504 today

[Mfamom]

well, my head might just pop off after what happened to ds today.
Math teacher (she's young, arrogant, similar to the teacher we had in 7th grade.  She is not a good "teacher"/communicator.
Anyway, she told the class that she is moving their seats.  The kids didn't want to move and ds apparently said that he is happy where he is etc. 
In front of the ENTIRE class, she says "I want you and xx and xx to move closer.  Anyway, MFAMOMDS, you have a 504 Plan that says you have preferential seating". 
My ds asks what she's talking about and she repeats it and starts talking about 504 this and 504 that.  One kid asks if that is like an IEP...  The teacher says, I have to follow it according to the State.   

My ds was mortified.  He said that is PERSONAL/CONFIdENTIAL and has nothing to do with where I sit!!! 

I am really ticked off.  WTH?  I have NO IDEA where this all came from and how she thinks it is ok to publically discuss it and two she apparently has no idea what it is since it is for food allergies, not learning! 

I'm not sure what to do.  I am hopping mad though

[twinturbo]

First stop LOU in writing to her what happened. No phone call. Don't ask her what she said ask why she said exactly what you wrote out loud.

[Macabre]

And copy the 504C.

Because, you know, your team there is soooooo very supportive. 

[CMdeux]

Holy cow.


YES.

What they said.  Need help drafting?

[Mfamom]

Yeah, might need help
My dh already sent an email asking for a meeting.  He is so calm, sometimes you want to do a pulse check, but this really upset him.

[twinturbo]

She's going to have her guard up now. Watch out for the story changing and suddenly DS 'misinterpreted' the whole thing. Again, don't ask what she said ask her why did you make these statements publicly to the entire classroom. Spell it out.

Just saying 'cuz your school's brilliant philosophy/philanthropy displayed to students thus far. I'm not much for the clown posse but if ever a place needed it, hooboy. Bring out Pennywise!

[Mfamom]

so what do you think should be the hot spot?
Openly discussing it
Not understanding what his plan goals are

Interesting because school nurse does know he doesn't have PA anymore, so my hot spot isn't that she doesn't know what the plan is for, its making me more upset that she discussed it in front of his peers!  If he was still allergic, I'd probably be freaked out about her not understanding the plan.

[Macabre]

Have giant shoes and tiny car, will travel. Even for another margarita at that Hell's Kitchen spot. (Instead of my usual consulting fee.)

[CMdeux]

We'll still need Maker's Mark for the gig itself though.  Right??

Mfamom, I'd focus primarily on the needless identification-- because that is a bell that cannot ever be un-rung with peers.  The fact that the person doing that also didn't understand that students may have disability accommodations which are not of an 'academic' nature, but of a medical or mental health one clearly has never occurred to her, and should be immediately mitigated with additional training about handling adolescents with hidden disabilities.  Students in this age group must be handled with both respect and sensitivity-- they are often quite skilled in self-management, are usually helpful partners in accessing and using their accommodations with discretion and minimal disruption to others, and mostly because as adolescents, they want to fit in with their peer group far more than they usually want ANY accommodation that sets them apart from that peer group.

She owes these kids a BIG apology for "outing" them to their peers like that.  Cat's out of the bag now, of course.   

[Mfamom]

ok, the teacher replied to my email.  I kept it short, stated my "understanding" of what happened and pointed out the problems with her openly discussing his accommodation plan.

She replied, "I remember you mentioning that you wanted your DS to sit in the front.  I guess I misremembered that as he needed to be in the front.  I apologize for the mix up."

She goes on to say that he hasn't come in on Tue./Thurs. for "review" and she wants him to be sure to come in.

I cannot believe that a high school teacher would comment with "I misremembered".  That in itself is completely unacceptable.  Then, for her to now say "I" said I wanted him in the front, but yesterday she announced it was due to his 504? 

Couple of problems here....one, she doesn't have control over her classroom.  DS said no one ended up moving.  She had to shut some of the kids down and she used the 504 to give a reason for my ds to move.  She also tried to divert attention to ds not coming in and made it sound like he did terrible on his last quiz.  I just looked and he got a high B. 

Interesting, she didn't reply all, just to me.  the 504C and guidance lady were copied on my original email.

[PurpleCat]

I can't imagine how your son feels, but I certainly feel bad that he was treated in such an unspeakable manner.  That woman should be put on notice.  And I'd make a request, whatever letter you send, that a copy be put in her personnel file.  You'd be surprised how much does not go in those unless requested.  I've done it before.

[twinturbo]

In a word her global problem is lack of professionalism.

I'm thinking for these circumstances since she's not raising her standards to a professional level it is appropriate to escalate to a level that assists her to course-correct her methods until it reaches an adequate level of professionalism, heavy emphasis on compliance including how compliance is executed with regard to medical privacy.

Edited to add a contextual question. So this school administration has their bizarro bourgeois social Darwinism penchant IIRC or at least capturing the spirit of in similar enough fashion. How do you read this in the larger frame of the school? Specifically, is the teacher like this coming in and has not been molded to the frame of that culture yet? Or... is this the result of how that administration molds new faculty?

Are you going to talk common sense and everyone is going to look at you like everything you said came out like a Yip-Yip alien? If so my sense that actions are going to do most of the speaking, as PC mentions in putting notes in records, etc.

[Mfamom]

Well, the culture at the school has been a problem for me from day one. 
There is a weird vibe there, hostile would be a strong word, but there is a "suck it up", "grow up" type attitude.  The school is high performing, but mostly because of the social economics of the area where I'd say 80 percent of the kids have private tutors, parents are competitive and the administration is "tough".   They pride themselves on having successful students, but I tend to believe it is more about what parents do outside of the school than what's inside the school. 
They originally didn't think that a high school student needed a 504 plan for allergies.  They angle it as he's a big boy, let him get in the real world and suck it up. 
So, it is clear that the plan is not well received or explained to staff or the teacher would not have thought the 504 was addressing a learning issue.  Furthermore, this is not the first time that his plan has been discussed in public and in a negative way.

[Mfamom]

I also hate to associate a writing style with forming an opinion of someone, but I have never heard someone use the word misremember.  It seems very awkward.  I'm not sure it is a word, but it made me question who these people educating our kids come from!?

[CMdeux]

Oh, I've been questioning that for some time now, Mfamom.