Happy 50th to me..

How did I start my 50th birthday? Oh it was as special as the age upgrade. I got to go to truancy court again for my son, Leo. Bonus; the judge treated me and my husband like we were lieing scumbags. Our wonderful attorney called at 7pm last night to say he was "stuck in Manhattan" and wouldn't be able to go to court. Lovely. He told us that we could just ask for an adjournment and if they needed to talk to him they could call him. I called the courthouse this morning to find out what we had to do and the clerk said she didn't have an attorney recorded for us. I asked her how that information is recorded and she said the attorney has to write a letter of representation and present it to the court. I called our attorney back (Ralph Gerstein) and he said "Nobody asked me for one. Okay I'll write one." Incredulous! We went into the courtroom and got in line to talk to the Prosecutor (customary apparently) and told him about Ralph. The BOE attorney wasn't there yet so the prosecutor said we'd have to wait and see. The judge finally came into the courtroom and we were the first ones up. The prosecutor told the judge that our attorney was not present. The judge asked us to explain. We told him that our attorney called us last night and said he was stuck out of town and wouldn't be able to make it. The judge asked us who our attorney was because he didn't show one on record. I told him, "Ralph Gerstein". He then asked the BOE attorney if he's had contact with our attorney. The attorney said that yes he had, one time at 5pm the night before our last court appearance, when he called and asked for an adjournment so we could produce medical evidence. The judge asked where the medical evidence was and I said that the doctor hadn't given us a report yet. He said, "Well, that's your responsibility to make sure you get that." The judge then asked why our attorney wasn't there and why he had not filed a letter of representation. I told him that our attorney called us last night and said that he was stuck out of town but if anyone wanted to call him, he would be available. I said that I called him this morning and told him that the court did not have a letter of representation from him and he said, "Nobody asked me for one." The judge then said, "So it's always going to be someone else's fault. First it's the doctor, now it's the attorney". He asked the prosecutor if he was ready to proceed because, he said, "It's always going to be stories with these defendants." I wanted to die. He looked at us with such contempt, like we were dirt bags who lied and didn't send their kid to school. He said that every attorney knows that they have to file a letter of representation, nobody has to ask for it. The prosecutor said that he was ready to proceed but that he would agree to an adjournment. The judge then turned back to us and said, "Mr. Fasolo, this is NOT going to go away. Make sure you bring everything with you to court next time because ready or not, this is going to trial."
Is this unbelievable? Actually, no, not in my life. It's actually quite apropos that I celebrated my 50th birthday this way. God forbid....

Another "New Year's Eve"

Sigh.
Here we go again. Another year over, another about to start. Didn't we just do this? Well, this ought to be a very different, very..interesting year. January, 12th I have to go to court because the school district is charging me and my husband with "Truancy" for our 13 year old son. He's severely allergic to mold that is in his school. My son has asthma and when he started middle school in September 2007 he had asthma problems immediately. Long story short, he was put on "homebound" for 6th grade and 7th grade. Everything was set in place for him to continue on homebound for 8th grade, until a new superintendent of schools came in and nixed it (for my son and several other students). We went to mediation and the district was told to continue homebound for 2 weeks until the OC Board of Health came in to test the school. The school district broke the mediation. We met for mediation again...the mediator spoke to the district representatives alone and then told me that they were wasting my time. We were given notice to go to court to answer charges of truancy...we plead not guilty. Now we're hoping our attorney will be able to come to this court date. My son has an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) and the district broke that plan by not having an IEP meeting to make a change to that plan. The district is legally wrong. Unfortunately, school districts know that most parents can't afford an attorney and so they break the law, and by the way, they don't care.
Another issue; my 10 year old son, who happens to have Asperger Syndrome, is and has been bullied at school and nothing has been done in this "zero tolerance" environment. His teacher is wonderful and has a nephew with a type of high functioning autism so she understands my son to a point. I got a letter this teacher sent home to all parents of her students, notifying us that as of February 1st, she is retiring. Now I will probably implement a decision I made for middle school, early. I will probably be homeschooling my son. This is totally unbelievable and nauseating that I can not send my sons to a safe environment for their education. Oh, but I do have to pay school taxes.
What will this year bring? More of the same as previous years? I need to reboot my optimism and energy.
Happy New Year! woo hoo...