NonDiscrimination Laws, Specifically Retaliation.....

 We find this law incredibly useful and feel that all parents of students with any type of learning disabilities will as well as their children are covered under this law. Of specific interest to us (and we think should be to Neil Kinnon, Kathy Kinnon, and the Administration) is the portion directly related to retaliation against individuals who seek to provide information or encouragement to those protected under this law. MVRCS has been known to threaten and/or retaliate against individuals, teachers, and staff who attempt to provide guidance or assistance to parents who find themselves unsure of what to do next in effectively advocating for their child(ren). Teachers and staff members take note of this law and how it impacts how many of you are required to direct parents. Many parents have been subjected to harassment towards themselves and/or their children after attempting to advocate for their children. The 'systematic elimination' that the school is so well known for practicing would be considered as coercion and/or retaliation. We know of one teacher who was written up for making a suggestion to a parent that they seek private tutoring that focused on a particular methodology (other than that of the school). The schools actions were not only illegal according to this law but unethical and very much not in the best of the student (which should always be their main focus first and foremost). We suggest that everyone dealing with any student with a learning disability familiarize themselves with this law. We also suggest that parents with children who have behavioral issues who feel they are being railroaded also familiarize themselves with it.

From NonDiscrimination and Retaliation Law

TITLE 28 - JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER I - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

PART 36 - NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY BY PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AND IN COMMERCIAL FACILITIES

subpart b - GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

36.206 - Retaliation or coercion.

  (a) No private or public entity shall discriminate against any individual because that individual has opposed any act or practice made unlawful by this part, or because that individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the Act or this part.

  (b) No private or public entity shall coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of his or her having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of his or her having aided or encouraged any other individual in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by the Act or this part.
  (c) Illustrations of conduct prohibited by this section include, but are not limited to:

(1) Coercing an individual to deny or limit the benefits, services, or advantages to which he or she is entitled under the Act or this part;

(2) Threatening, intimidating, or interfering with an individual with a disability who is seeking to obtain or use the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a public accommodation;

(3) Intimidating or threatening any person because that person is assisting or encouraging an individual or group entitled to claim the rights granted or protected by the Act or this part to exercise those rights; or

(4) Retaliating against any person because that person has participated in any investigation or action to enforce the Act or this part.

A Letter to the DESE

SIDE NOTE: We have since obtained a number of copies of other letters sent to not only Mr. Wulfson but also to a Mary Street, another DESE employee who is (or was) responsible for the oversight of MVRCS. It is disturbing to us that the DESE has had parents write to them in the past yet no actions have been taken. We must question at what point does the DESE begin to care about the questionable actions of our school enough to actually do something. It is beginning to look like the fox has been put in charge of the hen house.

This letter was sent to Mr. Wulfson a the DESE along with numerous other individuals we felt may have the answers we seek. In true UnOfficialMVRCS, this was also sent to a number of media and news outlets.

Dear Mr. Wulfson;

We would like to thank you for offering to be the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s contact person for our group. To clarify, we are a group of parents with children in Mystic Valley Regional Charter School who have become concerned with the operation and management of our school. As a result we have created a blog that can be found at UnOfficialMVRCS.blogspot.com with the hope of drawing attention to the issues. We have insisted upon anonymity out of fear of repercussions to our children on the part of the Board of Trustees and Administration of our school. We find it unfortunate that we feel the need to protect our identity but have heard from many parents who felt attacked and victimized by the school as a result of vocalizing their criticisms or questions. We do not imagine that the DESE approves of this practice or behavior nor would allow it to occur. Further, the need to conceal our identity has resulted in drawing attention away from our issues and concerns as our identities and motives are constantly being questioned.

Our purpose for writing to you at this juncture is to question the DESE as to what their exact role is in the oversight of our school. We have read numerous site visit reports (some of which are written by you) that draw attention to such issues as the schools refusal to incorporate term limits for Trustee members into their by-laws, the Boards failure to comply with the Open Meeting laws, specifically in relation to the Executive Sessions, and the concern that the Board may be too involved in the day to day operations of the school. We have also heard from numerous parents and teachers who have relayed their experiences when contacting your agency for issues such as discrepancies in reports, special education issues, failure to comply the IDEA, NCLB, retaliation of ADA laws, and issues related to the schools failure to report neglect or threats of harm regarding students. Our blog also brings to light such issues as violations of Charter school laws (specifically the re-admittance of relatives of the Administration), clear violations of the conflict of issue laws (including nepotism, preferential treatment to children of Trustees and Administration regarding the lottery and waitlist), the schools practice of including questionable language and restrictions within teachers contracts, and examples of the lack of respect Neil Kinnon demonstrates towards parents and in the hiring of highly qualified teachers, which has a direct impact on their high turnover rate.

IEP Laws That Govern Meetings and IEP Development ~~~Know Before You Go!

(All of the links plus others found within this posting can be located http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/parents.html)

We have heard some disturbing stories regarding the handling of IEP meetings at MVRCS from both parents and teachers. One reader recently posted a comment about Kathy Kinnon not permitting a parent to have a friend, relative or associate attend the meeting with them. This is very much in violation of the laws and should not have occurred (see IDEA regulations @ **). We have also heard from parents who went through the effort and expense of having their child independently evaluated only to be told that the school would not implement any of the evaluators recommendations or necessary services ('That is how we do it here, you knew that when you enrolled your child here" - another violation). The school has been cited by the DESE of not meeting the required time lines regarding referrals, evaluations and meetings. One of the instances we are most concerned with is the lack of communication, collaboration, and support between classroom teachers and special education staff. It would appear that the school is not prompt in providing the required support and documents (specifically IEP's) to new teachers or teachers who are re-assigned. Unfortunately, because not all specialist and teachers have experience or formal education in teaching, they may not appreciate what an IEP is or it's importance. To assist parents in ensuring their children receive the services and accommodations needed to succeed, we have (and will continue to add to it as we come across other issues) copied the laws that govern the violations we have heard of.  Please be sure to contact us with other issues or concerns that you may have knowledge of. 

NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS OR HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, BY LAW YOU ARE ENTITLED TO SCHEDULE A REVIEW OR MEETING (AND POSSIBLY HAVE YOUR CHILD RE-EVALUATED) AT ANY TIME. YOU ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO ONCE A YEAR BUT RATHER THEY MUST OCCUR AT LEAST ONCE PER YEAR. Should you desire a new meeting or to discuss your child's progress, we suggest contacting Kathy Kinnon directly either by phone at 781 388-0222 x3821 or email at Kathy Kinnon's Email.

Should you encounter resistance or have additional questions regarding information you have been given, you should contact 

1. Joel Krakow at (781) 338-3747or email him at compliance@doe.mass.edu

2. Contact us and we will provide you the name of our contact at the DESE.

We can not stress enough, have an advocate or attorney represent you if possible (see the new links page with non-profit advocates and legal agencies), but at the very least, TAPE THE MEETING, PRINT OUT THIS PAGE, and BE PREPARED USING THE QUESTIONS & WORKSHEETS WE ARE GATHERING. (See statistics regarding appeals at the end of this post)

 Mass Laws and Regulations - 603

Refusing Title I Funds....Because?

We've been looking into Title I funding as we found it curious that MVRCS has declined this funding in the past (even though they qualified for it), causing us toquestion why they did this, if they are still refusing Title I funds. It seems in these times of tight financial concern and equally unstable education funding (charter schools included), that schools would take whatever funding they could obtain (especially as they have been forced to charge for transportation this year). While we have been unable to identify justification for their decision, we did find more information on Title I funding and what is required to receive such funds.After reading through this, we question if the decision was based on the fact that by accepting these funds, the school would be under scrutiny of the Title I folks who would be looking for the following signs of a quality, successful education for all children.

The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This purpose can be accomplished by —

Kinnons Efforts to Control - Us, Firefighters, Teachers, and ??

We have been accused of being school haters, union proponents, members of the Concerned Citizens of Malden group, and the list goes on. As we have addressed repeatedly, we are none of the above. As we stated earlier we listed the link to the Malden School Budget as a way to demonstrate that when a school has nothing to hide, they have no issues or concerns in submitting their records under the Freedom of Information Act as required by law. The fact that our school has chosen to break the law rather than follow the law causes us to question why they would the repercussions of breaking that law if they have not broken any other laws. We can also assure our readers that we are in no way affiliated with any unions or union actions. In fact, while we do believe that our teachers should unite for better working conditions, we don't feel the unions are the answer. In fact, we would prefer the teachers align themselves with the Pioneer Institute (www.pioneerinstitute.org) to address the improvement of their working conditions. They have done some wonderful research and made great strides towards education reform. Another group called Turn Exchange (www.turnexchange.net) is another organization that works with teachers and making great accomplishments.

A GREAT Resource for Parents on What Makes an IEP Effective

This article is incredibly useful for parents of special education students at MVRCS. We suggest having your childs IEP nearby for comparision (you should have received one at your last meeting but Kathy Kinnon would be able to provide you with a copy) as you read through this.

FAPE.org is also an excellent resource for Parents. Another useful article on how to tell if your child is making progress can be found at: http://www.pacer.org/parent/php/PHP-c78.pdf . The main index can be found here: http://www.fape.org/pubs/index.html.

“Facts-on-Hand” is an easy to read series on special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).