Excerpt from an interview by Ray Watson, Shakira Paige, Sarah Harris and Keyna Franklin with the Bronx Defenders as published in Rise Magazine.
Q: If a student is missing a lot of school because of a housing problem or a health or mental health issue, how should a parent communicate with the school about it?
Baker-Burr: If your child is missing school for medical reasons, it’s important to get a letter from the doctor and to give a separate letter every single time there’s an absence in order to create a record. I suggest emailing the letters to create a paper trail. If the school has already threatened to call ACS, I think it makes sense to reach out to an advocacy organization like The Bronx Defenders before disclosing sensitive mental health or medical issues. Those disclosures could be used against a parent if a case is called in to ACS.
Piña: If it’s a housing matter, a letter needs to be written by the Department of Homeless Services or anyone at the shelter to explain the child’s absences. Providing proof of the reasons for the absences can minimize the chances of an ACS report. Parents can send documentation through emails, letters or even text messages to the teachers and school staff. If for any reason, the school calls in a case despite the provided written materials, the parents can show the ACS worker the communication with the school.
Also, having personal conversations with the teachers and staff at the school can reduce the chance of a report being called in.
Q: How can parents expect schools to work with them?
Baker-Burr: Parents and schools should be partners. If the school is having an issue with a parent or a child, they should be actively working to find solutions together with the parent, and when appropriate, the child as well.
I received a call today because my client’s young child had an incident at school. The school told the parent that she had to leave work and pick up her child or they would call the police. My client couldn’t leave work without losing her job, so she contacted me about what to do. I told her that she could ask the school what interventions they had tried with her child. For instance, she could tell the school the best way that she knows to calm her child and see if the school social worker, guidance counselor, or psychologist would be able to try that. By giving suggestions to the school about how to respond, she reminded them of their responsibility to try interventions before taking more extreme actions.
Read entire interview by Ray Watson, Shakira Paige, Sarah Harris and Keyna Franklin with the Bronx Defenders as published in Rise Magazine.
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