Good news received yesterday.  Matthew got in to Coonley's program and I have heard nothing but great things.  But I still want to bring the stuff going on at North River to light.  If anyone can share similar stories, please do.

Here is an excerpt from the school handbook (which is a page long in total).  To me, this shows that the concern at the school is about money, not the students.  I am not sure if there is anything about the policy per se, but it seems awfully risky that it is illegal in application.  To me, it just shows further that the principal is against spending school money on aides.  One of the teachers who was let go (blended special ed) was actually evaluated while no aides (nor I believe her co-teacher) were present in the classroom.  Of course she had a hard time instructing 7 special needs and 13 general ed preschoolers!  I am sure it was all she could do to try and keep control of the classroom.  From what I understand, with the resources she was given, the best she could do was look out for student safety.

Here it is:

During staff participation at an IEP conference please respect the integrity of our profession and North River School.  That is, adhere to the procedures governing the consideration, and provision, or special education and related services cited by this district.  Note, only the principal, principal's designee, or an administrator from the Office of Specialized Services can commit the district's resources.  Should staff wish to propose services not innate in in our special education program or readily available at North River (e.g. Full time or part-time aide, computer hard/software [not inclusive of all related services), consult with me first.  Should this proposal occur unexpectedly at a staffing, [the principal's designee] will call for a recess in the meeting to consult with me.