Can Schools Refuse Certain Students?

[tandy1216]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Alabama

First, I would like to say that my son attended a middle school here in Huntsville. He is disabled due to the severity of his ADHD and ODD since 2006. He has had a IEP since third grade along with a behavioral plan as well. I will be honest my 15 year old son is one of those children that you just want to choke. He does see a psychiatrist and a counselor monthly. Every since the age of five he has been on many many different types of medication, and they all end with the same end result, he eventually gets immune to them. So everything that is in a parents power I have done. Odd their is no medication for it, so the only therapy for it is counseling.


This middle school that my son attended in 6th grade and 7th grade, I had to end up withdrawing him in both years because of his excessive disrespect and talking back to the teachers. The school is aware that my son is disabled and his disorders. Now, I do not condone anything that he does as I tell him, his behavior is not acceptable and when he becomes an adult you will be in another ball game. Anyway, I home schooled him okay i went back to this same school trying to register him again because I need to work and he needs to be in school. First off the gentlemen tried to make it very difficult for me.

What it was, they did not want to let my son back in because of his behavior. So the gentleman says to me when my son walked out of the room. Yeah, I remember him from last year he had a lot of mouth. Then he goes on to say "you know he does not have to attend this school" so i say Oh yeah, so he told me how to go about getting a transfer to another school for my son. Which is fine because this school is not all that good anyway.

But because I had missed the deadline for the transfer request I had to get a letter from his doctor stating why he needed it. I took care of that today to be told it will be another week before I know if it was approved or not.

My question is can the school that he is suppose to attend refuse him?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[TheGeekess]

I'm having some problems hitting the Alabama State Statutes at this moment on the web ([url]http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/ACASLoginFire.asp[/url]), but have you thought about contacting the local school board and asking them your question?

Direct link to state law:
[url]http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/CodeOfAlabama/1975/14974.htm[/url]

[GaAtty]

In answer to your question, no, the school cannot legally refuse him without going through certain processes, but they can if you let them get away with it. Legally, you can challenge this through an appeal process. However, you should have started your challenges long ago. The school should make a behavior plan that addresses his poor behavior and STOPS it. You need to be persistent in making them do that. If he keeps getting into trouble, the plan is not working and you call another IEP meeting to change things again. This process never stops as long as he is in school. A student like this continues to need medication all of his life. He does not become "immune" to the medication. That does not happen with ADHD medication. What probably happens is that as he grows, his body weight changes and a dosage change is needed. Another thing that happens is that as he gets older, he is better able to give you feedback on how the medication is affecting him. Some of the best things you can do for an ADHD, ODD student are: get him psychoeducational testing every two years by a qualified Ph.D. in psychology (a private one, not a school one); use the information gained from the testing to address his school problems; keep trying on medication; keep calling IEP meetings to change the behavior plan until the behavior stops; and get a good special education attorney to go to the IEP meetings with you until the school does what they should do.

[sambo584]

this is a subject that i am well educated in here in ny,my son is bipolar and is classified as having an emotional disorder for special education. what i have found is that there are many schools that will trample on your rights because you dont know your rights! i have counseled many parents and i can help here.remember this is federal law,there are some states that tweak things a bit so study up on the state laws also.

1)if you can afford a special education attorney do it now!

2) there are many books about special education rights,go seek them out and start educating yourself now!

3) if he is still classified then the school has to provide an education for him! the phrase is FAPE (free appropriate public education) they do need to have a full special education examination, and i would have them do a psycoevaluation also by a private psychiatrist at thier expense.

4) due to his behavior his current school may not be an appropriate program for him, he may need to be in a school that provides therapuetic componant.but the evaluations will help determine this.

5) initially you will have to fight and it will be exhausting,but in time the school should come around and be an allie! then the real work begins,having your son stay the course!

[ecmst12]

People can build up a tolerance to ADD medication over time, but it happens very slowly and they do not become "immune". I started taking Adderall 10 mg when I was 20, after about 6 or 7 years I needed to increase it to 20 mg, but I have been fine on that dose since then (that was in 04 or 05). It is more likely that rapid growth required a doseage increase, like GaAtty said, especially since it doesn't sound like he was on any of them long enough to build up any sort of a tolerance.

As a person with ADHD though, I can tell you that medication, while essential to allowing me to hold down a job like a normal person, is only half the equation. The meds make it POSSIBLE for me to focus, but I still have to put the effort into being PRODUCTIVE with my time. Without that effort, I'm just sitting more still while goofing off It's not a magic bullet. It also has no effect on mood or temperament. So he is going to need other treatment for his other behavior problems. Perhaps an anti-depressant or mood-stabilizer would be helpful for him. And of course, regular therapy is a must.