Allison waited for Asher outside Everlys school. She knew her parents were also on their way. Her discussion with Beth two weeks before had done nothing to change the fact that Ev was coming home crying daily.
"Allie," Asher greeted with a hug.
"Can we," Allison asked.
"We can," he assured, "we have to. You've talked to me Vleeming and Ms Whitman. Change hasn't happened. We've emailed Mr strand."
"What do you want to do," Asher asked.
"A new teacher," Allison said, "we talked about it. Ash we need to advocate for her to switch classes. Talia is in the other class with Ms M. I think she needs to go back with Ms M."
"So do I," Asher said, "why we're her and Talia split?"
"I don't know," Allison replied, "I asked for them to be together. So did Trianne."
"Everything okay," Owen asked joining them.
"We want a class switch, " Asher said, "so she has Ms M again as her SEA there's not a full time SEA in her current room. She's only getting the time for using the bathroom. Her physio isn't getting done in Pe because there's on one to help her which we were promised would happen."
"Have you given them the training," Teddy asked.
"Yes. Jayda has come twice," Allison said, "we have a second trike here for her. She's sitting out running club but could ride her bike on the track."
"Who is in the meeting," Teddy asked.
"Ms Vleeming, Ms Whitman, Mr Strand and someone from the district," Asher said, "I emailed the special Ed coordinator."
"Good," Owen said.
"They know you're coming,' Allison said, "and Uncle Dan gave me a list of things to talk about. I have our notes."
"Did you bring the emails and notes," Teddy asked.
"I printed them all," Asher agreed, "we have it all in writing and her communication book."
They walked into the school and met Beth.
"Mr and Mrs Blouin," Beth greeted.
"Ms Whitman," Asher replied.
"You remember my parents Dr Altman and Dr Hunt," Allison added.
"It's good to see both of you," Beth replied.
"I wish it was under better circumstances," Teddy replied.
"So do I," Beth agreed. She looked at Teddy and Owen who had both aged since the last time she saw them. She noticed Owen's hair was thinning and totally grey. This was not the young soldier she had loved.
"We're just here to help advocate for Everly," Owen said, "picking her up from kindergarten crying is not okay."
"It's not," Beth agreed, "she's a smart little girl. I read with Everly today."
"How did it go," Allison asked.
"She's reading at the end of first grade," Beth replied, "you've read to her a lot."
"We have since she was a baby," Asher said.
"Sometimes as an infant it was my textbooks out loud as she snuggled with me," Allison admitted, "she loves books and being read to. We read in french as well, I minored in it. I'm fluent and so is my sister."
"French," Beth asked, "you took spanish."
"I did," Owen said, "Teddy has some French and fluent German. All three kids have fluent french. Annie our oldest, her dad is french Canadian so Annie started it with Allison and Leo and Allie has continued it with Everly."
"Languages are good for kids," Beth smiled, "you're giving Everly a lot of opportunities. She said she goes riding?"
"She has adaptive riding lessons once a week," Asher said, "she loves ponies."
"Tell me about Everly's days outside of school," Beth said as they walked to the conference room.
"School days she's up about 6:30," Allison said, "we get dressed, do morning physio and she has breakfast and plays a game or reads with Ash so I can shower and get ready. I drive her to daycare for 8, she goes to the one here at school and loves it. After school depending on the day one of my parents picks up, she goes to daycare and I pick up on Fridays. Everly has swimming Monday, Wednesday and Friday, physio and music on Tuesday and music again on Thursday. It's a group music class for 5 and 6 year olds, we go for 45 minutes and play xylophones and boomwhackers and sing songs. We go home for play time and dinner, then its a little bit more time to play, evening physio, bath, story and bed."
"What time does she go to bed," Beth asked.
"She's in her bed at 7:15 and we read from a novel for a chapter," Asher said, "so if it takes 10 minutes it's 10 and if its a half hour its a half hour. She's usually asleep by 8."
"Weekends," Beth asked.
"Saturday morning she has riding," Asher said, "then some sort of family adventure or outing. Grocery shopping and errands we usually all go together. She gets to pick the treat for her lunch at the grocery store. Sundays is a family day, we might go do something or just hang out a home. Most weekends she has a play date or birthday party to go to and we have Sunday dinner with Allie's family every week."
"She has a nice routine," Beth said, "lunches?"
"We usually pack her lunch," Allison said, "she's a picky eater and it's hard to get protein in her she would live on crackers and fruit if we let her. So we pack her lunch with things we know she likes. Today she had her thermos with leftover homemade stew and dumplings, cucumbers and peppers, yoghourt with raspberries for snack and her treat was one of mom's oatmeal cookies."
"Sounds like a balanced lunch," Beth replied.
"We know she has to have balanced meals," Allison said, "her CP can make weight management hard due to limited mobility and we know that proper nutrition will help her grow. She gets tired easily because movement is so difficult for her. She uses triple the effort another kid would to move."
They joined the teachers in the conference room.
"We're all here," Beth said looking around the room, "just some introductions to get started. This is John Garneau our assistant superintendent, Dean Callens the district principal for special education, Everly's parents Allison and Asher Blouin, Dr Teddy Altman and Dr Owen Hunt Everly's grandparents. Then our school team Mr Dan Strand our resource teacher and Everly's case manager and Ms Hannah Vleeming Everly's teacher. We're here today to review Everly's IEP plan and 504 as it relates to her integration in the classroom."
"Everly is a 5 year old girl in kindergarten with a chronic health designation," Mr Stand started, "she has multiple diagnoses including hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy. Our records from the family indicate that the pregnancy progressed normally with excellent medical care and that there were complications at birth."
'The cord was on her neck and there was a delay in her breathing,' Teddy replied, "approximately 2 minutes."
"She had surgery at 5 months and again at 2 years,' Mr Stand read.
"Why are we here for an IEP meeting,' Mr Callens asked.
"Because her IEP isn't being followed,' Asher replied, "Everly is coming home crying daily saying she wasn't allowed to play with her friends or in parts of the classroom because it's not accessible. She's not participating in PE or running club."
"She can't do running club,' Ms Vleeming said.
"We provided an adaptive bike that she loves," Asher replied, "she can ride that during running club. Take her bike outside and let her ride on the track. She can ride on gravel. We do it as a family all the time."
"What are the concerns," Mr Callens asked, he wasn't used to being called into IEP meetings.
"We don't feel that Ms Vleeming is the right fit for Everly. It's December of Kindergarten and she has come home crying everyday since September," Allison said, "we want a new teacher. This is not a good fit. We have had numerous conversations and email exchanges with Ms Vleeming and we're not seeing changes."
"Her best friend Taila and the SEA that she had last year are in the other kindergarten class,' Asher said, 'she should never have been split from Talia or Ms M."
"What is the IEP count in that class," Mr Callens asked.
"One," Beth answered.
"A move after Christmas,' Teddy proposed, 'theres only this week before the break. It gives time to move Everly's adaptive materials over."
"Talia has similar mobility needs," Allison replied.
'No," Mr Strand said, "the CP is considered low incidence and I can't put more than one low incidence student into a primary classroom."
"Everly is not low incidence," Mr Callens said, "cerebral palsy at the level of need in the file is not low incidence. "
"Academically," mr Garneau asked.
"I read with her today," Beth replied, "based on my observations she's end of first grade. I didn't do a formal assessment. I asked her to read to me when I went into her classroom during free play today. I wanted to observe a few times and get a picture. Everly is a bright social little girl from what I've seen. She talked about Josie the cat and Charlie the dog. She told me about making cookies with grandma after school yesterday."
"What are you going to do," Owen asked.
"The simple solution is to move Everly," Mr Garneau said, "it may require changing schools. We will also be following up on why the iep hasn't been fully implemented."
"The accommodations are reasonable and not an undue burden on the teacher," Mr Callens said, "adequate space to move. Adaptive equipment available. Assistance with toileting as needed."
"She's still working on getting her pants or leggings down and back on," Asher replied, "they get tangled on her braces. But other than her pants getting tangled on her braces she's independent."
"Stepping up onto the stool to wash her hands needs some help. I steady the stool with my foot and put one hand behind her back in case. ," Ms G everlys current sea said.
"How much sea time does she need," Mr Callens asked.
"Other than toileting she needs assistance for hand washing like described and getting down on the floor. But she just likes to know I'm there. She can do it and get up but likes to know I'm there if she needs me. If I'm not close she crawls to something sturdy like a table to grab onto she has great adaptive skills and self care skills," Ms G replied, "I'm assigned to her but she's less than 20% of my time in that classroom. Everly does not require one to one."
"Coming back to changing classes," Teddy said, "what would the process be?"
"I would need to consult with the other teacher because it will put her at her IEP cap and I can't move another child out of the class," Beth replied, "if Ms Janzen is open to it we can put it in place for January. I need to discuss it with her as Everly does need additional considerations for space and her movement."
"We're not okay with Mrs Vleeming teaching Ev," Allison said, "we've given you copies of the email exchanges."
"Everly is better kept at home than in class right now," Asher replied, "if we had the option to keep her home we would. I have no confidence in Mrs Vleeming. Everly not only doesn't have access to all areas of the classroom she's being actively excluded by her peers. It is not a safe and supportive environment."
"The IEP is being violated," Allison said, "so is her 504 plan. Those are legal documents. We provided you with the medical documents from Dr Silverstone and Dr Lincoln. She is part of the children with cerebral palsy inactive with the Fox Foundation. Her regular physio and occupational therapists have come and consulted here."
"We've done our part," Asher said.
"If this was happening in a hospital," Owen spoke up, "it would be malpractice. A patient had the right to request a new doctor if they have lost confidence in the one they have. Either this gets fixed or our family will get a lawyer."
"Owen," Beth gasped.
"Beth we knew each other years ago," Owen said, "you know I will fight for and protect my family. This is my granddaughter. Everly will be treated with the dignity that any child in this school gets. You've always been a passionate educator who cared for her students can you do that for Everly."
"I'm trying," Beth agreed, "that's why we're here today. I know all of you are going to fight for Every."
"We know Everly can't always do everything her friends do and we don't expect that," Allison said, "we know she won't play on the climbing structures. Maybe one day but not now and that's okay. We know PE isn't always safe for her but an effort should be made. Everly can kick a ball and throw one if she has her walker. She's working on her coordination. She should have to sit and read instead of playing. She cried yesterday because they had the parachute out and she couldn't play. Use the wheel chair and she can sit to do that so her hands are free."
"The other children," Ms Vleeming said.
"This is about you," Asher snapped.
"You are not doing your job," Allison said tears in her eyes, "your initial letter said you treat every child like family. This is not doing that. You promised a safe and welcoming environment for all children and this isn't it. If I had a choice I would keep Everly home. My semester ends Friday with my last exam and I'm going to keep her home with me the following week."
"The Christmas party and concert," Beth said.
"I will get times and bring her just for those and stay with her," Allison replied.
"Everly can't be miss treated like this," Asher said.
"It's illegal," Teddy replied, "the IEP and 504 are legally binding documents. It is your promise of the service you will provide."
"There's alot to think about," Mr Garneau said, "I know you want an immediate answer. I'm going to need some time to think and consult with Ms Whitman. Mr and Mrs Blouin can I take copies of all your correspondence with Mrs Vleeming and Everlys communication book?"
"Yes," Allison replied.
"I going to look into an alternate placement for the remainder of the year with the plan for Everly to return to Meadow Lane in the fall. It could be the other class here and that would be my first choice or it could be another school. I have to look at numbers and class composition. Ms Whitman and I will talk."
"How do we put in a complaint about Mrs Vleeming," Asher asked, "what she's doing not providing Ev with her supports putting Evs equipment where she can't help herself to it is abuse. I would like to file a complaint."
"Done," Beth replied, "I will connect with you privately to document your concerns in addition to this meeting. We can have a phone conversation or by email."
"We will appoint someone from instructional services and human resource to assess the situation," Mr Garneau said, "typically district principals in those positions."
"Mrs Vleeming you need to step out now," Mr Callens said, "you will be contacted by your union should this proceed."
Mrs Vleeming left the room.
Allison began to cry Asher squeezed her hand.
"We will get Everly the supports she needs," Beth assured, "I will speak to Mrs Janzen tomorrow and see what she says."
Allison shook her head.
Beth changed her tactic with the young parents, "you were my students. I know you must have been very young and she is your baby and the centre of your world. In this room we are all on the same team. We are all team Everly. "
Allison nodded.
"I know this is a lot," Beth said, "I've been through it as a parent as well. You are doing what you should be doing. You're fighting for your child. You need to keep doing that. "
"Everly knows mommy and daddy always fight for her," Teddy assured.
"She knows your here today and having a meeting," Owen said.
"I need her not to hate school," Allison sniffled.
"We will find every way possible to make that happen," Beth assured, "we want her to love school and learning. When we've talked you set her up for success."
"Allison," Teddy asked, "do you need a moment or can we continue?"
"I can keep going," Allison answered.
"We are going to find a solution," Mr Garneau said, "I think there are some bigger things at play here. I need to do some more investigating and follow up. In the meantime. Mr Strand and Ms Whitman can you help Mrs Vleeming with the physical space issue?"
"I can stay tonight," Mr Strand replied, "we can make the room easier for Everly to move in."
"I will go through planning with Mrs Vleeming to make sure there are plans to accommodate Everly," Beth assured."
"Mr and Mrs Blouin," Mr Garneau said, "thank you for your time today. I need some time to consult with Ms Whitman and Mr Strand. I have your emails and will be in touch if I have any more questions for you and to let you know what our plan for Everly is. We will need your input before final decisions are made."
"Of course," Asher replied, "thank you for taking the time to be here today."
"Any time,' Mr Garneau assured.
Allison and Asher left the room followed by Teddy and Owen.
In the hall Allison collapsed crying in Asher's arms.
"Let's sign Ev out and take her for a fun afternoon," Asher said, "we have the rest of the day. What could we go do?"
"We have our passes to the Children's Museum and it's open until 8," Allison suggested, "swimming is over until the new year."
"She loves that and so do you," Asher agreed, "go home drop off the truck and go?"
Allison nodded, 'I need a hug first."
Asher held Allison tight, 'that was really hard. We did it. We fought for her."
"What if it isn't enough," Allison whispered.
"Then we try again," Asher said, "she changes schools."
"You two did well," Owen said.
"That was hard,' Teddy agreed, "I'm impressed. You really advocated for her and I think they listened."
'They had people from outside the school,' Allison said.
"And the assistant superintendent was really listening," Owen said.
"He took over,' Teddy replied, "we'll see changes just give it time."
Back in the conference room the meeting took a different turn.
"That family," Mr Garneau said.
"Allison and Asher were students of mine when I was VP at Hemlock Middle," Beth said, "they're about 23 now. I was engaged to Owen Hunt Allison's father. Those were Allison's parents that joined us. I knew Teddy years ago as well. They'll fight with Allison and Asher."
"They seemed knowledgeable," Mr Callens said.
"They are,' Beth replied, "Allison's brother has some exceptainatlies as well."
"The teacher," Mr Garneau asked.
"She didn't pass her evaluation last spring and I have her on a professional improvement plan," Beth replied, "I would like a district initiated transfer and her to be moved out of this building."
"We can look into it," Mr Garneau agreed, "can you move the child?"
"I have to talk to the other teacher but I think it's possible," Beth replied, "I want Bre Vleeming out of my school. You heard the Blouins they want an investigation."
"We'll do it," Mr Garneau said, "why wasn't the teacher brought to our attention before now?"
"I've tried to put supports in for her here first," Beth replied, "but she's not cut out to be a teacher."
"You have a major problem and we might not be able to help you if they get a lawyer," Mr Garneau said, "you allowed a legal document to be violated."
"I will get it fixed and help move that room tonight," Beth said, 'and you said I'm losing a class at the end of the year. I'm removing Bre."
"Don't let this get to the lawyer stage," Mr Garneau warned.
"I will be sending you the paper work for a full investigation beyond the school level,' Beth replied.
"See to it I have it before 4,' Mr Garnea replied before leaving the room.
Allison went home to get a head start and gather her thoughts while Everly was signed out by Asher.
"Daddy where are we going,' Everly asked.
"Home first to get mommy then to the children's museum and for dinner," Asher said, "we're having a night out."
"And no school," Everly asked.
"And no school for the afternoon," Asher promised, 'ready?"
"Yep," Everly smiled.