Back to Crazy

Where does the time go?  Seems like I just put a post up and then I realize it’s been 2 weeks!  We’ve been busy enjoying the last of our summer.  Trips to the park, a long 3 day weekend of camping, painting the inside of the house, and working in the yard has consumed our days.  But life headed back to our normal routine today when Jackson started back to school.  Of course, the start of school was not without some drama provided by the extremely unorganized, unprepared and downright ridiculous Spokane Public Schools administration.

Last year Jackson attended Roosevelt Elementary.  It is not our home school, but that is the only school that had room for Jackson.  They offered to bus him to the school but I refused that since Jackson was still so young and not used to going to school.  But I told them last year that this school year I would like him bused.  No problem they told me.  I also told the social worker, the woman in charge of transportation and the special education department that I would drive him to summer school since he was going to a different school for the summer that was on the other side of town.  What do you think happened this summer?  Yep, the bus kept showing up at our house every morning.  Finally after me telling them a couple of times, and my neighbor telling them a couple of times, the bus finally stopped showing up.  So as school approached this year I called the transportation department to find out what time they would pick up and drop off Jackson.  They said they had no record of Jackson and had no idea what I was talking about.  So I called the special education department, talked to the secretary there and put the request in.  A couple of weeks went by and I still hadn’t heard anything so I called again but couldn’t get a hold of anyone.  Then Jackson’s teacher at Roosevelt called to invite us to an open house and mentioned that the school district had me down as driving Jackson myself.  I told her no, I wanted him to take the bus this year.  She said she would look into it.  Meanwhile, someone from the school district administration calls me looking for “Stacey Jackson”.  I explained my first name was Stacey and my son was Jackson.  She was very confused.  At this point, I am getting pretty annoyed and on the verge of saying some not so nice stuff. Then she asks me if I have ever heard of a child named Jackson Klim.  Seriously?  Um yeah, I gave birth to a kid by that name.  She then proceeds to tell me that Jackson will now be going to Sheridan Elementary because they have room for him there.  Say what?  I explained that I just talked to his new teacher at Roosevelt and we are all set to go there.  She tells me that if I want Jackson bused then he has to go to Sheridan.  After a few minutes of back and forth I finally say something to the effect of “Look lady, you people at the district office seem to have no clue what is going on.  Jackson’s only been in your school district like 2 months and I can’t even count the mistakes you all have made.  I am so pissed off right now by your incompetence that I am hanging up on you.”  And I did.  Then I called Kevin to talk me down.  Which he did.  Then I made a few calls to some people at Roosevelt to see what we could do.  Basically it came down to this – I drive, Jackson goes to Roosevelt; I want Jackson bused, he goes to Sheridan.  So last Thursday (2 school days before school starts) Kevin, Jackson and I go to both Sheridan and Roosevelt to meet the teachers.  As we walk into Sheridan we are greeted by the teacher.  I know her, she was Jackson’s summer school teacher.  I don’t remember if I ever blogged about his summer school teacher.  So here’s the gist – I can’t stand her.  She isn’t warm, friendly, courteous, or kind.  I nearly pulled Jackson out of summer school because I couldn’t stand her.  Almost every day I picked him up she would say “He was grouchy this afternoon” and I would say “It is too long of a day for the little ones” (Spokane Public Schools saves money by condensing summer school classes into two days a week, 5 hours a day, without regard to the fact that that is too long of a day for special needs kiddos) and then she would say “Well it’s a long day for me too”.  Yeah, she’s a gem.  So right away Sheridan and bussing is out.  We then went up to Roosevelt to meet Jackson’s new teacher Liz.  She was great.  She was warm, friendly, courteous and kind and had all sorts of ideas on how to best teach Jackson and make his learning experience beneficial.  So I’m driving Jackson to school this year.  I am fine with that.  Having a sense of mind that your child is in the best situation to help him learn is worth the 2 hours of driving per week.  And picking him up and seeing the smile on his face because he was happy at school just makes my cup runneth over.  He had a great first day and was in the best mood ever when I picked him up.  The kid loves school, just like his mama. 

So summer is over, school is back in session, a new therapy schedule is in place, and the craziness will take over our life again.  Despite all that, I am back to having a couple of hours of me time in the morning.  I can hear the Rockwood Bakery calling my name.  Reading, writing, eating scones and drinking hot chocolate in the neighborhood bakery is this mom’s delight.  Oh I just love the school year!