I recently got custody of my 10-year-old daughter in January 2024. She was in Maryland public schools before, where she did okay with C-B grades in 4th grade. After moving to Alabama, her test scores showed she was at a kindergarten/early 1st-grade level, which was shocking. Alabama schools granted her an IEP, and she’s already made over a year’s progress in just three months. Summer school was supposed to help her keep growing, but now the school says she’s being held back to 4th grade, even though they sent us 5th-grade enrollment papers earlier. The principal claims she’s ‘investigating’ and won’t let her start school yet. My daughter was so excited, and now she’s crushed. Has anyone had to deal with a situation like this? Any tips on how to handle it?
Man, that’s rough. Did they explain why she’s being held back after sending those 5th-grade forms?
Sloan said:
Man, that’s rough. Did they explain why she’s being held back after sending those 5th-grade forms?
Nope, just vague excuses about needing to investigate. It’s super frustrating.
Sloan said:
Man, that’s rough. Did they explain why she’s being held back after sending those 5th-grade forms?
Could it be some kind of clerical error? Schools mess stuff up more than they’d like to admit.
It’s weird they won’t let you see her summer school results. Aren’t parents supposed to have access to that?
Zaire said:
It’s weird they won’t let you see her summer school results. Aren’t parents supposed to have access to that?
You’d think so, right? We’ve been asking for weeks, but they keep dodging us.
Zaire said:
It’s weird they won’t let you see her summer school results. Aren’t parents supposed to have access to that?
That’s shady. I’d push harder or take it up with the district.
Have you tried getting the district involved? Sometimes they’ll step in when schools drag their feet.
Onyx said:
Have you tried getting the district involved? Sometimes they’ll step in when schools drag their feet.
Not yet, but it’s looking like we’ll have to. We just wanted to give the school a chance to fix it first.
Onyx said:
Have you tried getting the district involved? Sometimes they’ll step in when schools drag their feet.
That’s fair, but don’t let them stall too long. Your daughter deserves clarity.
Honestly, this kind of back-and-forth sounds like a nightmare. Have you considered a formal complaint to the district?
Vail said:
Honestly, this kind of back-and-forth sounds like a nightmare. Have you considered a formal complaint to the district?
We’ve kept records of everything, so that might be our next move. Just trying to stay patient for now.
Vail said:
Honestly, this kind of back-and-forth sounds like a nightmare. Have you considered a formal complaint to the district?
Smart move keeping records. That’ll help if you need to escalate.
We had something similar happen. Reaching out to the district superintendent sped things up for us.
Shan said:
We had something similar happen. Reaching out to the district superintendent sped things up for us.
Good to know, thanks! We’ll probably try that soon if the principal keeps stalling.
Shan said:
We had something similar happen. Reaching out to the district superintendent sped things up for us.
Definitely do it. The longer this drags on, the harder it’ll be for your daughter emotionally.