There are lots of ways to deal with school systems. Protecting and advocating for your child can be complicated and is emotional. It is recommended that you hire a Taunton educational advocate lawyer such as myself but I realize that the cost may be prohibitive for many. I will provide a few pointers that can help parents a great deal:
1. Organize-make sure that you have complete records including everything from the school and other records as may be applicable whether this includes medical, clinical, DCF, court, police and so forth as applicable.
2. Be able to present what the issues or problems are in an easy and organized fashion with as much specifics as possible.
3. Be able to present evidence of the issues with records or specifics.
4. Decide what you want- this is difficult but try and figure out what you want and the different alternatives.
5. Be able to provide specifics of what you want and the reason behind it. For example, if you want class size to be a way explain I want the class size to be…. because evaluation x showed that in order for child to … he needs xyz
6. Be calm! This is hard for many parents and one reason lawyers are hired. You need to be able to present the issues without personalizing or presenting as non rational. It is easy to be frustrated but the school may discount what you say if you are too emotional or confrontational.
7. Prepare for any meetings. Try and be focused. Practice with a friend who can give you feedback.
8. Listen to what the school says. You do not have to agree but at least understand their understanding of the situation and how they are presenting it.
9. Determine what the alternatives are to reaching an agreement- does that mean an appeal, private school, moving? Figure out what you are ideally looking for and a range of alternatives and determine what is better than appealing, continuing and so forth and what is not as acceptable as the next step.
10. Learn to negotiate! Two great basic easy to read books are getting to yes and getting past no.
