Bunny: is there away to either receive compensation to go to a private school or get a transfer approved to a different high school. My child has severe anxiety and the school has mishandled her situation to the point that returning to the home school is out of the question. there is no trust between us and them. they recommended an alternative school that is problematic because it is a rough crowd. this is known through interviews with a few parents that had put their children there. We requested a transfer and were turned down.
Bunny –
You have a few options, if you want to change your child’s placement. You can continue to try to work locally, with your child’s IEP Team or with someone further up your district’s chain of command (like the special education director). You can involve a neutral party in these discussions, such as a mediator or IEP Team facilitator if that is offered in your state. Or you can request a due process hearing, to let a hearing officer decide what is appropriate.
Before you move forward with any of that, however, an independent evaluation is a good first step. The results of such an evaluation, if it agrees with your position, can go a long way towards convincing your school or hearing officer that your position is the right one.
I encourage you to connect with your local parent center (http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/). They can help you understand your options for independent evaluation (private pay vs. publicly funded), as well as your options for working through this disagreement with your child’s IEP Team.