A new letter to the District

Gregory Gray, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Brighton Area Schools
125 S. Church Street
Brighton MI 48116

CC: Marci Maloney, Brighton Director of Special Education
Mary Williams, Principal, Spencer Road Elementary School
Maryalice Buschbacher, Teacher, Brighton Emotionally Impaired


Dear Dr. Gray,

Thank you for your time on the telephone Friday. I want to follow up with my concerns about the current state of the Emotionally Impaired classroom at Spencer Road Elementary. My son, Jackson Klear is a student of Mrs. Maryalice Buschbacher.

What is an advocate? Are you one? An advocate is a person who speaks or writes in support of a cause. I am an advocate for my son who is Bipolar. I want to share his struggles with this disorder.

At a young age, Jackson started showing signs of some kind of mental stress. I could not put a name on it, but I knew it was something serious. He would hardly smile, he was always irate and angry and he had trouble sleeping.

Having grown up with several siblings with Bipolar Disorder I began to wonder if my son could be showing early signs of the illness. I wanted professionals to help me assess him however the best diagnosis I could get at age 3 was unspecified depression. It was a place to start.

For several years, I treated his depression and aggression with behavior modifications. They hardly ever worked but I was doing the best I could, trying to be the best parent that he needed. It was not enough. I could not keep up with his strict demands and time-consuming worries. I never knew what was going to push him into an episode of displeasure and even rage.

Jackson needs and depends on stability to function. When Jackson could not get his mind to agree with his thinking, something bizarre was born inside his mind. It became a voice named Alex. Alex was a robot that wanted Jackson to kill me.

Alex would tell Jackson that I was no good, stupid and wrong to take care of him. Alex told Jackson that I could no longer be his mom. Alex was becoming too big an issue for Jackson to ignore. The voice was getting louder and Jackson was becoming increasingly angry with me.

We had to get Jackson to a doctor to help us. At age 5, he was diagnosed as Bipolar 1 after a brief hospitalization. It has been a long 2-year process of doctor appointments, therapy and medications. Finally, we are in a fairly stable place but not without ongoing struggles.

One decision we made that has helped Jackson become stable is placing him in the right classroom environment. In kindergarten and first grade, Jackson’s anxiety was very high. He was unable to focus his attention on his work because his environment around him was unstable. He would pick up the behaviors of others and then his own internal voices would tell him to run and hide when he could not control his space. This lead to a very dramatic school day for Jackson, he would come home complaining that he was different than everyone else and he wanted to belong, but knew he never could.

Having a special classroom at Hilton Elementary last year in second grade was a blessing. He was in a small classroom with kids that struggle like him. He no longer felt different. He whole-heartedly accepted this classroom as his home. He finally excelled in school. He could accomplish the tasks that were given to him and he was secure that his personal needs were being met by a caring professional teacher and staff.

I thank God for Mrs. Buschbacher every day. She and her staff gave my child everything he needed to have a wonderful chance at learning and accepting his disorder, supplying him with the necessary tools to think, grow and experience a safe school environment.

With the major restructuring of most of the school buildings in the district this year, I was not surprised to learn of the E.I. room moving from Hilton to Spencer Road. I was upset at that time with the lack of communication with special education parents regarding these decisions. However, I was so pleased with the program at Hilton that I figured with Jackson’s teacher and classroom moving to Spencer Road we would continue to have the same positive results. I have discovered this is not happening and I am very alarmed.

Jackson needs to trust his environment. He needs to know that he has support that understands him and is looking out for his best interest. Jackson requires “E.I. para professional support while in the general education setting” and “shared E.I. para professional support while in the self contain E.I. classroom” as called out in the Support Service Personnel section of the IEP signed 04/24/2009.

It is very disturbing to find the two persons assigned to assist Mrs. Buschbacher this year have no training or experience with emotionally impaired elementary aged children. From one short visit in the classroom, it is obvious these two individuals have no desire to be in such an environment. They are more concerned with their own lunch break times than the needs of the children. They are stand-offish and cold instead of loving helpers that these special children so desperately need every day. They act like security guards instead of para professionals. They do not have the skills or the understanding to appreciate my child’s special needs.

Nearly everything is different this year for Jackson. The one mainstay thankfully is Mrs. Buschbacher. Otherwise, a new classroom, new building, new bus and more kids in his class all compound to add stress to his educational setting. With proper adult guidance, he can overcome those changes. Unfortunately, with the staff in place today, he is regressing emotionally and behaviorally. He is lashing out at home because he cannot verbalize his frustration in school.

It is clear that Brighton Area Schools are not fulfilling the obligations set forth in Jackson’s IEP. I must insist that this situation be changed immediately. His IEP requires E.I. para professional staff. While the IEP does not clearly define “E.I. para professional” it is the intent and understanding of the IEP that this support personnel have the experience and capacity to provide professional support to the teacher and children. This requires experience handling elementary aged children in varied states of emotional distress and mental illness. All this while providing a loving and nurturing educational environment. This is clearly not being provided.

Please know that I will be discussing this situation with our LESA advocate. If I do not see the situation remedied within 7 days, I will escalate the issue with the Michigan Department of Education.

To be clear, my expectation is the two current adults in the classroom with Mrs. B are replaced with trained, experienced E.I. para professionals as required in Jackson’s IEP. The current situation is completely unacceptable.

Please feel free to contact me at any time. I look forward to your swift action in this distressing situation. Thank you for your concern.


Regards,


Michelle Klear
810-220-4268 – home
586-201-5350 – mobile
[e-mail]