this is my first time here, so forgive me if its a novel! ;)
Last Wednesday, my child's principal called and stated Cameron had "intentionally stolen" another students diabetic meter the day before, took it home and tested his sugars with it several times. she was very persistent with telling me "there is no way he could have gotten hold of it and was positive he took it intentionally." She told me it was a "major health risk" because he used the other students poker (wouldn't that put MY child at risk?) and that she needed to speak with the other parent and her superiors before deciding what course of action they would take as far as punishment for Cameron. As I picked up my kids from school, the principal came to my vehicle and told me Cameron was being "Emergency Expelled effective immidiately" meaning he is no longer allowed on school property) and that their would be a meeting to discuss alternative options.
after talking with my son, I knew right away that he DID NOT intentionally take the other students meter. he did not see the meter in his bag until dinner when he went to test. The meter was exactly like his old meter, and Cameron figured i put it in his bag, he didn't even think about it- tested at dinner, bed & breakfast (with HIS poker and the meter that was in HIS bag, thinking it was his). At lunchtime the nurse and principal asked Cameron where his meter was and he pointed to the other child's meter on the counter..they corrected him and told him it was another child's, and than proceeded to accuse him of stealing it on purpose. My son tried to tell his side of the story but they kept saying things like "Cameron, why did you steal it?" "we didn't do it, so you must have" my son (who's 11) even started crying and told them he thought it was his, they than let him back to class and that is when i received the call from the school. when they told me that he indefinitely stole it, i assumed they had some kind of proof, not only did they have none, but they didn't even listen to my child.
a few days later i get a letter in the mail outlining their decision. "This action is being taken because of ongoing safety issues concerning Cameron's management of his diabetes. Additionally Cameron's recent behavior has endangered other students." After reading this I was a bit confused, because i was told he was being expelled for "stealing" and "creating a health risk for another student", which has nothing to do with his diabetes but would be more of a a "behavioral issue" . I called the principal and asked her to explain the very vague explanation they had for revoking my child's right to an education. I asked her to explain what she meant by "ongoing safety issues" since i had not been made aware of any new issues until the expulsion, which i believe to be 100% wrong for my child. I believe my child did nothing wrong, and it is them who are refusing to take responsibility, and that really sets a bad example as a role model for an entire school of children.
part of me feels like maybe all of this might be retaliation against an issue i expressed via email on 4/21/10 about the school requiring parents to attend field trips and disallowing a diabetic child to go because a parent is not available and my understanding of the laws regarding discrimination and field trip requirements and such.- the field trip was the day after he was expelled, I'm not sure they have anything to do with the other but it would make more sense, because all of this is just insane!
I am working with my local ADA office and have been referred to the ADA's legal advocacy program.
PS- We re-located our family back to this school district after a year long nightmare in another district, . and although we couldn't find a home in the same school, we chose to transport them every day to THIS school every day just so Cameron could attend the school that we all once considered a blessing. but unfortunately the principal and nurse were replaced over that summer and it seems we went from bad to worse.