ESY – Extra Stupid, Why?

Extended School Year has started. That is the fancy IEP name for summer school, or camp, or whatever you want to call it. For Pearlsky it is at the same high school, usually some of the same staff. Remember that she has been in the district for seventeen years, there is nothing new here.

At least ESY gives me lots of fodder for blogging …

The van pulls up on time yesterday morning, the first day of ESY. The usual driver comes around to the lift, and a guy who looks about 12 also gets out of the van. He has a beard that makes him look like, well, like a 12 year-old with a beard. There is a nurse we have known for many years on the van, she tells me the guy is Pearlsky’s aide. I am rather speechless.

The van pulls away, I call the Director of Special Ed since no one else is around in the summer. The secretary answers, and like the director, they all know me very well.

I need to talk to S right away.

She is in a meeting, I’ll have her call you.

Let her know that years ago we all agreed Pearlsky would not have a male aide, that she has one today and this is unacceptable.

Ok, I will tell her as soon as she is out.

She sure as hell better be out of that meeting before Pearlsky shits or else she won’t be the only one to.

Hold on … (a minute on hold) … S assures me that Pearlsky has a female aide, that guy was solely for the van ride.

Thank you.

And that should have been the end of it. Then I would not have anything to post about, no?

About 12:30 I decide to stop by the school. I walk to the classroom … open the door, and what do I see? Pealsky, in her chair, no tray, nothing in front of her as she is pretty much in the middle of the room. The aide from the van is sitting on the side of the room, about ten feet from Pearlsky, not interacting with Pearlsky at all. And what else? Nothing. No one else is in the room, Pearlsky is doing nothing.

I went to the director’s office, it was locked. Let’s just say I left her a voice mail. As I was passing the classroom I saw others entering it, I just left. Too many witnesses.

The Director called about an hour later. She did not let me say a word for the first bit, this is how it went:

SingleDad, I did not lie to you, no one lied to you, really, you know me better than that, Pearlsky has a female aide, really, and I went down there after getting your voicemail and found out that the aide had just stepped out to grab her lunch and left the other aide, the guy with the beard, in the room with Pearlsky and he said he had been playing music with her and was only doing nothing for about 10 minutes, and that is when, unfortunately, you came in, and all the other students were outside at the time, so really, no one is telling you anything but the truth that Pearlsky does have a female aide and a very good one.

I then asked why Pearlsky was not out with the other students.

It’s ok for her to be out when it is this warm?

Huh? WTF? I asked why not. I told her we were out all last week during break, no matter what the weather. All she said was “oy.” Well, then she said, “Let me go, I think the teachers are still here and I need to talk to them.”

Yeah, you do.

More on the ESY program tomorrow.

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If you are going to leave a comment on this post, please do it before reading more. See, I am going to change the subject, and people usually on comment on the last subject, human nature you know.

Two things:

1. Anyone have any connection with the Travel Channel? Let me know.

2. There are websites that are communities or forums for parents of special needs kids where you can interact and stuff. I am making one as well. Mine won’t be mine, it will be ours. Tell me your suggestions now for what it should have, features, etc. for you to be interested in going there and interacting with others. I will be up for testing soon, I need your help.