Round and Round

We all have to do it sometime.

I just didn't expect it to be quite this soon.

It appears I might be on the verge of a teensy little dispute with the school. See, on Little Froggy's IEP paperwork it clearly states she's eligible for transportation based on her disability and needs a bus with an aide and booster seats or harnesses. It's right there, in black and white, with a little box with a check in it.

At the end of last school year, when she actually started, they told us they might not be able to pull off busing on such short notice. That was fine--we really only wanted her to get a taste of school and the week she missed because of her daddy working wasn't a huge deal.

But tomorrow will be three months since this paperwork was written up. Monday will be the start of school for us. Want to guess what didn't get worked out over the summer?

So this is how it all happened. We went to orientation and spoke with her teacher. Then we went to the cafeteria to find out what bus she'd be on. Oh no, said the lady with the bus slips. I don't see her name here. Is she Pre-K? Oh, she's also ESE? Here, talk to Mrs. ESE Facilitator. So, I speak with Mrs. ESE Facilitator. She looks on an alternate list that lists the bus stops in the area, without names. The closest one is as far away from us as the school, so that's pretty pointless. It would be easier to just walk to school! Her advice was to just go out at 7:00 Monday morning and hope the bus comes by.

Obviously, I'm not getting my child up a whole extra hour early to stand outside and hope that maybe we won't be forgotten.

So I called the bus depot, who transferred me to the transportation department, to find out what was going on. Apparently they got the request for transportation for her, but the documentation of it being allowable according to her IEP never got sent to them. The way the lady talked it's literally as simple as clicking on a box on the computer. She also said that if we can get someone at the school to respond today it should all be worked out so Little Froggy can go to school on Monday.

Want to take a guess as to who dropped the ball?

So I called the school today. Twice. Left a message and a half (I say a half because I'm pretty sure the secretary noted that I'd called again, and that I'm quite unhappy) for Mrs. ESE Facilitator. The first message was... Oh, maybe 9:30 this morning. 10 at the absolute latest. So I called her again at about 11:30 and still haven't heard back. The secretary says she's on campus but isn't in her office.

The plan is that if she hasn't called back by the time Daddy gets home from work at about 2:30 (2:45 at the latest), we're going to go visiting. I'm getting really upset that she's had three months to pull this off and apparently it's too much to ask.

I can say this much: They don't scare me. This will get resolved. If I learned anything at all from my mom it's how to stand up to the school. And my child won't miss out on her "real" first day of school because an incompetent woman forgot to check a box.

Fortunately there is legal recourse if she gives us too much of a hassle over it. I really hope it doesn't come to that. I mean, it would be sad if she gives us that much trouble over something so minor.

I'll update later if we get this resolved.



Update: So we did apparently get it straightened out, but not in time for us to call the bus people and find out our pick-up location. Cross your fingers that someone is either in the office tomorrow or that we get an automated call this weekend.