Technically

It's interesting what happens when things are based on that word "technically."

Technically, I had eggs and milk for dinner. So what that those eggs and milk were part of a delicious cake and ended up with little to no nutritional value added to my diet?

We are now in another battle with the school district. Less than four days after we signed the IEP, the school district decided to pull the aide Sh.awn has had for the last several months, the one who has helped him overcome some pretty challenging physical and behavioral obstacles, and move her somewhere else. They did so without any warning on our part, and didn't even let Sh.awn or the teacher say goodbye to her.

Poof. Just like that, she was removed from his life forever.

The district is now saying this aide was always "temporary" for Sh.awn (news to us) and she is needed elsewhere. The district's solution is to give Sh.awn a temporary aide, one who does not know him at all, for "a few weeks" while a "permanent" aide who they "think will be a good fit" completes necessary paperwork and is hired. If the old aide was always considered "temporary," then why was no permanent replacement hired? It isn't like they didn't know that one would be needed. Why take the one he knows before a replacement has been found?

It has even been suggested that Sh.awn's teacher take time away from her entire class in order to train the current temporary aide. (Not her job at all, and frankly, as a teacher this upsets me on a whole other level.) I can only guess that she would have to do that yet again when the permanent aide has been hired.

How can that be fair to Sh.awn, especially when it is well known that he needs structure and routine in order to thrive in his academic setting, to force him to undergo transitioning through two new aides? How can that be fair to the teacher or the rest of the class?

This is going to be a huge setback for Sh.awn, who will feel it the most, and also for all of the students in his class. We have the unique perspective of seeing both sides of this issue. We see how it impacts Sh.awn when he does not have consistency. Behaviors that had been eradicated for the most part, have now returned and will likely continue for the foreseeable future without a consistent permanent aide to help him succeed. We also see how it impacts Ja.son, along with the other students in the class, when the teacher is called away from the class to help an aide learn how to help Sh.awn. Ja.son's education will be disrupted as well.

It is behavior like this that gives schools and school districts a bad name.

Technically, the district has provided an aide. Technically, that is all that is required of them.

Technically, this is all just shitty.

The adults responsible for moves like this should be ashamed of themselves.

Sigh.