Question for a Friend

Not sure what the answer is to this, but so many of you know so much, I thought I'd throw this out there. A friend is receiving speech services from the school district for her son. She has not shared with me if there is a diagnosis of any kind, to my knowledge he is just receiving speech. At the CPSE committee meeting, she said she would like to delay Kindergarten 1 year for him. I think this is a good plan since his speech is behind that of other children his age, and he has trouble following directions. His birthday is four days before the cut-off, so he would also be the youngest in his class.

So the school district said she could do this, however he would start school in 1st grade the following year, not Kindergarten as she would like. They said this is not negotiable--he either starts Kindergarten next year on time or he waits, skips Kindergarten and begins 1st grade. No alternatives were offered.

Does anyone know if this is correct and does this vary from one district to the next? I'm surprised frankly, because I have heard of people with NT children holding their kids back if they are born in October so they are not the youngest, not because they feel they have delays that will make functioning in Kindergarten hard for them. Any ideas for help or resources I can share with her? This boy really does not seem ready IMO, another year would make a world of difference for him.

I did tell her to call the SEPTA group for the town, and a mutual friend who is on the Board. Other than that, I'm not sure what to suggest. TIA!!!

Re: Question for a Friend

Our district had a transition meeting. When the question came up about sending kids to another year of preschool, the answer was that parents could do that, but that they still had to register for Kindergarten this year. Once a child turns 5, they are considered in CSE, so if she still wants services, she would still have to register the child for Kindergarten for this fall, whether he starts or not - I think this is a NYS requirement, not a district by district thing.

My district didn't explicitly say that those children would then have to start in first grade the following year. I sort of got the impression that they would look at things like this on a case by case basis. I would also tell her to speak with the CSE chair if it is a different person. The CPSE person might be telling her this, but when it comes down to it, the CSE chair would really be the one to make that recommendation, I think, or even the director of special ed, if she gets resistance.

Message edited 1/27/2012 2:34:40 PM.

Re: Question for a Friend

Thanks for your reply! I'm really not sure why they told her this, unless as you said the committees are chaired by different people and one understands this better than the other. I would think this is covered by the state, not individual school districts, but who knows?

It was helpful info though--I am hoping she had misinformation or the SEPTA group for her school can shed some light on this.

Makes me so glad my son was late--at the time I was upset, but now it makes life easier. But who knew what was down the road?

Re: Question for a Friend

CPSE is usually the CSE chairperson.. at least that i my understanding of the districts i am familiar with...

if you have a typical child who was born in Oct/Nov and you the parent didn't want send them to K, you wouldn't register them for K... which is why those children start K the following you...

but if she wants to continue services she must register for K to be entered into CSE and if she chooses to not to send her DC to K then the following year he will be in 1st grade...

i hope that makes sense...

the SD will not just place a severely speech delayed child in a room filled with typical peers... at his transition meeting from CPSE to CSE, they should talk about special schools or an aide or a shadow, if he is in fact that delayed.

but what the CPSE/CSE chairperson said is correct.. if she skips K he will enter 1st grade next year.. but if she forfeits services from the SD and does NOT register him, he can do K next year

Message edited 1/27/2012 6:16:58 PM.

Re: Question for a Friend

Thanks for the info! It didn't sound right to me, but if this is the way it generally works, I guess she'll have to make a choice.

I am not sure of the degree of his speech delay at this point. He is speaking better than he was, but there are a lot of articulation issues. I'm also not sure how his receptive speech compares with expressive, though I would guess he understands more than he can say.