No speech services from district homeschool program?

[bbmom]

I considered homeschooling DS this year, but as a compromise to my DH, he is in K this year and we are not very happy with the school due to several incidents. Additionally, even though the district is highly ranked, the class sizes are growing-ds has 26-28 kids in his class and it will be going up next year, and the "teaching to the test" has already begun. The one positive is the speech therapy he is receiving.

 

We have looked at private school for next year, but the cost of that and private speech therapy is prohibitive. Our district offers a homeschool (for K-5) and independent study (6-12) program. Basically, if you use this alternative school, your child meets with a teacher once a month and you get curriculum. We normally wouldn't sign on with the district, but thought that it might be a viable option to be able to homeschool relatively autonomously but still receive speech services through the district. I found out today, however, that enrolling in this program as a K-5 (homeschool) student is considered the same as attending private school and they don't offer any services. Does anyone know if as an alternative school within the district, they can do this? I'm trying to decide if it would be worth pursuing (perhaps through HSLDA) or if I should just drop it-we could afford to homeschool and pay for private speech therapy but I feel like if the district is offering a homeschool "school" and thus receiving money from the state for my child, we should be entitled to the same services as if he was enrolled at our neighborhood school. What am I missing?

[Tap]

In our state, homeschool/public school hybrids fall under magnet programs. They are elective and as such, special services are not available. In the beginning years of the hybrid, they wouldn't even honor/implement IEPs. Over the years, they would consider them on a case by case basis, depending on what each person needed. ie They couldn't provide a one-on-one aide, but could allow a child to leave the classroom if needed, or allow a parent or parent provided person to sit in.

 

I have a friend who has a daughter with Aspergers who attended the program. One of the deals the mom made with the school, so her daughter could attend, is that she stayed on site in case her daughter needed her.

 

 

 

ETA: if you are just a homeschooler and not using a public program, you can access services at your local/assigned school.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[Crimson Wife]

HSLDA won't get involved if you are enrolled in a district-run ISP or charter school.

 

The ISP offered by our district specifically says that it won't accept students with an IEP (precisely because I think they want to avoid paying for services for homeschooled children).

[Hillary in KS]

My ds receives speech services from our local public school.

 

We homeschool and do NOT use a public online charter school or an umbrella school. In NE, all homeschools are considered unaccredited private schools.

 

In our town, both homeschooled children and those who attend private schools receive services from the local public school.

 

It's been this way in the districts we've lived in in OR, NE, and KS. Who have you spoken to regarding your state's laws? It will definitely matter whether or not you decide to go with a public online school or not. But if you could speak to someone at HSDLA or your state's homeschool organization, they might be able to answer more specifc questions regarding your state's laws.

[EppieJ]

This must vary from state to state. In WA, when I enrolled ds in the ALE he was considered (on the books) a "public school student." Our particular ALE is a "parent partnership program." We do have access to district funds and resources. I've never pursued anything like speech therapy so I can't say for sure, but my understanding is that such resources would be available to us.

[Hen]

I'm in Ca- I homeschool a friend's boy who was in public school and had an IEP with them. We now have him in a homeschool-charter school, which is considered a public school- but it is not in his school district. The charter school has taken over his IEP and they are giving him services, he does have speech services through the charter. They are not as many hours as the district school gave him, but they seem to be better.

 

what state are you in?

[Hen]

also, you might want to look into hiring an IEP or special services advocate. My friend had to hire one when dealing with the first district public school- they were sadly offering hardly any help, until she got the advocate, then magically they were offering all kinds of hours of help.

 

I don't think HSDLA will help you with a charter school situation.

[DawnL]

I homeschool my ds and he received speech therapy through the local public school until he no longer needed them. That is a free service available to everyone in-district, whether they are a public school student or not.

 

I had to drive him to the school and walk him in and leave him with the ST for a 30 session twice per week. Then I came back into the school to pick him up. I really liked the school's STs. They were very nice and I think they meshed a lot better with my son then the private ST he had in his preschool years.

[Ellie]

I I'm trying to decide if it would be worth pursuing (perhaps through HSLDA) or if I should just drop it-

If you enroll your ds in this program, he will legally be a public school student, not a private school/homeschool student. HSLDA supports private homeschoolers, not public school students.

 

we could afford to homeschool and pay for private speech therapy but I feel like if the district is offering a homeschool "school" and thus receiving money from the state for my child, we should be entitled to the same services as if he was enrolled at our neighborhood school. What am I missing?

What you're missing is that homeschooling and paying for private therapy is perferable, on so many levels. You will have way more freedom if you homeschool: besides having freedom to choose the educational resources and methods and whatnot that are best for you and your dc, you will also be able to choose your own speech therapist, who works for you, not for the school district.

[angela in ohio]

What state are you in? In OH and MI, you wouldn't get any services, but some states are different.

[lulubelle]

Have you looked into your private insurance for speech therapy services? I have been very surprised that ours has extended my ds speech therapy to almost a year. Initially they offer unlimited speech for 60 days, but have extended the time with no problems.

[Anita in NC]

I'm in NC and when my son needed speech therapy I had a very difficult time with the school district. At age 3 he was meant to go to the local public school and receive speech therapy. It was late in the school year and he only received 2 of the 22 sessions that they were meant to provide.

 

At age 4 I sent him to the public school pre-school so that he could receive speech therapy every day. Many days he didn't receive speech therapy and the missed sessions were never made up. It was a long way to take him for him not to get speech therapy, 30 minutes there and 30 minutes home.

 

At age 5 he would have received speech therapy IF he was enrolled in public school. However, I decided to homeschool him and speech therapy was not available to homeschoolers.

 

I found out the services offered vary a lot just by county.

 

We also looked into our health insurance to pay for speech therapy for apraxia but they denied our request.

[bbmom]

Thanks everyone-we are in California. I could understand if they said homeschooling on its own (without registering as a student at the alternative school) was not eligible for services, as in that case the district would not be receiving any funding for the child. However, by registering with the alternative school, the district gets the same amount of money for my child as for the children who attend their neighborhood schools, but spends much less on him than on the children attending school every day. It doesn't make sense that he would be considered ineligible for services in that case.

I have looked at our insurance and they only cover inpatient speech therapy and while I know private therapy might be preferable, $500 a month is a good amount of money to spend on something I think he should be eligible for-if the district provides this school as an option and are thus getting funding from the state for my child, they should provide services for the kids who need them too. I think perhaps I will try the state homeschool organization and perhaps and advocate/attorney from there depending on their thoughts. Thanks again for all input and advice.