Yawn...I guess it is time to wake up from my long winter's nap...or at least that is what my mother and other devoted reader have been prodding me about...that the box has been decidedly empty as of late...and this simply will not do! So here I am, poking my head out, and checking to see if my shadow is there to greet me.
The last several months have been busybusybusy...nothing terribly exciting or unusual, just regular life type stuff...only more of it. Which is, I suppose better than regular life stuff only less...at least if I operate under the assumption that less life stuff means less life. Anyway...
We are toying with the notion of me getting a job...well, some of us are toying with...others are impatiently tapping their foot, waiting for the job to come...I'll leave it to your fertile imaginations which one is which...
My ongoing battle with the school board is about to go nuclear...the principal & Assistant Superintendent have joined forces to try and prevent the girl child from entering first grade in the fall. I suppose I *should* or *could* be flattered that they think me formidable enough to need to forge an alliance to ensure my failure, but instead I am just pissed. I was left a message that, though much wordier, basically came across as "You gave birth to her, now get over it....we will make all of the decisions from here on out." If you know me, which most of you do (Hi Tonya!!), you know that I am waaaayyyy too possessive to put up with that. So now I am taking a three pringed approach to my new attack.
The first is collecting information from other school districts, that do make exceptions, and trying to get the documentation of their policies to present at a future school board meeting...which I will bring the girl child with me to...and perhaps have her read the policies to them?
The second is contacting private schools (and neighboring districts that are less pig-headed) to see if anywhere will accept her, halfway through the year as we are, so that our home district will have no choice but to accept her in the fall.
The third is to have her tested by a shrink, so that we can have her labeled as "Special Needs" as a gifted child..which leaves the district no choice but to make any accomodation for her that she requires.
All of these are, on some level repugnant to me, as I think that the way that the policy is being administered is retarded. If I, as a parent were to tell the district that I felt she wasn't ready to start school in the fall and that I wanted her to wait another year, nobody at the district level would challenge me. (And they admit this) Nobody would second guess my judgement as a parent and would instead readily defer to my understanding of my child. Because I am telling them that she is ready earlier than their policy allows however, my judgement as a parent is viewed as worthless. Apparently I am only qualified to comment on my child's shortcomings, not on her talents.
What they don't seem to understand is that, as her parent, her advocate, I will not stop fighting for what I feel is best for her. If I stop fighting on her behalf than I am at risk of failing her, and failure of that magnitude is not an option. I have alot more to lose in this battle than they do...so, I will fight.
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