504 team trying to pull No food in classroom from our plan

[MandCmama]

Last year the team agreed it was safest to have the students in M's class take their snacks to the cafeteria to avoid classroom contamination. There had been a very brief discussion of the teacher going through snacks to make sure there were no peanut products, but she intelligently decided that was too big an undertaking (responsibility wise and practicality wise) esp since a lot of the time it would just be a baggie filled with.....? So every morning at 11, the class crosses the hall and has snack in the caf and the wipes their hands and returns to the room. I have gotten positive feedback from the teacher re how it has worked out.

Friday morning the phone rang. It was the principal wanting to give me a heads up that this accomodation would no longer be possible in 2nd grade "due to the time it takes away from the education of his peers and the increasing vigor of the curriculums". He knew I was going to fight back, so he had even figured out how many hours (60) the class would miss over the course of 180 days. "Snack time was always intended to be a "working" snack". He proposed sending home a letter to parents stating the classroom would be peanut free, so send appropriate snacks. The teacher would then go through the snacks and make sure. Anything suspicious would be removed to the office and parent called. Students would snack at their desk and then wipe desk and hands. Allergy students would have a designated table.

So my points were:1) you can restrict peanuts, but what about the dairy and egg allergies of his peers. 2) is 60 hours of education ( which does make me cringe) equal a life. 3) food allergy students losing their "safe haven"- a food free learning environment. 4) the time it will take to inspect 25 snacks in possibly, unlabeled packaging 5) the responsibility that puts on the teacher 6) the further singling out of allergy students 7) the horrible risk , especially for the milk allergic with spills 8) SUBSTITUE teachers- despite a huge binder and plan in place, communication is a real problem in this school.

He asked me to think of solutions prior to our meeting Wed. So far I've come up with 1) no snack. I never had snack in school past K. This year M had lunch at 1, so it did seem necessary, but maybe adjust lunch times. 2) only fresh fruits or fruit cups ( up to this point all allergies have been to nuts, dairy and egg) or list including specific items to choose from. 3) school provided snack of bagged carrots or apples, which they have in "birthday baskets" already.

I need thoughts and suggestions. M has had contact-ingestion reactions. Principal stated there was no way to prevent someone from touching anything in school with PB on hands. I replied that his ROOM was known to be PB free ( wipes before entering), which led him to feel safe to learn. Also informed him we had to teach M to analyze risk/benefit of every activity he does ( do i get enough out of this family party for the risk to be worth it?), whereas school was not an option. He has to be there. It is their duty to keep him safe. Part of the problem is there are only two of us allergy moms that are conservative managers. Together we cover peanut, egg and dairy.

[twinturbo]

I'd like to see his math in writing first showing the work how he arrived at that number and what he intends to fill with that time. Are there birthday celebrations on class time? Then I'd keep that in a protective sleeve and scan to show how much 'we're concerned' with class time if there's ridiculous incursions on class time. Could you show me how you arrived at your numbers? A breakdown would help with context of curriculum. It's more to force his hand to put it in writing and buy some time, form a response.

Otherwise I'm liking your ideas of (1) no snack (2) limited snack items allowed and all healthy options not containing the students with 504 documented allergens. There's no reason to not say fruit and water, and every reason to in this particular instance.

Door #3 I'd like to open for him is inclusion can't be measured in zero sum terms pitting students against one another. It is a group initiative, inclusion is compliant and consistent with the objectives of Section 504 to eliminate inequities. Accommodations that are low cost, necessary and effective accomplish the objectives of leveling the playing field for students with disabilities. Can we look at the curriculum issues together to come up with more solutions that do not involve food? There are documented life threats to students when food is involved therefore a conscious choice must be made to address it that promotes safety and inclusion.

Then when he has his numbers in writing you can counter it with your own then add a statement about the condition hasn't changed therefore the accommodation that is necessary, low cost and effective should not change or he will be re-introducing an inequity that the accommodation was designed to address. How much does he put the cost of safety and inclusion? This is the challenge of removing inequities--they do not win by numbers on paper.



Can we write a complimentary letter form with the essence of above? It seems like he's not averse to accommodations but perhaps his system of measurement needs a few reminders of the intangible benefits directly to him and the school.

Dear Principal,

I read your concerns. As a parent I appreciate that your attention to enriching the curriculum. I'd also like to thank you for consistent and proactive approach to not only the letter of the law but the true spirit of inclusion of students with disabilities by working with us to utilize effective, appropriate and necessary accommodations. Could you provide me with the numbers and breakdown of curriculum materials that you're using to measure in this instance? Have you considered that the success of the current snack accommodations has met with the objectives of removing inequities to program access enough to have a positive net impact on student performance including test scores? Removing the standing effective and necessary accommodations that have thus far been successful and consistent with inclusion may not be as time-saving or lead to the type of enrichment stated in your concerns about curriculum material or testing once all factors are weighed carefully. I look forward to helping you examine this in detail. Perhaps we could uncover other areas that could be improved for both inclusion and enrichment for all students.

Something like that. I have to run to get the good strawberries or lose out for half a week. It's a local thing.

[MandCmama]

Excellent thoughts, TT.  Other mom and I will definitely steal some of these, Thank you!

[lakeswimr]

They can still have a working snack in the cafeteria.  They bring work and work on it while in there.  That cuts down the 'wasted time' to just their travel back and forth. 

[momma2boys]

Why on earth do second graders need a snack? Ridiculous.

[yelloww]

No snack. No problem. End of discussion. Have him move the time that 2nd grade goes to lunch. That's what we did and it was FINE. The world DID NOT END when they flipped the lunch schedule. Good luck!

[CMdeux]

Gotta agree with the others-- two options, as per Lakeswimr and Yellow.  Either move lunch and no snack anymore (after all-- HEL-LO??  SECOND grade, not preK here), or working snack with materials following the kids to the caf.

[sneaker]

MandCmama, you wrote your son's actual name in the first post.  Maybe you or a moderator want to edit that.

I can relate to not being able to get a classroom free of some foods, milk and even nut free was difficult to get enforced for my dd years ago.

[MandCmama]

Thank you sneaker- got it. More great suggestions. Thank you ladies!

[daisy madness]

I would send him an email asking why an accommodation that was determined by the 504 team to be necessary last year due to your son's disability is no longer necessary for next year.  Then wait for his response and question it further.  It's not his decision to make (as an individual staff member).  That decision needs to be made by the team. 

I'm sure the team's opinion will be whatever the principal tells them their opinion should be, but question it heavily and on the record.  If your son's disability hasn't changed, what are their grounds for removing the accommodation? 

[yelloww]

And going from what Daisy said, you want to put this ball in their court, but maybe do it with the "I'm confused, could you please clarify this for me" route....

Don't get into a spitting mach about the classroom hours. If he wants to go that route, ask him to tell you how many hours are spent preparing and taking mandatory state tests. If they took out some of those hours, then this wouldn't be falling into your lap. 

I am assuming you have a 504.

Something along the lines of....

Dear Mr. So and So:

I'm writing about your phone call to me on ____ date when you stated that my son's classroom accommodations are going to be removed from his 504 plan for next year. If I understand correctly _________ (state what you understood here)

I'm confused as to how a 504 accommodation can be removed from a 504 plan when a child's disability has not changed? Could you please clarify this aspect of the 504 process for me as I do not see anything listed about this on the 504 section of the district website? I did not realize that specific 504 accommodations could be removed when a school decides they should be, rather than being based upon whether or not the student's medical condition has changed. My child's disability has not changed since his 504 was granted.  These accommodations are still necessary and appropriate for his age and disability. Compromising those accommodations puts my child in a situation where he will not be focused on learning in the classroom- he will spend his time focused on the food around him. My child has plenty of places where he must practice navigating food in society. As you know, the classroom is a place for learning. Negotiating food and managing the stress that goes along with food is not conducive to an an equal learning environment to that of his peers. I expect that my child will continue to have his accomodations in the second grade classroom, as that is what FAPE requires. (someone fix the last two sentences of that for me)

Then end with something about how you know how happy your child is there, and that you are sure that you all can put your minds together to come up with something that works for the school's educational demands while keeping his 504 and food free classrom intact.


(someone help here with my wordsmithing- you old timers know where I'm going with this.... It's about two things 1) removing accommodations when there isn't a substantive change in condition and 2) giving him equal access to an education that does NOT involve food and the stress/anxiety that this disability has wrt food situations- distraction for learning, blah blah blah)

Legally, he can't just remove accommodations from the 504.

[ajasfolks2]

Oh, a big "Hell Yeah" to the questioning tactics and wording from both daisy madness and yellow . . . you'll just need to tweak for your own comfort level, but still be firmly polite (not in-your-face-accusatory) . . .

You want them on record.

Every.body. 

Interesting website I found today as I worked on another issue for myself and maybe others . . .

http://www.connecticutspecialeducationlawyer.com/tips-for-parents/section-504-the-other-white-meat/
and
http://www.connecticutspecialeducationlawyer.com/unseemly-iep-team-members/

[ajasfolks2]

MandCmama  -- I want to be sure you've got the USDA (spec dietary needs) form on file with district as well, yes? 

[MandCmama]

I'm not familiar with that form AJs... I allow him to eat just about nothing from school, not even milk. Once a month they do birthday baskets and 2 items are provided. The school dietician calls me re those items. Other than that, I don't really deal with the dietary dept.

[yelloww]

Do you have a 504?