Alright – so, ever since my son with autism who does not understand what suspension is was suspended by union-protected teacher Kelly Morris and lobbyist-protected principal Jaysen Anderson; I have been trying to advocate this issue. The key word is “trying”. I have testified in every education committee in both the Minnesota house and senate. I have contacted more legislators than I can count including the committee chairs. I have spoken and sat through committees. And, I am sad to report, nada has been accomplished.
This happened back in 2018 on a Thursday afternoon at 5:18pm in May. I remember this date and time like it was yesterday. It has left a white stain on my heart, brain, and soul. I am not going to repeat in this blog my journey in this area as I have written and posted my testimonies here. I will simply say neither political party gives a flying hoot about keeping our children in the classroom. To the democrats, it is a show and to the republicans – well they don’t even think this is a problem.
In light of the above; I contacted the superintendent of Bloomington – Dr. Eric M. I knew Eric way back when he was the director of special education. He and I have a long history through mediation, conciliation, courts, and so on and so forth. For some reason, we have always been able to come to a compromise. Clearly, I am not a big fan of this district, but I found Eric to be reasonable and apologize when the district was in the wrong. In fact, one time we were in front of an education judge and Eric made sure the teacher apologized for what she did to my kid and like magic, I dropped the case. You see it is not always about winning, losing, or even lawsuits. It is owning mistakes and correcting them.
Anyway, to make a long history short, I reached out to Eric with an olive branch about this suspension and requested a meeting. He and I met and had a long chat. I also asked to meet with the principal – Jaysen who is the person that sent me the email suspending my kid four years ago in 2018. I met with Jaysen and Eric on May 3rd, 2022 – four years later to the date.
In summary, I believe the principal and the superintendent know suspending my kid did no good for anyone, and did not hold any educational value. I asked the principal if he had any remorse and what he now does differently. He replied – yes and that he pays attention to how and who he suspends to make sure it makes sense and the parents are involved.
So, I am done; that was good enough for me. The teacher – Kelly, I did not ask to speak with her even though Eric offered. I am too hurt to face her. I trusted her with my child and she failed him and me. While it was the principal who sent me the suspension email, it was the teacher who denied my kid his communication device which is essentially his voice, disrupted his daily routine, and subsequently called the principal on him. I don’t know if I ever will forget or even forgive her but I am at peace with the principal and the superintendent. For what it is worth, both the principal and the teacher make more money than they did in 2018, and the district got more money in 2022 than it did in 2018. In other words, as I have said in my kazilian testimonies there are no consequences for school districts to not kick our kids out – period.
In terms of the school board; I have been able to help and campaign several of them newly elected ones. Sadly, they are no different. I think I still would like to make sure Dawn S loses and will try to get her voted out. Their board has one minority member who incidentally also apologized to me for what they did to my kid and even testified in the senate for a bill that would’ve banned suspension which did not pass last year. I wish there were more black and brown people running for school board in Bloomington. I am sure we will get there. For now, this is good enough for me. I will not be going back to that exhausting state capitol and testifying in education committees as that has not produced any fruits. I may try at the federal level and maybe see if I can get a congressperson to amend the IDEA law by adding one line next to the 10-day rule before manifestation determination kicks in.
I am just tired of this now. I think I will take a break for now in this area.
The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.
Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate