I want to say right now that I know that I am responsible for what happned. I did some things that caused this to happen. A few weeks ago I was kicked out of school for having low grades and I was accused of skipping classes that I was out of because of an absence that was not reported in the attendence office. I have had a learning and attention problem since I came to Upper Merion back in 1992. My previous school I had problems but I still learned.
I filed for a 504 plan two years straight and the teachers never followed through. I recently filed for a I.E.P. Evaluation to prevent the principal from kicking me out because I could not get the high grades that he told me to get or I would be kicked out. I was denied the I.E.P. And I was kicked out on the basis of bad grades and attendence (which was actually good this year) and the cuts that were written up in error. I was not allowed a hearing infront of the school board of to have an other principal override alberanns decision. I was kicked out and publicly humiliated when I was forced to interupt teachers classes to have them sign a slip letting them know that I was leaving school. And the person that had to escort me did'nt make the picture look to pretty.
Upper Merion Broke the law when they denied my I.E.P. And It is not the first time they have done it. My parents had this kind of problem with my sister who is almost completly deaf, has earaches 90% of the time, has been diagnosed with a genetic disease that is going to affect her for the rest of her life, and the fact that she is picked on harassed on a daily basis. We requested that the school evaluate her for Special Education and an I.E.P. And the school district denied it to us.
We kind of figured that she had to have downs or some other kind of problem to get an I.E.P. It wasnt until she was taken to a Shrink that we were asked if the school had asked if she had been given an i.E.P. Evaluation. We said no they denied it, and the doctor almost blew up. We were informed that the school had no choice. Any student regardless of age that has any medical condition that prevents normal study habits is guarenteed an I.E.P. No matter what. We were told to go back to the school and demand an IEP or we would take the school to court. The school tried to talk us into some other plan but we insisted on the IEP.
They tested her and put her in a class for regular students but gave her access to better sources of help, a class that would help her with all her subjects and, the teachers knew when she needed help so she wouldn't need to be embarassed when she didn't know the answer to an easy question. Her grades jumped from flat to WOW. Had she had access to this a long time ago she might not be 3 grades behind in her age class.
I am now facing the same problem but I have been kicked out of school so they wouldn't even have to deal with it. UM bases their decision on wheather or not you need an IEP just by looking at you and asking a few reqular questions. Not the way it is suppost to be done. My problem is that I am Smart in many areas such as Computers, repairing anything that is electrical or mechanical, negotiations, and being able to pick anything as long as it is hands on. The school just looks at me and says that I do not need an IEP because I am too smart for it, and that I am just looking for a way out of work. This is not true because I have a disability that slows me down in the way teachers teach. I learn in a classroom but at a much slower rate then others.
My other problem is that the disability messes with my originizational skills and I loose things easily. I do this out of school as well. I have many friends that have the same problems that I do but the difference is that they come from very rich families that get lawyers to get the school to give them what they are suppost to. I dont understand why Upper Merion incists on making getting an IEP so hard. I wonder if the downs kids had so much trouble getting an IEP.
I have had a few Attendence problems and a few other problems in the course of my school time, but when I am being told by Derek Albarran "HS asst principal" and Deborah Greenstein "Behavioral Management" that I am going to fail, i start thinking like a failure. This ends up making me make stupid decisions. Now I do want to say that the actions that I have done are 100% my fault and I should have thought things through a little bit better. The only things that I did were being late to school on a few counts except this year which is pretty good, Typical class cuts which everyone has done at one time or another, and my low grades which could be avoided. What I hope to get accomplished is to get the school to give me the IEP which I should have been given last year without even being asked.
Other problems @ Upper Merion:
The Asst Principal Derek Albarran Expells at least 1-2 students a week. Some of these students deserve to be kicked out of school. One student that should be gone is male student that beat the crap out of a female student. What gets me is that the student was allowed to come back to school. I have a learning disibility and they will take the person that is going to cause personal harm to others over me. Albarann seems to only be expelling students that have attendence issues, Grade issues, he dosen't seem to care much about the kids that are doing harm.
I can give a list of at least 40 students of the top of my head that albarann has kicked out and most of them had either of the problems. They were all good people and cool to be with but they just couldn't keep the grades up. This is not a Preperatory School where they can kick you out for any reason including race. This is a Public School that seems to be turning into a Prep School. The last thing albarann told me before he kicked me out was "I hope that you are not blaming this on me or any of your teachers, because that would just cause your initial downfall" that is not exactly how he said it but that was the idea.
I just want to make it known, especially if alberran gets a chance to read this, I did make bad decisions, some were dumber than others. I did not always give my best effort, I did give it my best but I was unable to succede. I do take responsibility for my actions, but It is unfair when I am kicked out because the school does not want to waste time on an IEP that would most likely help me pass my classes, and keep me on track.
I also want to say that There are some good teachers and bad teachers at Upper Merion. I have had my fair share of both and I know that if all the teachers had the same characteristics as these few there would not even be a need for an IEP But then again you will have good bosses and some bad it all depends on how things go.
I am just hoping that someone from Upper Merion is reading this and sees that Albaran needs to go back to the North philly school that he came from. And I do not intentionally mean to insult North philly residents.
X-UM student
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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