I need to vent

I know this has been asked and answered, but I am so angry I cannot search the posts.

My District told my Service Coordinator that she will not approve busing from Port Jeff Station to Huntington because it is cruel to put a child on a bus for an hour. Are they allowed to dictate how much time they are willing to let MY child be on a bus? I thought the law was 90-minutes. Not like I want that, but he will be bused from Smithtown to Huntington in the mornings (which is only 20-mintes) and would only have to take the longer bus ride home (where he will nap).

She also won't push our meeting up because they are "FULL" so she said they won't be approving a summer program at his pre-school for him. This summer program will allow him to start a little later, so why can't they just approve it July 6th and he can at least go the last 5-weeks of the program. I think it is so beneficial for him to make the transition to pre-school in the summer as opposed to the fall.

I have yet to speak with these people. They NEVER return my calls. She claims to be calling me tomorrow (sure you will).

Any feedback on busing you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks for letting me vent. I need that!

Re: I need to vent

I put this in another thread:

Maximum time for bussing

Is your DC itransitioning to CPSE? As a parent, I would write a letter to the CPSE chair, with a copy to the director of Pupil Personnel Services and the District Superintendent. In the letter I would state that I object to the distance travelled being a reason for denying my child admission to the school and as the parent, I feel that the school is the most appropriate setting for DS. The few times I had letters for the chair before a CPSE meeting, I went in person and dropped them off. I tried sending a letter certified mail and no one would sign for it. Nice, right? Is it likely that your DS will have a spot for this particular school? I am just wondering if it is worth a big fight about the bus if you don't know for sure if he has a spot at the school.

As for moving the meeting up, you might be out of luck there. They are probably very tightly scheduled since it is so late in the school year.

Re: I need to vent

I don't think "one" person decides anything in CPSE it's a committee ! I agree with DPLI, send letters to all the heads at the SD.

I live in Nassau and they pretty much encourage sending the kids where I live to a school that is definitely at least 45 minutes away by car that isn't picking or dropping other kids off.

Oh and port jeff to huntington shouldn't take an hour.

Why was your coordinator involved ?

Message edited 6/9/2011 4:47:47 PM.

Re: I need to vent

Thank you ladies. Your advice is valuable to me.

He definitely has a spot in the fall. They also have a spot in their summer program now that a child is moving down south.

We don't know why my coordinator was involved. I was the one who called and left 3 messages. The Chairperson (the school psychologist) called her instead of me. My Coordinator asked her to call me and she said she was swamped and would call me tomorrow (yeah right).

I teach and I talked to our assistant director of PPS and she also said write a letter to everyone. She said that length of time is not up to the district to decide as long as it's under the NYS minimum.

Thank you again for your help!

Re: I need to vent

That is ridiculous, I work in Brooklyn and no matter how close or far the school is most kids are on the bus for almost an hour b/c of traffic and picking up and dropping off kids. Also, I worked in EI in Orange County and they do not have an ABA CPSE program, so most kids were bused to Rockland County. Good luck!