This letter is to The Kennebunk School Department & The
Town of Kennebunk.
Some of you may know why I am writing but for those of you
that don’t I will give a brief summary. My son Karl age 6 has Autism. Last
Summer he no longer qualified for Summer Services, he had a fun filled Summer
but did not have peer interaction. September of 2012 Karl was mainstreamed into
a regular first grade class. For a while Karl could keep up but as things moved
along Karl regressed as the work got harder and he became fearful of new things
again. Wanting to help Karl work through this regression as fast as possible I
worked with KES to find his triggers and together we set up a plan. Part of
that plan was that I would attend School functions like assemblies and field
trips to help with Karl. When issues came up with gym class I worked with his
gym teacher & ST to help him get back on track. By the end of February we
had Karl back on track with just about everything, but Karl still gets nervous
in new settings and new people.
Knowing Karl does not qualify for Summer Services again I went to the recreation department to find out what type of assistance Karl may be eligible for. I inquired about a 1 on 1 counselor, I was told I had to hire an aid. When I pointed out that the manual states ‘reasonable accommodations for those with a known disabilities” and asked what reasonable accommodations were for children with Autism I was told she would have the Rec Director call me. Late that day he called me and I went over my inquiries. He said I would have to hire an aid on my own. I then asked about a 4:1 child to counselor ratio and was told no that it was not in the budget. I explained that if they were to open the camp up for more kids like Karl that they would get more in volume which would help offset the costs. I was then told by the director that the camp barely breaks even and that “if they were to get more funds they would go on field trips.” I was QUITE insulted by this comment as it seems more field trips are more important than every child getting to enjoy a camp experience. I was then told that this issue was out of his control because there are no funds. I then left a message for Mr Barry Tibbitts.
The following week when I had not heard back from Mr Tibbitts, I called again. I spoke with him in depth. I asked that if I raised the funds to cover extra counselor for a few 4:1 groups would the Town match funds and allow a few groups. He said he would look into it. He called the following day and said that they would not be able to do it, explaining that we would have hire a professional and it would cost too much. It was clear that Mr Tibbitts is not familiar with Autism and he late told me that his only source of information was a friend that has a child with Autism. I tried to explain that Karl is higher functioning and did not require a professional aid as he can do things on his own, that he just needs more supervision. I offered to help set up groups with 4:1 ratio and that I would even keep Karl home on field days so there will be no extra stress on the camp. The answer was still no. He did ask to see Karl’s IEP to get a better understanding of Karl’s needs. Later that night a friend gave me a website that had details as to what camps can/cannot do when it comes to a child with a disability.
Knowing Karl does not qualify for Summer Services again I went to the recreation department to find out what type of assistance Karl may be eligible for. I inquired about a 1 on 1 counselor, I was told I had to hire an aid. When I pointed out that the manual states ‘reasonable accommodations for those with a known disabilities” and asked what reasonable accommodations were for children with Autism I was told she would have the Rec Director call me. Late that day he called me and I went over my inquiries. He said I would have to hire an aid on my own. I then asked about a 4:1 child to counselor ratio and was told no that it was not in the budget. I explained that if they were to open the camp up for more kids like Karl that they would get more in volume which would help offset the costs. I was then told by the director that the camp barely breaks even and that “if they were to get more funds they would go on field trips.” I was QUITE insulted by this comment as it seems more field trips are more important than every child getting to enjoy a camp experience. I was then told that this issue was out of his control because there are no funds. I then left a message for Mr Barry Tibbitts.
The following week when I had not heard back from Mr Tibbitts, I called again. I spoke with him in depth. I asked that if I raised the funds to cover extra counselor for a few 4:1 groups would the Town match funds and allow a few groups. He said he would look into it. He called the following day and said that they would not be able to do it, explaining that we would have hire a professional and it would cost too much. It was clear that Mr Tibbitts is not familiar with Autism and he late told me that his only source of information was a friend that has a child with Autism. I tried to explain that Karl is higher functioning and did not require a professional aid as he can do things on his own, that he just needs more supervision. I offered to help set up groups with 4:1 ratio and that I would even keep Karl home on field days so there will be no extra stress on the camp. The answer was still no. He did ask to see Karl’s IEP to get a better understanding of Karl’s needs. Later that night a friend gave me a website that had details as to what camps can/cannot do when it comes to a child with a disability.
This was his response -
Hello Karleen,
Hello Karleen,
Thank
you for your email, it is unfortunate that the school funding you were
receiving to help you child not regress during the Summer was eliminated.
Budget reductions at the State level have had an impact on the schools
ability to assist disability children during the summer. Our recreation
programming is not essential programming like the schools, we work with
families as much as possible to have participation but are also limited by
budgetary constraints. Students with disabilities are welcome but we
need to ensure that there is not an undue burden for the program, the
appropriate staff can be trained and available at the camp or program, all
participants (with and without disabilities) are safe and the camp can
function.
As
I mentioned to you at the close of the conversation in which we discussed these
many items, I would be getting back to you and the immediate request to have a
one on one or one to four ratio was not feasible from a simply budgetary
perspective. I also shared that the apparent cost could be $6,300 or
thereabouts for the nine week program which was not budgeted, those numbers
were different than yours at the $2,500 level, at this point we don't know the
level of care (trained personnel) for your son.
You indicated this care to be low level
but we need to understand this to ensure we can deliver on the programming and
participation. Staff has indicated from your comments that your son
could run away from the camp based on noise/over excitement, etc. This is unusually for our participates
and we need to see how or if this can be accomodated. This is why we
need to talk with the school personnel who developed your son's IEP for
Autism. We have contacted the School and they have not heard from
you authorizing this information review.
You
did indicate the desire to raise funds for your child based on your assessment
of having a 1 to 4 (camp counselor to students) ratio, our current ratio is 1
to 13. The issue I mentioned earlier is the Town needs to fully
understand, what is appropriate for any special needs child based on the IEP or
another assessment tool, can the child participate in a manner that works for
them and the camp and what can be reasonably accommodated without requiring
special counselors. Camps are loud, busy, in motion, constantly changing
with activities, getting in lines and groups, field trips,etc, all of which may
or may not be conducive to a child that is sensitive to any of the above.
Based on your comments to staff, we need to determine what is the
appropriate ratio for your son.
I
very much appreciate you willingness to share the IEP for your son, as I stated
this will help in the evaluation. Please contact the School and notify
them you are willing to allow this review. Currently based on the
information we have the camp is not designed for the lower ratios based on the
budget allocations, all needs for the child and other participants will be
reviewed.
Alternative option instead of the Town hiring a
trained individual is for you to provide an individual who could work with your
son on a one on one basis. You pay for individual and any taxes etc.
The Town would require a background check, we do this for all
counselors. We would provide the release form for this individual to sign
for the background check. We would also reserve the right to say no to
the individual if they were not qualified. You indicated that you had
some relations with UNE and perhaps that connection may serve this alternative
function.
I have looked at the website you forwarded, it was
informative.
We will wait to here from you about contacting
the school (IEP) and if you desire the alternative option of providing a one to
one counselor let me know.
Ths Barry
That was May 17 and my response
the same day was -
Hi Barry,
Hi Barry,
Thank you for getting back to me. Regarding your statement
"Alternative option instead of the Town hiring a
trained individual is for you to provide an individual who could work with your
son on a one on one basis. You pay for individual and any taxes
etc. "
II-3.5400 Surcharges. Although compliance may result in some
additional cost, a public entity may not place a surcharge only on particular
individuals with disabilities or groups of individuals with disabilities to
cover these expenses.
Barry I offered to help raise the funds for additional
counselors, I offered to help set up this part of camp and I have
even told you that I would keep my son at home on field trips days so there
would be no worries on trips. And you still feel that I should have to pay for
camp, for 1:1 aid and taxes, that is NOT acceptable and not reasonable
accommodations. I have an appointment with Disability Rights Center to find out
what all my sons rights are next week.
I have tried to explain that does not need a professional at
$6,500 for the Summer, he needs a smaller ratio so a counselor will be able to
watch him more closely and see if he becomes scared so he will not run.
I sent an email giving you access to Karl's IEP. You should
know that an IEP does not give the full picture of Karl's needs for camp
because they are different scenarios.
Karleen
That
is the background of why I am writing you today, sorry I made it as brief as
possible with keeping important details.
Disability Rights Center is not able to help at this time so I am writing to ask that the School Department and Town to work together to find a solution because being told that Karl is too high functioning for Summer Services but too low functioning for camp is unacceptable. Karl needs something to help keep him moving forward. Please review the following information before you make a decision.
Disability Rights Center is not able to help at this time so I am writing to ask that the School Department and Town to work together to find a solution because being told that Karl is too high functioning for Summer Services but too low functioning for camp is unacceptable. Karl needs something to help keep him moving forward. Please review the following information before you make a decision.
- -
Denying Karl any type of services
whether it be classes or camp can and will most likely cause him to regress
again this coming school year.
- -
Karl regressing could possibly cost
the School Department more in services to get him back on track than it would
cost to have a 4:1 group at camp.
- -
There are other kids in Town that
could use the 4:1 group for camp and you would be saving future funds on them
as well.
- -
Karl is the proven example of what
constant work can do to help a child with Autism succeed in Society. The more
that is done for him now the less he will need to rely on State funds to
support himself as an adult. Isn’t that our goal for children, that they be
able to support themselves??
- -
More Social interaction now will
improve his speech since he does not qualify for speech during the Summer.
And most importantly as you can see
from the numbers below, there really is not an extra cost if counselors are
paid around $10.00 an hour.
Camp Costs - $590.00 for 8 weeks
73.75 each week
X4 for 4:1 group -
$295
$240.00 – Counselor for 4:1
group getting $10.00 an hour for three
8hr days.
+55.00 each week as our kids would not attend field trips
I feel that you all can come to a compromise as to what can
be done for Karl. If you cannot come to a compromise be assured I will contact
the ACLU for help to get Karl some type of Service as Karl has rights. So the
choice is yours:
A. Say no, I take you to court, you pay your lawyers to fight me which I will most likely win and at that point I will go for Karl being allowed to attend camp 5 days a week with field trips with a 1:1 paid by the Town.
B. You find it in the budgets and start a few small groups with a 4:1 ratio which I will gladly help you set up.
A. Say no, I take you to court, you pay your lawyers to fight me which I will most likely win and at that point I will go for Karl being allowed to attend camp 5 days a week with field trips with a 1:1 paid by the Town.
B. You find it in the budgets and start a few small groups with a 4:1 ratio which I will gladly help you set up.
This email is being sent on Friday May 31, 2013. Please
provide your answer by 12pm on Thursday June 6, 2013 so I will have time to go
to the either the courts or the ACLU on
Friday June 7 to file the paperwork needed if your answer is no again. Please
understand I am not trying to be a pain but I have compromised on every concern
and so far the answer has been no.
Thank you, Karleen
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