Let's Keep Our Kids Home(home school, that is)!

A hot topic up for discussion at last Thur. LSC meeting was the placement of behavior classes throughout Lynn Public Schools. Addressing the topic was Ms. Muggeo. I didn't get  to take down her exact title as you now I am a slow writer. No worries, I'll just look to the pre-printed agenda to copy it. Wait, it's not there either.

In fact I have been going to all the LSC meetings lately and I've never heard her name mentioned. I worked extensively with Dr. Latham and Jessica McLaughlin last spring to put together an IEP for my son and her name never came up.

Someone told me that she is a long term employee of the Lynn Public School system, I don't know I didn't call payroll or personnel whoever handles that end of the administration. It seems to me she kind of shot to the top real quick-like. By sudden I don't mean years of service, I'm sure she has the credentials to do whatever she does.

I think she must have got a promotion in-house to be where she is at right now. I am sure it didn't have to be a public one, but an introduction would have been nice. It's never too late but you know what they say, "You only get one chance to make a first impression".

Anyway she said there were 38 to 40 behavior classes in Lynn. Why the range? Doesn't she know exactly how many students we provide service to? She did say that placement in the student's neighborhood school was challenging. I bet that's especially true if you don't know exactly how many classrooms you have.

They try not to move the kids out of their district middle school that way they can maintain some sense of stability. They are usually successful in that regard but in the meantime we are incurring the expense of busing the youngest students to some distant location.

Speaking from personal experience, I can testify about the wisdom of placing  special needs student in his neighborhood school. My son spent five years being bused to Shoemaker and was in a COACH class, spending some time in inclusion. He reached a plateau after two and a half years an then backslide. After one year at his neighborhood school at Ford, he now goes to Pickering where he has all day inclusion and made the Honor Roll. Community is therapy with results.