Its not easy. Not everyone had the right connections and pull to get their child into a school that will best suit their child's needs. In one recent case a parent reached out yesterday to friends in an online forum asking for help and chizuk in hopes of finding the right school for their son.
"We are trying to find a for my son who was in Yesodos (formerly oros yisroel) and most of his teachers and therapists feel he is ready for a mainstream school. My son is 7.5 and second grade. All the schools you recommended would not even speak with us, besides for telling us that their resources are only for their existing students who need them, they are not willing to take in new kids for this. We have zero influence, pull, or connections in those schools.
I'm feeling very discouraged and don't know where to go from here.
I appreciate when people throw out names of schools we should try, but anyone who knows anything about what it's like to get a kid into school in Lakewood - particularly a kid with a history of behavioral issues - would know that realistically it's pointless from us to just cold call (not that we haven't done it). Nothing will happen without lots of well-connected people making calls on our behalf, and even that's no guarantee.
I need chizuk that we will find the right place for my son, and they will welcome him and accept him for who he is."
yudel says: The scoop refused to publish this comment
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SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 AT 6:28 PM
It happened to someone I know, the school refused to take in the child.
Yudel took over the case and within 24 hours the child was in. The child graduated and went to the high school they chose (yudel again).
No threats.
The rest is history.
There are ways to deal with such situations.
Scoop doesn’t publish these items
I know someone who moved out of lakewood bec of a similar situation.
ReplyDeleteThey are asking for CHIZUK = ENCOURAGEMENT not discouragement.
DeleteAs someone who had recently been in a similar situation and almost moved out of Lakewood because of it (despite living here for the past twenty five years) I think all the parents in the situation above should group together and start their own school.
ReplyDeleteI sent out feelers to other parents about the idea. Some liked it.Some didn't. Some were willing to put effort into the idea. Some weren't.One of my major problems was the lack of communication with other parents in my situation. Had I had access to a larger group of parents the idea may have worked out.
I'm not talking about any particular case. But it is very unfair that askanim push kids that need extra help into schools ,but they don't give any money for the schools to hire extra specialists to deal with the special needs of these kids. We send millions of dollars in tzedokoh to out of town Mosdos but our own schools don't have the resources to make special smaller classes and hire extra professionals to deal with kids who need extra help and extra attention. I know many schools where the principals have to shnor a few dollars just to give a little tutoring to students that can't afford it ,because the kehila and the askonim don't give any money for that. The bloggers and askonim are very quick to jump all over the schools to take kids even if they need special help ,but they disappear very quickly when a request is made to help financially for these kids needs.
ReplyDeleteWe have no community schools in Lakewood, those days are over. Once the other schools opened and the big schools did not take everyone in when there was no shortage of space that was the end of it. Why should people feel an obligation to the schools if the schools feel no obligation to the community.
DeleteWe need to establish a school control board. When a parent feels that only one school is the right fit for their child, we should have a panel of therapists, rabbis and educators to help convince the school to accept the child or help the parents find another alternative. So many people have called me to tell me that the VAAD told them they cant help them.I assume the VAAD members are very busy with other tzorchei tzibbur. Why cant we have a real committee that can hear complaints and settle arguments before children get permanently damaged as a result.
ReplyDeleteHarold,
DeleteOpen a school than you can talk. until then......
The entrance card to be part of your committee is the responsibility to fund the schools. Lets see how many people want to join the committee.
DeleteIt's not an obligation to the schools. Its an obligation to the parents with children who need special help or smaller classes. They are your brothers. But I guess you don't care about them. All you want is to bashmutz the schools for not helping them but you don't want to open your pocket to,help your brothers and neighbors kids. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you tell the school control board to cone up with money to fund the schools ,they will disappear into thin air. Everybody wants to control but nobody wants to open their wallets.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I left that out. We can collect money for schools that might need help in special situations. Nobody expects a school to go broke trying to help every child with special needs. We could also help parents that are denied access to an education for their child because they are struggling to pay tuition.
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