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The note that came home with Ben today:
The email reply that I got from the principal at Southwest Middle School:
It is worth noting that the above email was received at 12:29pm. It is currently 2:42pm and she has not called. I assume she is in a very long meeting.
I don't doubt her sincerity. And perhaps this whole thing snowballed too quickly. But the essential truth remains that there was a major, and completely avoidable, incident last Wednesday. We should have had details immediately after it happened. However well-intentioned, the agents of the school mishandled the situation and here we are.
Ben had an okay day. He was really nervous at the beginning of the day. In the morning he had a few aggressions toward the staff members. He did cry a couple of times but calmed down quickly. He didn't really want to earn his music or books, I think it was the new environment. He did want the vanilla wafers. I kept the other stuff and reinforcers, but he did not eat all of it. He did eat most of this fries at lunch. Mr. Freund was not here today, but I helped out in the room and worked a lot with Ben. You will get a letter tomorrow from Mr. Freund about supplies, etc. I am sending home a form, please fill it out as best you can.
Thanks,
Kim Bray, BCABA
Behavior Analyst
The email reply that I got from the principal at Southwest Middle School:
Mr. Miles-
Thank you so much for your e-mail. I will call you later today. I am extremely concerned with some of the statements you made in your e-mail. I will be sharing your e-mail with my staff (paras and the teachers involved) but because I had never been informed of these concerns either by you, your ex-wife, or the teacher, I had no way to know what was occurring. My background is exceptional education and I actually requested the autistic unit be brought to my school. I am in the classroom often as is my staffing specialist and the behavior specialist. In addition, I have a resource teacher from the West Learning Community that is at the school to work in both the Autistic and the TMH classroom several days a week. It was unfortunate that the Life Skills Lab had to be used as a classroom but we are quite overcrowded until our wing is completed and the teachers can move. That is nearing completion now and the lab will be back into the hands of the Autistic and TMH teachers as of March 9th.
I was NEVER made aware about the telephone but in speaking to Dr. Letzo have been told that the repair has been put into the district on several occasions and they have failed to fix it-I will be addressing that immediately with the supervisor of maintenance for the West Learning Community.
As a parent, I understand your decision. As the Principal of the school and especially one that is extremely involved with the ESE department, I cannot understand how this breakdown occurred and why I was not notified. For the record, may I please say to both of you that if you ever have concerns about your son’s education. PLEASE contact the principal of what ever school he is attending. I am truly feeling ill that you felt this way and we could have resolved these issues if you had contacted me.
I will contact you as soon as I am finished with the meeting I am about to enter.
Anne Carcara
It is worth noting that the above email was received at 12:29pm. It is currently 2:42pm and she has not called. I assume she is in a very long meeting.
I don't doubt her sincerity. And perhaps this whole thing snowballed too quickly. But the essential truth remains that there was a major, and completely avoidable, incident last Wednesday. We should have had details immediately after it happened. However well-intentioned, the agents of the school mishandled the situation and here we are.