing so and from the knowledge we gained through research, training and experience, we created instructional manuals and educational models that other families could use to do the same thing. We understood that not everyone could afford to provide the type of treatment we were providing, so we made the information available to other parents.
We wrote four books, created a picture-prompting communication booklet and designed an interactive computer program to help illicit verbal interaction between parents and their non-verbal, autistic children. My books and programs are used in special needs classrooms and homes all over the world.
I’m not sure how you’ve confused these products with some type of home schooling program that provides instruction in core subjects, but I offer no such products. I simply have products that teach communication and behavioral techniques to be used with children who have special needs. While they are useful for people of all ages, they are geared mainly toward children who aren’t even old enough to go to school yet.
So, in the effort of “full disclosure”, I do not sell products for “home schooling” or am affiliated with any group that promotes home schooling. The decision to home school was one that took us years to make and I don’t have any agenda, other than doing the right thing. And another thing, I have donated just as many products as I’ve sold. So, you can start writing your apology letter now.
” I simply have products that teach communication and behavioral techniques to be used with children who have special needs. ”
You never answered the question – do you sell these products or give them away for free?
Apparently, reading comprehension is not your strong suit. Try again. Read it a little slower this time. You can do it!
Apparently, straightforward communication is not your strong suit. The simple question is – do you sell your products for profit?
You say ” I am a non-paid Autism advocate”, yet your website indicates that “100% of the proceeds go toward helping our son overcome Autism”.
So, clearly there are some “proceeds” from your business….no? Your products are all directly related to some form of Autism education or assistance…no?
Why not just give a straight yes or no answer?
I think that my website is as straight forward as possible. I offer my cd-roms for purchase and 100 percent of the proceeds go toward paying for my son’s therapy. When a parent reaches out to me and is unable to afford to pay the minimal amount I ask for my cd-rom, I sent it to them for FREE. It’s as simple as that. What I don’t get is how my small, home-based business (that I’ve been running for 10 years) has anything to do with me advocating and standing up for parent’s rights when it comes to their children with special needs. One has nothing to do with the other. The reason I’m doing this is because I can relate to what these parents are going through. Also because if I decide to put my son back in school at some point in the future, I’ll be dealing with the same exact problem. So, why not fix it now? If anyone else has any questions for me, you can email me directly. I think I’ve explained this to death. I have zero tolerance for ignorance. No wonder this state is in the shape it’s in. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do. No one is paying me and there is no secret “agenda”. Period!
“What I don’t get is how my small, home-based business (that I’ve been running for 10 years) has anything to do with me advocating and standing up for parent’s rights when it comes to their children with special needs.”
Because when you are selling your products to those very same parents there can be the perception that you are marketing or networking rather than advocating, especially when you don’t disclose this fact from the very beginning.
I don’t advertise my products by word of mouth. Parents find me by searching the internet (ebay or amazon). 95% of my sales are out of state sales. I sell one or two cd-roms a month, barely enough to cover gas to take my son to therapy. So, I’m not here to make a sales pitch. I’m here to stand up for what’s right. No need to disclose anything other than the corruption that takes place in our schools. Are you protesting so much because you’re part of that corruption? You may need to do some disclosing yourself.
Are the parents getting out of school to see you or someone you are affiliated with by chance? If so, it seems you are being disingenuous, and I would guess that the school just doesn’t think you are providing legitimate services. If not, and what you say is true, then check with a lawyer. I believe Nelson Mullins has a guy that does some of this FAPE stuff pro bono. If you have a legit claim they’ll jump on it, being the humanitarians they are.
I have two children. My oldest son has Autism. Our children had been enrolled in public school until two years ago. I started home-schooling my boys because my autistic son was having panic attacks at school. He is more relaxed and able to learn much better at home, where he feels more comfortable. I figured that if I was going to home school one child, why not both. So there’s my story. Sorry to disappoint you with an dead end street – concerning your “follow the money” statement. I sit in the waiting rooms while my son goes to therapy sessions. I have conversations with other parents who are absolutely distraught over the way they are being treated by the schools. I simply took it upon myself to investigate this further and what I discovered was appalling. I have absolutely nothing to gain (financially) by calling out what the schools are doing. I do, however, sleep better at night knowing I may be helping other families by shedding light on the corruption taking place within the entities that we are supposed to trust to educate our children.
I apologize if I misunderstood the nature of SugarPea Products. So you are not involved with selling educational products for children with Autism?
I’ve owned that small, home-based business for almost ten years. I’m not sure how you think that’s related to advocating for the rights of children with special needs. Sorry, dead end again buddy.
Again, another idiot like the ass hole above spouting your mouth off about a topic you have zero knowledge about! How about this for public schools? My son was abused by his teacher countless times and the district tried covering it up. They filed truancy and educational neglect against my husband and I because my son was terrified to go to school and still is! We have finally been able to get him to go once again, but we have also been threatened by the courts to have our autistic son placed in foster care…..and what right do they have to do this?? How will that solve the problem by taking him out of his environment which he has known for the last 10 years of his life?
Until you are a parent with a special needs child you have no right to question what we believe is right or wrong for our kids. Oh, and by the way, the school district we live in receives over $17,000 in federal funding per each special needs child. You think they want my son to attend because it benefits him? Ha! It’s all about the greed and cover up!
I think this guy is full of shit.
Nikki has the first hand knowledge of how she so brutally abused as a school child. Ask her ?
I’m not buying what you are selling, Mam. That broad brush you used didn’t leave a single spot untouched. As the admiring spouse of a consummate and accomplished professional educator in the Midlands, I know better than to accept such a thinly veiled piece of propaganda.
I know of way too many instances of that same distinguished spouse going well beyond any modicum of restrained acquiescence in order to accommodate overbearing if unintentioned, and well-meaning if intrusive interference from loving and self-aggrieved parents.
I will say this, however, you sure came to the right forum to present. FITS has never seen a piece he wouldn’t run if it takes a swipe at gubmint run schools.
I’d be more than happy to email you the letters from the district showing that the state department of education supports rejecting doctor’s excuses for absences due to therapy sessions. I can back up every claim I’ve made. There’s no propaganda here, so you can take your broom elsewhere.
You can stick your damn letters up your rear, too, Madam.
Yeah, don’t let her confuse you with facts.
Oh really? You say that my claims are thinly veiled propaganda and when I offer to show you proof otherwise, you personally attack me? Aren’t you a ray of sunshine. You should put some ointment on that butthurt.
You are sick in the head. Leave her alone. She is fighting for the rights of children who can’t do it themselves. How dare you attack her? Let me guess, you work for one of these idiot producing government schools. Go fuck yourself.
Facts, why would you want to be bothered with facts. Obviously you or your spouse are so far up the establishments rear you can’t be bothered with facts anymore. We could gladly drive them out to your house in Wildewood to show them to you, or meet you at your polling place with the small parking lot in the affluent neighborhood.
Here’s what is so far “established “in my life:
1) Born the son of a white sharecropper in rural SC
2) Educated in the public schools of rural SC
3) Self-improved through advanced education paid for on my own dime; all sweat, no gubmint loans, no private loans
4) Started my first business (of 5) while in college using a $15K mortgage on my parents home (the one that might have been worth $10K at the time) with the promise to my parents that I would assist in the education of my 3 younger siblings. I fulfilled that promise. Our family became upwardly mobile by that rural community’s standards, not so much by others.
5) Have soared with the Eagles twice in my business career and bumped my ass with the non-flyers once after the first successful flight.
6) Don’t have much time for those of would rather whine, bitch or moan about how the “man” is keeping them down, or how the “establishment” is out to screw them.
7) Have a couple of vices that I can’t seem to control: a. I opine too much, and, 2) I enjoy good wine.
8) Have a reflexive tendency to push back when someone affronts or accosts me.
Last night, Ms. Bloom had all the time for those who fawned over her conjecture, but those who had the temerity to question her in order to ascertain certainties were answered curtly and with smart-ass comments. I read the piece, the comments and finally decided I couldn’t contain myself so I posted my opinion (a key word).
Thus far we have seen no facts (another key word) presented, only conjecture and accusations. For those who asked sensible and reasonable questions, including Smith, Tom and Jesus, they were stiff armed with obvious obfuscation and subsequently demeaned for persistence.
So here’s what is thus far “established:”
a. we have a significant difference of opinion,
b. we can all use invective,
c. I push back, and
d. you, Ms. Bloom, and BrigidBernadette can form a threesome and go fuck yourselves in that small parking lot.
Now, cheers, I just opened a bottle of Cabernet.
I’ve been more than accommodating and patient, answering questions about my business. At this point, you’re just being petty and quite frankly, you’re gonna need to use bigger bait. I will no longer allow you to divert attention away from the real issue here and that is the corruption that is taking place within our schools. I’m not here to promote home-schooling, I’m here to urge accountability. I’m here to stand up for what’s right. I’m here to expose the mistreatment of children with special needs. There are school districts that are in violation of certain requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and I plan to expose them and hold them accountable. Only a person who is in bed with the school district would be so intransigent. Shame on you.
Why don’t you just sit back and be thankful that you don’t have a child with a disability.
Enjoy your bottle of Cabernet and when you’re done with it, you can kindly shove it up your arrogant ass.
You see, Madam, there you go again with that broad brush. Your letter didn’t point to a specific district and the headline certainly didn’t. In fact, like headlines do, it drew attention that only a critical reader might attempt to differentiate fact from supposition or conjecture.
That broad brush also doesn’t allow for the fact that their are both clinical and educational professionals in not only my direct family who deal with this issue on a daily basis but in my extended family and circle of friends.
You accuse with sweeping terms “SC Schools” (plural) of “bullying,” an often repeated, but not always demonstrated term. In fact, Madam, I think the opposite is true. By the way, “bullying” is so widely used today that it has lost its literal meaning. It reminds me of “outside the box” in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, “owned” of the past 5-6 years, and “passe” of my earlier years.
“Intransigence” is an interesting term in this case; I, in your opinion, am intransigent because I simply don’t agree with the postulate that you laid down, that of State/Government sponsored “bullying.” In my opinion, M’am, you are intransigent because Lexington/Richland Dist. 5 doesn’t see things your way. I suspect the real intransigence is somewhere in the middle.
As an addendum, Madam, I am thankful I have a child. I’m thankful that we have not lost another; I don’t think we could bear the grief again.
You are a bitter fuck, aren’t you? I don’t buy the bullshit YOU’RE trying to sell. My brush makes broad strokes because this is a state-wide issue. Richland/Lexington 5 just happens to be the district with the worst reputation for doing exactly what I’ve claimed.
I’ve read some of your previous posts (on other subjects) and I see a sad trend in your comments. You hint at a deep-seated distaste for those with special needs. It’s as though you are disgusted by them. What a sad piece of shit you are!
I also find it especially fascinating that you seem to enjoy touting your “implied” financial status. You seem to think it’s of some importance to proclaim your “standing” in the community. I, however, am not impressed with your delusions of grandeur. You sit back and soak in your self-professed importance all evening, dear sir, but if you were as important as you seem to think you are, you would not be wasting your time click clacking away on your computer.
And as preoccupied as you are with telling people to shove things in their orifices and suggesting threesomes in a parking lot, I’d also be willing to bet you’re having trouble in the bedroom.
It’s completely understandable as to why you’re an awfully acrimonious bastard. I feel sorry for your “life mate”.
Madam, it has become quite obvious that you need a good fucking. Good night and good luck.
See, there you go again. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
Don’t forget to take your little blue pill before heading to bed. Hopefully, your “life mate” will have consumed enough alcohol to be inebriated enough to lay next to you while you jerk off to how important you think you are.
Awesome comment!
You are one bitter son of a bitch aren’t you? You try so damn hard to pass yourself as this higher than though, educated person with your big words, yet your “come backs” are so immature and childish…..makes me wonder if you’re a 21 year old child looking for attention.
A good fucking? Please! Your prostitutes and call girls don’t count. You have such hate for women it is unbelievable!
Again, your opinions and position on this matter does not count because you don’t have a child with special needs! Go spew your thoughts somewhere else where people actually give a damn about what you have to say.
As far as I am concerned, you are a no body who has “little dick” syndrome and you’re trying to be this so called educated person, when all you’re doing is making yourself look like the ass hole you are……why don’t you shove that bottle of cabernet up your ass, I’m sure it will fit!
Go choke on your Cabernet you right wing POS. People like you who whine, bitch, piss and moan about legitimate issues happening within school districts of every state, and not just SC, you have no clue what the hell you are talking about.
Gee, someone who brags about all of his accomplishments over the years must have some serious mommy/daddy issues or you are making up for your lack of manhood.
Someone who hides behind their internet identity and attacks women for trying to point out flaws within school districts by telling them to fuck off or have a three some and fuck off; you seriously must be some ugly fuck who wishes you could get laid, not counting your payments to prostitutes to satisfy your hatred against women.
You’re also probably one of the scum bags who also think women’s rights are crap and abortion should be illegal….but those are obviously my “opinions,” right?
Mr. Guest, you wouldn’t know how to post legitimate and frank feedback if it smacked you in the face. Keep bragging about your Cabernet, which shows weekness, by the way, since alcohol is a sign of weakness. Oh, and your accomplishments you bragged about on this post aren’t shit.
Now go to bed little man, it’s passed your bedtime.
Why don’t you just post the letter here? I salute you for using your real name, and of course I’m using mine, but I imagine many other commenters here would prefer to preserve their anonymity and not get on anyone’s mailing list.
(As much as I bash Folks one thing I do appreciate is his permitting pseudonymous comments and not “outing” commenters)
I’ve emailed Folks to ask him if I could do that. I would need to post a link. I don’t want to copy and paste it here because I’m sure some would say I made it up. I want to post the actual documents (pdf). I could upload them to a site to host the documents, but I’m not sure if I can post a link to that site. So, I’m just waiting to hear back from Will to see how to go about posting the district letters, the attorney opinion and the back and forth emails between me and the district, ProParents, etc. I have no shame in posting my real name.. never have. I stand behind everything I say. We’ll see what Sic Willie has to say.
Okay, thank you.
If the mandate is coming from the SC state Dept of Education then why are you putting the blame on the districts?
The choice to heavy-handedly enforce the attendance policy is a discretionary decision made by individual districts. Not every school is enforcing it, although every school has the option to do so.
Some schools seem to have no problem allowing students to attend therapy and then return to school for instruction. However, Rich/Lex 5 has hired an attorney to “interpret” the law in such a way that parents who have children with special needs are made to feel as though they have no choice but to remove their children from therapy in order to avoid charges of neglect. Rich/Lex 5 is using this “legal opinion” to threaten parents. The teachers are even telling parents that there is a NEW state-wide mandate (which doesn’t exist, by the way) that will put parents at odd with social services if they continue to allow their children to get therapy during school hours.
In my letter to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, I do note that the SC State Department of Education is in violation of federal law for evening having this type of attendance policy.
I plan to tackle this head on, wherever it leads me. What they’re doing isn’t right. Federal law is clear about it.
Should read repeatedly above. You are the poster boy for gubmint school efficiency.
Hey Mr. Guest,
Yeah, you who uses such colorful metaphores and these claims of being “above”everyone else because you took the time and read a dictionary once or twice in your life to show people that you are this supposed highly educated person, by using those big words, when all of your posts end with attacks against this woman for standing up against these so called educators who think they know the difference between what is right or wrong for special needs children.
If you’re so high and mighty and so called educated, why don’t you use your real name, pal? Because like all other trolls on the internet, you want to hide behind your screen like the coward you are and spew out hateful rhetoric when you sir, should just shut the F up and take your degree from some crap ass school and shove it up your P hole.
I too have an Autistic son and am constantly bullied by my state because of his truancy, when there are known facts he was a victim of abuse at the hands of his teacher, yet they threaten foster care placement and all of this other bull shit; not thinking about the welfare of my son.
I would like to see how you would handle a 10 year old boy’s temper tantrums while being slapped, kicked, bitten, head butted, eyes poked; all occuring while my husband and I try to get our child ready for school because we fear everyday there will be a letter in the mail alerting us to an emergency court hearing for out of home placement.
Am I going to sue the county where we live in because of the unwarranted stress and suffering our whole family has gone through? Damn right I am! Oh, but in your eyes it’s the parents fault because it is our responsibility to get our son to school.
Tell me something, if your child was being abused, would you send him back to the same school? I think not.
So before you start typing your vulgarities since that is the only come back you can come up with, take a look at your own miserable life and wonder to yourself, gee why am I such an ass hole who claims to be a Mr. Know-it-all, but doesn’t know the correct spelling of MA’AM and go do use all a favor.
Take your bottles of shitty ass wine, drink a few bottles in one sitting, and go drive off a cliff. You, SIR, are one POS who deserves to get his ass kicked and by God, I would be happy to do it. Loser!!!!
https://www.change.org/petitions/south-carolina-state-house-and-south-carolina-state-senate-and-south-carolina-governor-amend-south-carolina-code-of-laws-section-59-65-30