LOST
BOY
left forearm is very consistent
with fingers gripping too tightly,”
pediatrician Kathleen Lundgren
wrote in an evaluation. “It is very
reasonable to suspect aggressive
and inappropriate care.” For Greg,
this was the final straw.
“You have once again failed
miserably in both capacities,” he
wrote in a May 16 email to Henderson, Beers, Schneider and a
superintendent in DCPS. The
paraprofessional who was eventually fired for the incident had been
reported for previous misconduct.
Greg and Maya asked that the
district reopen the case to include
pictures of the bruises — but their
request was declined.
A few days later, they heard
back: They won their case, but just
barely. The hearing officer sided
with DCPS in most areas, saying that Greg and Maya had failed
to prove that Max had regressed
since starting school. Max, the
decision stated, “has been able to
progress on some goals.” The officer did, however, fault DCPS for
the absence of Max’s teacher. Max
had missed six months of “free
and appropriate public education”
under IDEA, and on that basis,
was awarded with one ye ar of private school funding sufficient for
HUFFINGTON
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Ivymount. It wasn’t quite Trellis, but at the very least it was a
school where qualified teachers
could provide Max with the individual attention doctor after doctor had said he needed.
Greg and Maya were relieved.
They were surprised by some aspects of the ruling, but pleased
to have the funding. “We still
felt like it was a bad decision,”
Greg recalls. “Since we were getting private placement, we didn’t
question it.”
But their relief was short lived.
After nine days, “our bubble
burst,” Greg says. DCPS filed an
appeal, which prevented Max from
starting at his new school. DCPS
maintained that Max’s school had
indeed offered the family the services they needed.
Greg and Maya have been vocal
about their plight, bringing attention to what they call their “invisible boy” through a Facebook page
and a local news segment. They
argue the district is being retributive. “This is part of their strategy,”
Maya says. “Make us broke and
tired, and perhaps leave us with no
private school choices in the end
that would meet his needs, when
this whole evil, endless legal process finally comes to an end.”
The family faced a crossroads:
Greg and Maya did not feel that
they could send Max back to a