ASR

[Anonymous]

So does your neighbor. Concidence? I think not...

No, that was priceless.

 :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:

[Anonymous]

Its disturbing because you know it is the truth.

Yes we know ASR employs no licensed teachers. This point has been settled.

Getting the government involved never improves anything

Is that so? So youre an anarchist then? Or maybe just a hard core libertarian? Tell us more about your anti government stance.

Can the public school system claim 100% of the kids move on the college they choose?

No, but neither can the TBS system so I guess they break about even there.

Once a teacher attains tenure they can be as ineffective as they please and not get fired

Is this something that actually occurs or just more of your speculation?

but the are fully licensed Ha,Ha,Ha,...is this what you want for your kids?

Yes, we want fully licensed teachers.

[Anonymous]

SOMETimes you need to know when to quit , guest you have prooved that ASR is operating without being qualified to do anything and is in violation of the law


its settled. to conitnue this back and forth just distracts from that. litterally- it moves away from the points that have been made and rehashes the issue in different words...its done

[Troll Control]

I agree.  It's settled.  Energy should be focused on lobbying the state agencies to enforce their regulations in regard to ASR.  Let's work that contact list and get it going.

It is amusing to watch TheWho get totally worn down through his self-flagellation though.  That's worth something.

But, yes, some facts have been established.  

1.  ASR is classified by the state.  They are classified as a "Special Education School".

2.  ASR does not employ any licensed teachers nor any special educators, so they remain "unapproved" by the state.

3.  ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Trails Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

4.  ASR remains unaccredited and is legally barred by the state from issuing state sanctioned diplomas.

These appear to be the only objectively verifiable facts and the rest of the back-and-forth is just raw speculation.

[TheWho]

I agree.  It's settled.  Energy should be focused on lobbying the state agencies to enforce their regulations in regard to ASR.  Let's work that contact list and get it going.

It is amusing to watch TheWho get totally worn down through his self-flagellation though.  That's worth something.

But, yes, some facts have been established.  

1.  ASR is classified by the state.  They are classified as a "Special Education School".

2.  ASR does not employ any licensed teachers nor any special educators, so they remain "unapproved" by the state.
3.  ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

4.  ASR remains unaccredited and is legally barred by the state from issuing state sanctioned diplomas.

These appear to be the only objectively verifiable facts and the rest of the back-and-forth is just raw speculation.

They are "Unapproved" as a special education school because they dont fit that category fully.  Their students dont have IEP's, they dont employ special ed teachers etc.  They are a private boarding school with therapy. The state needs to make a new classification.  They dont fit into any one category...... hybrid if you will......
The state needs to redefine their categories if they want to gain oversight otherwise ASR will continue forward with out them.  We cant expect the school to sort all this out and stand still while the state decides what to do.

These are the facts..... the state should get their butt in gear if they want to oversee them, obviously they dont.

[Troll Control]

I agree.  It's settled.  Energy should be focused on lobbying the state agencies to enforce their regulations in regard to ASR.  Let's work that contact list and get it going.

It is amusing to watch TheWho get totally worn down through his self-flagellation though.  That's worth something.

But, yes, some facts have been established.  

1.  ASR is classified by the state.  They are classified as a "Special Education School".

2.  ASR does not employ any licensed teachers nor any special educators, so they remain "unapproved" by the state.

3.  ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

4.  ASR remains unaccredited and is legally barred by the state from issuing state sanctioned diplomas.

These appear to be the only objectively verifiable facts and the rest of the back-and-forth is just raw speculation.

As was stated, these are the objectively verifiable facts.  The state's motivation to do or not do things, the "hybrid" argument, etc., is all just speculation.  The facts above are the only ones that are verifiable and not someone's opinion.

What AnonWho just posted is simply more of his opinions, but the facts are listed in the quoted post above.

Let's just stick with facts to keep the dialogue real - nobody needs phonied-up information and opinions that don't bear out with the facts.

[RobertBruce]

Agreed. Let Cindy have his delusions and temper tantrums. He's not convincing anyone of anything except of the fact that we're right.

I spoke yesterday with someone in the EEC about what to do about ASR's violations. From my conversations with him I still believe the 30% rule would be the easiest route.

[Troll Control]

Considering this:

3. ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

It would be a great idea to contact the EEC pointman for MTRSD to get a quality audit started or to get ASR to stop making the claim they are affiliated with MTRSD, which apparently they aren't.

Paul Battistoni 413-858-4591

PQA Liaison Staff for ASR, Mohawk Trail School District.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/staff/liaison.asp

[TheWho]

Considering this:

3. ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

It would be a great idea to contact the EEC pointman for MTRSD to get a quality audit started or to get ASR to stop making the claim they are affiliated with MTRSD, which apparently they aren't.

Paul Battistoni 413-858-4591

PQA Liaison Staff for ASR, Mohawk Trail School District.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/staff/liaison.asp

Thank you guest,  Finally someone is listening.....

As I have been saying all along.... Call the school or call the number above or the DOE in Massachusetts.

They do have licensed counselors and they dont need to have special ed teachers as many here would have you believe.  They are not licensed in the state of Massachusetts as a TBS because the state doesnt license TBS's simply because they dont have regulations written for them.

Call and ask, like the guest suggested also.

[Anonymous]

They do have licensed counselors

Do they have licensed therapist?

and they dont need to have special ed teachers as many here would have you believe.

Why not?

They are not licensed in the state of Massachusetts

Thanks but we already knew that.

as a TBS because the state doesnt license TBS's simply because they dont have regulations written for them.

They arent licensed as anything. They meet the definition of a special needs program which Mass does have regulations for. ASR is simply avoiding them.

[Troll Control]

Still the only hard facts posted on the subject:

1. ASR is classified by the state. They are classified as a "Special Education School".

2. ASR does not employ any licensed teachers nor any special educators, so they remain "unapproved" by the state.

3. ASR does not appear in the Mohawk Trails Regional School District's comprehensive review for 2007 which indicates their "partnership" with the district has ended in 2007.

4. ASR remains unaccredited and is legally barred by the state from issuing state sanctioned diplomas.

RB, they do have licensed therapists (social workers) who see the kids 1 hour per week.  

The problem is that the regular day staff provide the group sessions three times per week for roughly six to nine hours total and none of them are licensed.  

This is illegal, and it's a big problem, not only legally for ASR, but more importantly for the children who are subjected to forced therapy by completely uneducated and unlicensed staff who are exploring very painful and sensitive issues for these kids without any expertise.  

This could lead to disasterous consequences, as evidenced by several post-program suicides and hospitalizations.

[RobertBruce]

So therapy is in fact being practiced by unlicensed unqualified people.

Major selling point there Cindy, why havent you mentioned it before you scamp?

I just heard back from the EEC, the person that I spoke with is waiting to hear back from their legal department regarding a number of issues. As soon as he forwards that onto me I will of course share the information. He said in the meantime that one possible route for us to take in getting the ball rolling is to get ahold of a current or recent employee/ student  who would be willing to discuss the current situation at ASR. He said without a first hand complaint they cannot investigate. This is of course due to ASR avoiding regulation and oversight. Once in however they can investigate all kinds of things, including just how many kids qualify as special needs. If there happens to be more than 30% which are, then the free ride is over and licensure is a must. Even without it he mentioned there are numerous other venues for us to explore. He said after their experience with DeSisto they have a little better understanding of how these places work.

[Deborah]

And his definition of "special needs"? What's his interpretation?
As I posted yesterday, DOE and EEC defer to the State for a definition, and the state defers to the IDEA definition; which doesn't even require a dx. Using the IDEA definition, and the profile of kids ASR 'treats', I would think they would all be classfied as "special needs".
 http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=257179#257179

[RobertBruce]

That's actually one of the things he's waiting to hear back on from the legal department. One thing he did make clear though is that an IEP is by no means the only qualifier nor is the test Cindy keeps babbeling on about.

[TheWho]

So what it seems like you want us to believe is a parent can call up the state office and say “My son is Disabled because he is having a tough time in school and is doing drugs so I would like him classified as a “Special needs “student and received services from the state.  Do you think the state would just say okay?  Or do you think he would need to be evaluated and determined to be special needs by the state he is in?

We can all say our kids are special needs kids, but the state needs to approve every case and the parents need to apply for this status thru the DOE or Early intervention.

The point I have been trying to get across is the state that the child lives in determines if the child is a “special needs” student.  They need to be classified as such and placed within the system…..some boarding school in another state cant classify kids as special needs for the state only the state can do this.  I may have a child that fits the special needs definition but choose not to have him classified, so therefore he fits the definition but is not, by law, a “Special needs” student.

ASR’s definition and the states definition can be completely different.

Hope this clears this up.