One Family's Fight for an Appropriate Education

One Family's Fight for an Appropriate Education

PHOTO/CAPTION: Cody Greiser

One Family's Fight for

an Appropriate Education

by Jim Marks

From the Editor: The following article

first appeared in the Spring/Summer, 1997, issue of the Observer, the publication

of the Montana affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind. Jim Marks

is a member of the organization's Board of Directors. Cody Greiser is a bright,

active ten-year-old (see "Around the Block, to the Mall, and Beyond"

in the October, 1997, Braille Monitor). Cody's father is Marty Greiser, Secretary

of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. Cody lives with

his mother, Nancy Taylor of Polson, Montana. Both of Cody's parents have been

fighting to get Cody the education he deserves. Even when the law is clear,

it can be a struggle to insure that blind children actually get the free, appropriate

education in the least restrictive setting to which they are entitled. This

is the story of one family's fight for justice.

What you are about to read was gathered

from interviews with some of the parties involved, observations of legal proceedings,

and reviews of relevant documents.

Introduction

Cody Greiser, who is blind, lives in

Polson, Montana, with his mom, stepdad, and sisters. His dad is Marty Greiser

of Dillon, a long-time member of the Montana Association for the Blind, and

Secretary of the National Association of Parents of Blind Children, a Division

of the National Federation of the Blind. Cody is ten years old and will be

going into the fifth grade this fall at Polson's Cherry Valley Elementary School.

Recently Cody found himself involved in a struggle for his literacy and his

right to live with his family. It's hard to believe, but Cherry Valley School

officials tried to take Cody away from his folks by forcing a placement in

the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB) in Great Falls. Although an

administrative judge gave the family a mostly favorable decision following

the April 1, 1997, hearing in Polson, the struggle is far from over.

The Family's Position

Cody's parents, Nancy Taylor and Marty

Greiser, want their son to learn how to read and write in his neighborhood

school. They do not want to take Cody from his home and loved ones to be placed

in a residential program.

The family knows that blindness is a

low-incidence disability and that ignorance on the part of the school system

requires them to advocate fiercely for Cody's education. They carefully weighed

what was best for Cody before reaching the conclusion that Cody was better

off at home than at MSDB.

Finding qualified Braille instructors

or aides can be difficult, the family acknowledges. So they proposed an option

to Cherry Valley officials. They asked that Cody travel once a week to Thompson

Falls, a town about fifty miles from Polson, in order to receive Braille instruction

from Kim Bojkovsky. Bojkovsky is a certified teacher who reads and writes Braille

fluently. She taught Cody when they both lived in Dillon. It happens that Bojkovsky

is blind. [Kim Hoffman Bojkovsky was a 1988 NFB scholarship winner.]

The School's Position

"Some people in Polson, Montana,

believe a sighted teacher can teach Braille better than a blind person,"

said Bob Long, Lake County Deputy Attorney and legal counsel for Cherry Valley

School. He said this to one of the expert witnesses for the family during the

April hearing. The witness was Joanne Wilson, President of the NFB of Louisiana

and Director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston. Wilson had just

testified by telephone about the importance of having a teacher of blind children

know how to read and write in Braille.

Surprisingly, the school had the burden

of proof because it was the school that wanted Cody's education plan to change.

According to Elaine Meeks, Cherry Valley principal, the school couldn't find

a qualified teacher for Cody, making an MSDB placement necessary.

Meeks said that it wasn't a matter of

money. The school had tried but failed to find a competent Braille instructor

following the resignation of Cody's former aide. Meeks said the school had

advertised regionally but later explained that "regionally" meant

advertising in Polson, Kalispell, and Missoula. Meeks therefore said that the

school could not provide Cody with a sound education and that MSDB was the

only alternative.

Meeks rejected the family proposal to

have Cody taught Braille once a week by Bojkovsky in Thompson Falls. She said

such a thing would force a public school's support of a home school, adding

that Cherry Valley couldn't supervise Bojkovsky properly unless Bojkovsky was

willing to travel to Polson. Due to her pregnancy and other responsibilities

in Thompson Falls, Bojkovsky had declined to travel. [Mrs. Bojkovsky is a minister's

wife and gave birth to a daughter in April of 1997.]

Marty Greiser

Meeks denied the family's request to

have Cherry Valley purchase Braille production equipment. The family wanted

the school to acquire a computer Braille translation software program and a

computer Braille embosser. Asserting the decision wasn't based on money, Meeks

said the school's denial of technology purchases was due to the school's belief

that Cody's Braille skills had not advanced far enough to warrant the purchase.

What the Experts Had to Say

Testimony was also given by two groups

of experts. Speaking on behalf of Cherry Valley Schools were the MSDB principal

and two MSDB outreach staff members. Speaking for the family were three members

of the NFB.

The MSDB experts said that in Cody's

case their institution was a more appropriate placement than Cherry Valley

School. They said the MSDB outreach services couldn't compensate for the lack

of a qualified teacher or aide in Polson, so it was their opinion that MSDB's

residential program would serve Cody best. They dismissed the family's requests

for Braille production equipment as well, saying that the equipment was expensive

and no panacea. MSDB Principal Bill Davis admitted the hardship of placing

a child in a residential school. He said the parents had to consider the long-term

benefits of a good education over the short-term benefits of keeping Cody at

home.

During the hearing the quality of education

at MSDB was never fully discussed. Davis admitted that most of the blind children

at MSDB had multiple disabilities. Cody's only disability is blindness, and

he is unlikely to find as many peers in MSDB as he has in Polson.

Beyond the formalities of the administrative

court, the family expresses strong concerns about the quality of the MSDB education.

They point out that MSDB had to be sued only a few years ago when another family

wanted their blind child taught Braille. Moreover, the Greiser family questions

the credibility of the MSDB staff. They wonder aloud about the ability of MSDB

staff to read and write Braille fluently and about staff abilities in other

blindness skills. Notably, one of the MSDB experts testifying against the family

had never even met Cody. As time goes on, fewer and fewer families with blind

children opt for a residential program. Instead schools like MSDB become institutions

for children with multiple disabilities, and blindness skills often take a

back seat to other issues surrounding disability.

Testifying for the family were Joanne

Wilson of Louisiana, Denise Mackenstadt of Washington, and Kim Bojkovsky of

Thompson Falls. Wilson said Cherry Valley School hadn't tried hard enough to

find a qualified Braille teacher. She testified about several options that

Cherry Valley could have undertaken in order to get a qualified person involved

in Cody's education. When she was asked about what was best for Cody, Cherry

Valley or MSDB, she said it was a difficult decision which could only be made

by the family. However, she pointed out that the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act requires education to take place in the least restrictive environment.

She said she didn't know which school had the better educational program but

that placement at MSDB probably wouldn't be the least restrictive environment

mandated in the law.

Mackenstadt, a teacher's aide in a Bothell,

Washington, public school, said it was her job to assist with Braille instruction

and blindness skills in a mainstream school setting. She explained how well

the education of blind children can work when the school possesses an inclusive,

can-do attitude about teaching blind children. She also reinforced the doubt

about whether Cherry Valley School had done all it could. She added to Wilson's

testimony regarding places to find or train qualified Braille instructors.

Bojkovsky talked about what she had done

with Cody when she was his teacher in Dillon and about what she could do for

him in the future. She said the once-a-week time would be adequate, but not

ideal. And the adequate instruction which allows Cody to remain at home is

far better than putting him in any residential program, she said.

What the Judge Decided

Dennis Loveless, the Montana Hearings

Officer for the Office of Public Instruction, decided mostly in favor of the

family. He wrote: "Analysis of all the factors apparent in this case indicates

that the continued education of Cody Greiser at Cherry Valley School under

the program proposed by the parents would take advantage of appropriate available

resources in the least restrictive setting."

Besides endorsing the family's wish to

have Cody remain at Cherry Valley School with one-day-a-week instruction with

Bojkovsky, Loveless also decided that Cherry Valley should acquire Braille

production technology. He decided not to reimburse the family for legal fees

and not to order any additional evaluations of the competency of Cherry Valley

or MSDB staff. It is deeply ironic that Cherry Valley School will incur no

legal expenses at all since it was represented by the Lake County Attorney's

office. Equally ironic is the never-mentioned but undeniable fact that only

those who spoke on behalf of the family read and write Braille well.

It Ain't Over

Even though the Loveless decision was

clear, Marty Greiser reports that Cherry Valley School refuses to send Cody

to Bojkovsky because they have now hired a Braille aide. The school claims

the employment of the aide makes the Loveless decision largely irrelevant.

The family asked to review the credentials of this aide, but no documents have

been forthcoming. In addition, school officials denied the family's request

to begin purchasing technology items until Cody's teachers come back to work

this fall. In spite of the triumph in administrative court, it looks as though

more court action is likely. It's a cinch that more advocacy will be imperative.