Navigating Family-School Conflict: How a Psychologist Can Help Restore Harmony and potentially avert school expulsion

Is your child facing a school expulsion?  If you wish to learn a little more about the process, including some things the school would rather you not know, read on.

Of all the issues in childhood education, undoubtedly one of the most sensitive and painstaking problems arises when a child’s school district is simply “fed up” with the child and wishes to expel the child from school. This is typically the endpoint of a history of behavioral problems exhibited by the child, and at that point the school district decides that they either cannot or will not expend the resources necessary to keep the child enrolled in a regular education setting within the school district.

As a school psychologist with a specialty in childhood behavior problems and as a school district employee, I have on multiple occasions been tasked by the school district to offer psychodiagnostic recommendations within the diagnostic process, potentially resulting in the expulsion of the child. Being first and foremost a child advocate who by nature was allied with the families and the child, this often put me in quite conflicted positions with the school who were requesting things of me that I didn’t feel were in the child’s best interest.  There were a lot of wars going on in those days between professionals, families and school administration.

Accomodating Difficult Children in the Regular Ed Environment

From the school’s perspective, they are given X number of resources to allocate to the education of their students. Through their conventional system of a given number of teachers per given number of students, they’re able to educate most of the children enrolled in their system. And as we know that there are outliers-children that are not particularly amenable to being taught through a conventional didactic teacher-student approach-this leaves some students who require alternate educational approaches and environments. For students with the greatest needs, schools typically utilize resource rooms, smaller environments with lower teacher to student ratios that provide educational services by adapting to the child’s particular needs. In these situations, the school has sort of a "due process" in place-actually, the federal government is the legal entity requiring that the school follow certain specific procedures to insure that the child's civil rights are not impinged upon while attempting to remediate the child. This is part of the three major federal laws protecting the rights of people with disabilities. Knowing what these laws do helps families know how to support their kids who learn and think differently.

The Three Laws Governing Children and Disabilities

Here’s a brief overview of the three laws, and what they provide.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): This education law requires public schools to meet the unique needs of eligible K–12 students with disabilities. Schools do this by providing services.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504): This civil rights law prohibits disability discrimination at schools that get federal funding. Schools meet these requirements by removing barriers to learning. When parents are armed with the knowledge of how these laws can serve to protect their child, they can get their child many of the services he/she needs. Knowledge is definitely power here.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): This civil rights law prohibits disability discrimination by schools, employers, and anyone who offers goods and services to the public.

Within these three laws, any school receiving federal funding must accommodate the child by providing for her needs and protect them.

If you are like me, it makes you nervous to know that the schools are somewhat self-governing in terms of protecting the rights of each child. You may wonder, who makes sure these laws are followed, and how are these laws enforced in schools?

Holding Schools Accountable for Following the IDEA & 504

Much of the responsibility of insuring that school districts follow these federal laws lies with the State departments of education, whose job it is to oversee local school districts and make sure the districts are following the laws. They also have procedures in place to remedy any instances when it is discovered that the school districts are not following the laws.

For example, by periodically reviewing data on how well students with disabilities are faring compared to other students, states monitor school districts adherence to federal law. States may be interested in parent complaints and due process hearings, whreby they can get a look at the procedures a district has used to provide services (or not) to a given child.

While it is true that the protections afforded by these three laws are enforced by governmental agencies, particularly the State, most of the accountability it rests with local school districts.

Holding schools accountable for their compliance with the law is a huge responsibility, and there are some procedures in place to make sure the laws are followed. The main law that covers special education is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It includes requirements that are meant to hold schools accountable.

IDEA also provides parents with steps they can take if they believe the law isn’t being followed for their child. It is within the IDEA that the "teeth" exist to make sure the schools follow the laws designed to protect the child. This is so important that it is underlined. It is also here where a knowledgeable psychologist who has analyzed the situation and understands the needs of the child, in conjunction with a good educational law attorney if necessary, can assist in compelling a district to do everything they're supposed to do.

Key takeaways

• IDEA is the law that provides special education.

• Section 504 is the law that provides 504 plans for eligible K–12 students.

• ADA provides freedom from discrimination at work.

 

Schools maneuver sufficiently within the framework of these three laws to accomodate the child who has been disruptive and who despite the conventional accomodations made by the school, has continued to struggle. The school may, in certain instances, determine that a child’s psychological and behavioral profile is such that they have exhausted their means of accommodating the child through the special education plan, and contend that the child is no longer considered an appropriate fit for the regular education environment. Fortunately, these situations are usually quite uncommon and there are many resources within the schools’ scope of jurisdiction that may be implemented, short of outright expulsion and removal. Schools generally have a “default” system in place whereby the child can continue their education; however, these programs tend to be rigidly behavioral (i.e. reward and punishment driven); almost quasi-militaristic in nature and not a particularly good fit for every referred child’s needs.

Acting-out Behavior and the Accompanying Misdiagnoses

For example, children and adolescents will frequently exhibit disruptive, acting out behavior-psychologists use the term “externalizing behavior”- during the course of a mood episode (depression), during an acute anxiety reaction, or in the course of another clinical issue.  Further complicating the situation, such children are often given an accompanying misdiagnosis of an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with an implementation of stimulant medication. Those of us who have been practicing awhile have witnessed what then happens upon a misdiagnosis, whereby a child with an affective or mood disorder is put on Ritalin or Adderall, and a complete exacerbation of their behavioral disturbance is seen whereby the child gets exceedingly moody, hostile, and often belligerent. 

It only takes one of these children, especially as they get older, to completely change the landscape of a school environment into a contentious, perilous territory.  They would much rather “make the child disappear;” in other words get the child into a different educational setting. Ideally, parents might preempt this situation by engaging professional services at an earlier stage and take the steps that the child needs to function in their school, prior to finding themselves in this situation.

I consider one of my most valuable skills to be the ability to mediate between a family with a child struggling in school and a school system that is unwilling to cooperate in the child’s remediation.  It requires a very delicate balance between an acknowledgment of the necessity of safety and organization within the overall school environment and the preservation of a given students right to pursue their conventional education.  This requires a psychologist to use their skills to address the student's behavior as part of their learning profile. That is, the disruptive behavior is linked to a learning issue rather than intentional disobedience and lack of respect as an intractable personality feature. A skilled psychologist can often tackle this problem and ensure that the student can continue attending school within a regular education environment while also meeting the school district's needs for effectively managing the student's behavior. If this situation sounds familiar and you would like my assistance, contact me at 941-239-3045 and set up an appointment.