I have been mulling over in my head, how do I even begin this story?  How much do I even share? My attorney advised me that less is more.  I agree in some aspect, however, I really want to encourage people in our situation to fight for their child…doing whatever it takes to see that they’re in the best place.  To educate parents on their options once the district denies their requests.  It’s not an easy road ahead.  It’s taxing on everyone.  Everyone.  But our story is proof that it is all worth it in the end.

During the spring semester and summer months, we had meetings with our advocate and the district to discuss “options.”  I chronicled all of those meetings because they are important to our journey, and I knew that at the time.  You can read about our meetings starting here.  Our advocate, by the way, is amazing and she will continue to accompany us to our meetings for quite awhile.  I don’t see us ever dealing with a school district without an advocate.  You can learn more about our advocate on her website.

I had a wonderful trip to Paris, which seems like a dream.  It honestly doesn’t seem real anymore.  It was a wonderful “dream,” though!

Ten days after I came home, we had our meeting with the district to determine where the most appropriate placement for Emma would be.  It didn’t go favorably, remember? To have to endure a meeting like that one day before a huge surgery for your daughter is something that no one should have to go through.  Too many emotions going on in such a short amount of time.

Emma had her hip surgery the following day and it went well.  We had 3 nights in the hospital and while we had ups and downs, things went really well.  We came home in a state of mind not unlike new parents have bringing home their newborn baby.  Will I break Emma?  How fragile is she?  How dependent is she?  We had to learn about the new (and temporary) state of our daughter.  She was immobile for 6 weeks.  It was tough.

From leaving a meeting that did not go as we had hoped, to surgery barely 15 hours after the meeting, I dropped the subject on my blog.  But deep down we knew we had decisions to make.  Do we press forward?  Are we so certain of the district’s wrongdoing that we were willing to take legal measures?  Are we so certain of Emma’s placement that we would personally place her at this private school and take her out of public school?  It’s a huge risk, that if it ended poorly, would mean Emma would have to return to the district, due to lack of finances.  This is definitely not a decision to enter lightly.  The only time we had hired an attorney was to draft our will and all that legal “shtuff”.  This was different.  It took many discussions, and they weren’t easy.  There were tears and uncertainties.  Ultimately it was a discussion that we had with a very close friend that helped clarify the decision.  She encouraged us to press forward.  We had come this far.  We were this passionate about doing the right thing for Emma.  What did we have to lose (minus a nice little retainer)?  Brett was (understandably) nervous about the finances.  How would we juggle attorneys fees with the monumental cost of a private school?  In short, we couldn’t.  We couldn’t swing those bills.

We are so fortunate to have the family that we have.  We are truly blessed.  We had family that told us that Emma needed to be in the right setting.  The district wasn’t worthy of educating her.  And therefore we had family that helped pay for her tuition while we ultimately decided to proceed with legal action.

That day after the meeting (which was the day before the surgery), our advocate immediately gave us the name and number of the attorney she recommended.  She warned me: she’s a tough ass.  She doesn’t mince words.  And she’ll tell you exactly what she thinks.  Perfect!  I don’t want some soft cookie representing us.  Oh yeah, and she’s undefeated.

I have to tell you this story, not because I want “revenge.”  Not because I want to “expose” anyone, though I have visions of that.  I am telling this story because people need to be aware of situations with the districts.  We need to be aware of our kids progresses they make.  The evaluations that they undergo.  And when things don’t work the way they should, I want people to be encouraged to know that there are options out there.

Until tomorrow, my friends!

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