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Health & Fitness

Disability = School Suspension, It Happens Everyday.

Yes a disability CAN keep you from being allowed in a government run institution. It's entirely up to staff.

What would you think if somebody you love had a disability, and their boss didn’t want to deal with it, so he kicked your loved one out of work and told them not to come back for 10 days?

What about those of you who have epilepsy, diabetes, or asthma, and what if you were told not to come back to a local library, a mall or a restaurant due to problems which occurred as a result of wheezing, a seizure or a hypoglycemic crisis?

You would undoubtedly go to a supervisor, manager, or an attorney and question it, and then, what if you were told “unless your loved one was removed for more than 10 days, REGARDLESS if what happened was due to their disability, there is no appeal process, no law to protect them, and no recourse for the company’s actions? Well … that is exactly what can happen to a child with a disability at school. 

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A district can suspend a child with a disability and a 504, for any incident against their school code, regardless of the fact that the very incident is a documented manifestation of their disability.

An example would be epilepsy. Let’s say the child had a Grand Mal seizure, yet kicked somebody during the “incident.” We would like to think that all school principals are fair and reasonable and would see this as a manifestation of the disability, but I’m here to say, and research proves, not so.

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There are some very unreasonable principals and administrators in our school system. Many parents have pulled their children out of schools because they couldn’t bear to accept a suspension knowing the problem was a symptom of the child’s disability.  In the above example, if a principal decides to say the child kicked somebody during the seizure, and they decide to suspend the child, there is absolutely nothing a parent can do.

The child would have to accept the suspension, the parent would have to miss work, then the child would have to come back to the school feeling punished for their disability, would likely have a hard time trusting the staff in the future, and they would probably be scared it could happen again and research proves, most likely it would.  Under the current law, a school can suspend a child with a 504 disability for up to 10 days for each incident of a violation of the school code without determining if the violation was a manifestation of the child’s disability, and even if it clearly is exactly that, the school can still give the suspension.

I had a 504-planning meeting for my son this week in the Hazelwood School District. He has never been in trouble and is typically an "A" student. I found his school rigid and intolerant of his disability, and they did not provide him a 504. I advocated often for my son and got the 504.  At the end of the meeting however, the administrator felt the need to tell me, “they could very well, still suspend my 9-year-old son, regardless of the 504.”  

She gave this example, “Let’s say he is running, and was asked to stop and didn’t, he could be suspended.”  I thought the intention of a 504 meeting was to discuss ways to help the disabled child, why would she feel the need to mention this to a parent whose child has essentially NEVER been in trouble, yet he was punished unfairly in the past for his disability. In fact, his disability could very well cause him to run after being told to stop.

This greatly concerns me and it should concern all parents. Shouldn’t a school have to at least follow the findings of a pediatric neurologist before suspending a child for a minor infraction such as this, when they know the child has a disability? Well, yes, they should … but they don’t. 

This is not just my concern. Experts agree, this is a major problem. “For all students with disabilities, regardless of race, over 400 districts suspended 25 percent or more of these students,” according to the Civil Rights Project by UCLA. “Students with disabilities are almost twice as likely to be suspended from school as nondisabled students, with the highest rates among black children with disabilities. According to a new analysis of Department of Education data, 13 percent of disabled students in kindergarten through 12th grade were suspended during the 2009-10 school year, compared with 7 percent of students without disabilities,” according to **The New York Times.

Parents should not only be concerned with the possibility of their child being unfairly suspended, but also be concerned their child may “learn” to hate school under these unjust conditions, and in addition to tremendous stress of the disability itself.

“The frequent use of out-of-school suspension results in increased dropout rates and heightened risk of youth winding up in the juvenile justice system,” stated the study’s lead author Daniel J. Losen.

“We know that schools can support teachers and improve learning environments for children without forcing so many students to lose valuable days of instruction. The data also show that numerous school districts are not suspending large numbers of children from any racial group. In contrast, the incredibly high numbers of students barred from school, often for the most minor infractions, defies common sense and reveals patterns of school exclusion along the lines of race and disability status that must be rejected by all members of the public school community," according to the *UCLA findings.

Sadly, instead of support, the child with disabilities are often temporarily disposed of, "pushed out", and in my view, they are essentially being bullied for their disability by the very people put in place to prevent such a thing.  “This is a very disturbing pattern because kids with disabilities are supposed to be getting additional supports and counseling”… (**The New York Times).

If your child has been suspended repeatedly, or for symptoms of a disability, feel free to contact me for more information or lay advice at Jordansadvocate.com

Jeannine

*http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/news/press-releases/crp-press-releases- 2012/opportunity-suspended-press-release     

**   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/education/analysis-examines-disabled-  students-suspensions.html?pagewanted=all

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