My daughter is transitioning into an Oklahoma City public school out Sooner Start. What I am trying to figure out is who decides what is appropriate for my child? If the school decides then I guess I need a better definition then the one that in the dictionary. I was gave 3 schools to look at and I choose the one that is not the closest to my home because I felt it is more appropriate for my child. The one that is closest to my home has some problems and that is why I did not go with it. Well according to Oklahoma State law they district must reimburse you gas mileage if they can not provide transportation to and from the school that is closest to you if they cannot. How ever you can choose another school if it can provide the care and programs your child needs. Which is what I did. Now they are not wanting to reimburse me the mileage as they feel the school closest to me is appropriate enough. Even though as a parent you gave me 3 chooses so shouldn't that mean I can be the one to decide what is better for my child? Now please understand I do have the Policy and Procedure Manual for Special Needs Education in Oklahoma, so please don't message me with go read it. Because it all boils back to Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). If you need more info just let me know. THANK YOU
Special Education - 2 Answers
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1 :
If you can show just cause then you have a good chance at winning here. Federal law(IDEA) trumps state laws every time because that is where they get there funding. So you have to write them a letter stating what accommodation you are needing and why. You should also state that you were given choices per the federal law as to which school would be able to provide an APPROPRIATE education for your child. I would go on to state the differences in the two school and why the closer school is not an appropriate choice for her educational needs and goals. All communication with your district should be in writing so you have a record. Every correspondence you have with the district through this process you should make a copy of. You should also put on the bottom of each letter cc: file so the district knows you are keeping them and they tend to take you a little more seriously then! Also you may need the services of an educational advocate. You will want to go to the Oklahoma Family Network who can match you with an advocate. Their site is below.
2 :
Please go to this message board, it's the BEST on the internet for this type of help -- http://millermom.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=Education
