Daniel: Our 8 year old daughter is in a private Christian school and has trouble staying seated and just wants to always socialize and talk. Her grades are great (90avg), has no problems learning, and is very outgoing, is four belts away from black belt in karate and attends dance since age2. She respects elders and is not disrespectful most of the time but of course like many children she wants it her way and doesn’t like it when she doesn’t get her way. The school has worked with us and at the schools suggestions we have several tools to assist her with staying seated and staying on task in school.. The school says she is ADHD and the teacher after two weeks of beginning of school says that she needs to be medicated. We explained that we will never medicate our child and that we all will have to find tools to help her stay in her seat and not talk and disrupt the class. Essentially what I am asking is what legal recourse do we have with a private school? The Psychologists we just started seeing at their insistence, says that the school is developing a case to kick our daughter out of school. I agree with that. I realize that this is a private school but is there anything we can do? It would crush our daughter if we had to leave this school. Most of the teachers there are great except this third grade teacher. She will not accept any solution except medicine. Our daughter does not need medicine. Can you offer any suggestions? Thank you for your time.
Please help! My son is Autistic mixed with ODD and ADHD and the school is insisting on medication for him. I believe he should have tools in his tool box to help him manage and cope. School decided to medicate him behind my back. They are doing this each day. School principle told me that he is easier to deal with now. They also said that he cannot come to school if he won’t take medication. This is a charter school what should I do next?
Does the school employ a doctor who can prescribe medication? If not, where did they get the meds they are giving your child? If they are taking them from another child or someone else’s prescription, I would think the authorities need to be called for illegal activity.
They called someone they know and got the meds. I am filing a complain today and contacting the authorities.School of course has lawyered up and won’t give the name of the person who supplied the medication. I am so done! Of course other parents found out and are attacking me saying I should have medicated him a long time ago. I refuse to do that. I am sorry he is disrupting their education but he has rights too. These other parents need to understand that.
I am so sorry you are going through this! Absolutely contact the authorities and file criminal charges.
Thank you. I will keep you posted.
Let me give you an update. School refuses to cooperate and give the name of the Doctor where they got the medication. Filed a search warrant and there are no record of any medication and there is no label on the bottle. Bottle was also thrown out. I have pulled my son out of school. I am receiving threats from other people who are saying to leave the school alone. I have hit a brick wall. School has lawyers up and are trying to intimidate me. I am really feeling helpless at this point.
Have you tried contacting child protective services? They might not want to challenge the school, but it is an option.
Daniel I had to pull my child out of school due to the same thing. School insisted I medicate my child which I will not do. The math teacher blatantly told me that my son does not know how to let other students talk without talking over them. He does have ADHD and sometimes can be unfiltered. Recently he insulted another student and the teacher wrote him up instead of dealing with his issues. In fact i found out that he was written up for each time he interrupted and when the teacher was out and they had a sub he was sent to ISS so the other students could work in peace. This disturbed me and I placed him in a different school where he is excelling.
what does the GDE say?
Your daughter is bright, focused and in extracurriculars. I know of parents who requested a teacher change/class room change and met with great success. The sad reality is that some teachers have a lot of power and administrators do not hold them accountable. I have seen this in public and private schools. When it comes to private schools, my stance is “go with the school that is a good fit for your child and wants to see your child empowered. Go with the school that loves your child and actually wants your child as a member of the school community.” Do you feel that way now at her school? It may not get easier at that school as she gets older. She is a very talented child with dance, karate, high grades–most other schools would welcome such talent in their learning communities.