What began as a normal school
year for my daughter quickly turned into a nightmare. My daughter began having stomachaches in
August and from August 2015 to November 2015 we ended up in the emergency room
on four occasions. Six weeks after
school started I had numerous phone visits with the school social worker and weekly
emails with an administrator as well as requesting homework for Hannah to work
on at home. (Little did we know at the
time that my daughter would be diagnosed with eosinophilic gastritis, a rare
disease and usually lifelong and subsequent diagnoses of polycystic ovary
syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and possible endometriosis.). In December we had a meeting at the school
with four personnel from school about a collaborative plan. At this time, Hannah had kept up with 6
of her 7 classes and was receiving A’s and B’s in her classes. Clearly she was doing well even amidst the
absences. 29 absences were acquired by
December 22nd and even though we had 20 M.D. notes between October
and January, we were referred to the County
Attorney for
truancy.
Our first court appearance
was in March 2016 where my daughter was placed on probation and given a court
appointed public defender. We had four
court dates we had to appear for between March and September 2016. My daughter was given a probation
officer who “recommended” to the court
in May that my daughter go to summer school, see a psychologist weekly, and
have a tracker from Cedars. As part of
that recommendation this all became court ordered. Anytime my daughter was going to miss school
(which was weekly), I had to inform the probation officer. When my daughter was too ill to attend summer
school and acquired 5 absences she was declined from attending summer
school. The probation officer then
required my daughter to attend day reporting at Owens. I was very strongly opposed to this. It is a facility where troubled teens go to be
“monitored” Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. She was being mingled with teens that were
required to wear ankle monitors and talked about smoking, illicit behaviors,
etc. Only 6 absences before you are
dropped from the program and my daughter due to her illness missed that many
days and was not allowed to attend. The
next thing that was suggested was that she apply for a job to stay busy and
stay out of trouble and so they would “know where she was.” Are you kidding me? My daughter could not attend summer school
due to illness, how was she going to hold down a job?
The probation officer, the
judge, the county attorney and day reporting personnel all treated my daughter
like she was a “bad student,” “troubled teen.”
For a young girl what message
does this send? If I was this stressed
about this entire situation, just imagine the stress my daughter was placed in
which I believe only exacerbated her illness.
The probation officer was suspicious of her from day one. She left us on the defensive all the
time. The County attorney would glare at
us in court hearings. The Owens Day
intake reporter and leader was somewhat crude in his explanations, using slang,
and asking my daughter all sorts of questions encompassing behaviors my
daughter has never engaged in.
In June 2016, I emailed the
probation officer stating this was all wrong and that my daughter was not
skipping school nor was she a bad person running around doing illicit
behaviors, she was home ill and bedridden.
From June to October 2016, we
averaged two appointments per week between seeing a physician and
psychologist. For the first month of the
Cedars tracker we had to meet daily M-F.
In this mix of appointments we still had a once a month probation
meeting. In the second month, we were
still meeting with the Cedars tracker at least 2 to 3 times a week. We were asked by the judge to go visit Bryan Behavioral
School for a possible
placement. All of these visits needed to
be managed while my daughter was feeling ill and while I am still trying to
hold down a full time job to provide for my two daughters and me. I used a lot of sick leave to take my
daughter to her appointments. I cannot
tell you the amount of stress placed on both of us and how horrific the stress
is for a single mother worrying about her ill child. The system took precious time away from me
caring more for my daughter because we were required to comply with court
ordered appointments. We were threatened
if we did not comply with court orders of attendance and appointments they
would place Hannah out of the home.
Our physician, who treated my
daughter for her diagnosis, wrote a letter to the court in August 2016 about
her rare disease and even then the judge did not drop the case.
From January 2016 to January
2017, we had 4 court hearings, were seen in the emergency room for 8 visits, 60
physician related appointments, tests, and I used over 78 hours of sick leave
from work as well as self-employment work missed opportunities during the
summer due to appointments as noted above.
I was not aware of the
amended truancy law that was in place until recently, nor was I informed that
there was an amended law during these entire proceedings by anyone at school,
the public defender, county attorney, nor judge. At present, my daughter is still on probation
and will remain so until March, 2017.
Cindy Payne, LPS parent
March, 2017
Cindy Payne, LPS parent
March, 2017
