Jailbait Advocate Part 2

This survival story escalates what I shared in Jailbait Advocate Part 1. Had I not been a Jailbait Advocate, my son might have died on the playground because the new principal was not implementing his IEP (Individual Education Plan).

Dangers Of An Enlarged Spleen

If you read Muscular Dystrophy Association and Four Year Diagnostic Process, I discussed Hayes’ toe walking, progressive muscle weakness, poor balance, and frequent falling. He was small and thin, so it took little force to knock him over.

Muscular dystrophy combined with an enlarged spleen is a dangerous complication. Here is why:

• The spleen is located just under the rib cage on the left side. It plays a crucial role in filtering old blood cells and fighting infections.
• A ruptured spleen is a medical emergency. If untreated, a ruptured spleen can cause life-threatening bleeding into the abdominal cavity.
• If a child has an enlarged spleen, a forceful fall or blow to the stomach can lead to rupture.

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

An IEP is a formal, legal document that holds a public school district accountable for educating children who qualify for special education services in the least restrictive environment.

The IEP team reviews a child’s Individual Education Plan every year to ensure any changes go into effect at the beginning of the next school year. During Hayes’ annual medical checkup, but before his annual IEP review required for first grade, his pediatrician discovered that his spleen had enlarged.

The IEP Team Members

An IEP team consists of parents, the student as appropriate to represent themselves, teachers, advocates, District representatives, and other professionals like speech, physical, and occupational therapists, or other individuals with knowledge or expertise about the child.

When your child is in elementary school, I highly recommend you ask another to come with you and bring and keep a framed picture of your loved one in front of you during the meeting.

The photo reminds all team members that you are talking about a human being, not a burden, liability, diagnosis or ID Number.

First Grade Individual Education Plan

Two major things changed in my son’s IEP going from kindergarten to first grade. The first addressed keeping Hayes safe during recess due to his enlarged spleen.

Dr. Kulasinghe, Hayes’ pediatrician, and I discussed in detail how important it would be for the principal and all the staff at Eubank Elementary to have this new medical information.

During the IEP that would begin for first grade, I provided written information from his doctor about Hayes’ enlarged spleen. I spoke out about how important it was for all staff working during playground duty to know what to do if Hayes fell hard or a child ran into him.

My request seemed like a reasonable accommodation to protect Hayes’ life.

The second change requested that an educational assistant, also known as a paraprofessional, be assigned to his first grade classroom so my son could be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

That individual would be present to assist Hayes, the teacher, and other students in the classroom, with the goal of creating a positive and inclusive classroom environment.

I assumed the educational assistant would be present to stay close to Hayes during two fifteen-minute recess times as part of their employment with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS).

The Bureaucratic Oath Of No Accountability

According to Britannica, “Bureaucracy and bureaucrats convey images of red tape, excessive rules and regulations, unimaginativeness, a lack of individual discretion, central control, and an absence of accountability.

Far from being conceived as proficient, popular contemporary portrayals often paint bureaucracies and bureaucrats as inefficient and lacking in adaptability. They also contain the possibilities of organizational dysfunction.”

Principal Evil Spirit

I never knew the anger of discrimination until my son was treated differently in the APS public school system because of his lifelong disability. I never dreamed Charles Kaplan, the new principal at Eubank Elementary, would be so evil and keep getting away with it.

Jailbait Advocate At Your Service

Charles Kaplan did not know I was on the board of the PTSO (Parent Teacher Student Organization) as the Safety Officer at Eubank Elementary. I volunteered for that position when Hayes was in kindergarten and still held it when he was assigned to be Principal.

He was also unaware that I wanted to be an attorney and was a legal assistant.

Hayes and I walked to his school every morning, and I waited with him on the playground until the bell rang and all the children scattered to their classes. You can only imagine the experiences I witnessed.

A troubled kid often ran full speed towards Hayes and then swerved to miss hitting him at the last minute. (I’ll tell you more about that young student in a future post).

It concerned me that the staff assigned to recess duty never wore reflective safety vests. How were children supposed to find help on the playground among the hundreds of kids?

Also, Eubank’s playground area, being on a main drag, provided drive-in opportunities for anyone to park their car, take a child, and quickly escape in minutes.

I promised myself I would be the voice for the children at Eubank and their families, no matter what Principal Evil tried to get away with.

Hallway Guardians

Beginning in first grade, as I walked through the hallways, before or after school, it did not take long before a caring teacher who knew the truth about Charles Kaplan and my son’s IEP not being implemented motioned for me to come into the classroom.

One of the staff courageously told me that instead of Kaplan using the educational assistant for recess times, he put a small piece of paper in a person’s mailbox that morning to let them know they were to closely watch Hayes on the playground.

Here’s the deal: Not every school employee or teacher is provided with a copy of a child’s written IEP. So how would every staff member assigned to playground duty know that if Hayes fell hard or took a hit to his spleen it could rupture? A rupture could become life-threatening!

The next day, for the morning and afternoon recesses, I walked to the business parking lots above and east of the school. I had a secluded view of the playground. The hallway guardian was spot on. No adults were near Hayes during either recess.

Have you ever been so angry you cannot breathe? For a principal to not even care that a five-year-old with muscular dystrophy and enlarged spleen could die on his watch because it was inconvenient for him to do a weekly or monthly schedule. That is the way of evil.

I Knew Exactly What I Had To Do

I requested an emergency IEP meeting. I gave advance notice to the District that I would be taping the entire meeting.

Below are the doctor’s orders that I formally presented and requested be part of and attached to my son’s IEP.

“Dear Principal Charles Kaplan,

Due to Hayes Fuller’s diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy combined with the potentially serious complication of a recurring enlarged spleen (located on the left side below the rib cage), Hayes needs to have one-on-one supervision during the entire school day as detailed in his current IEP from the first day of school.

At all times during every recess the assigned staff member must remain within 10 feet of Hayes while Hayes plays, and be specifically and solely watching out for Hayes’ personal safety included but not limited to problems with roughhousing, kicking, pushing, and children running into him. Hayes must never be left unattended on the playground or during recess times.”

Signed Dr. Kulasinghe

Principal Evil invited me to discuss the new emergency IEP for Hayes with the entire staff after the doctor’s orders were written directly to him.

Eubank Entire Staff Meeting

Remember Mrs. Sena? She had a problem with an educational assistant being in her classroom and refused to register Hayes for first grade. Her reaction was: “That’s a burden on the staff.”

A few staff members commented at different times, “But Mrs. Fuller, we have 650 other children to take care of.”

Quite a few of the teachers had questions about muscular dystrophy and wanted to know more about Hayes’ diagnosis and how his condition impacted his mobility and ability to learn. I appreciated their interest in learning more about my son’s life condition.

My Response To The Staff

I told the staff I wanted to work in partnership regarding concerns about my son’s school day or IEP. I did not intend to make their jobs harder, but I did expect my son’s and my rights as his parent to be honored.

Also, I mentioned I was on the PTSO board as the Safety Officer and helped with the fundraising events for Eubank.

(I wished I did not have to include written safety instructions from Hayes’ pediatrician in his IEP. That became a huge liability issue for APS and put us in an adversarial position).

Kaplan left me no other choice. He did not know what a Mama Bear could do when her cub’s life was in danger. If you have been reading my previous stories, you know I write with a bit of sass at times.

This visual captured how I felt inside and was created by artificial intelligence, Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer!

What would you do if a principal failed to implement your child’s IEP that also put your child’s life in danger? How would you feel if your child was discriminated against and called a “burden” or “liability”?

In the next survival story in this series, I will show you how harmful and hurtful, and how far above the law Charles Kaplan thought he was to my family and many other families in the APS system.

Being an empath, I feel evil when I stand next to it and look into its eyes. Like I said, I was willing to go to jail for my son, and it almost happened.

Tough Cookie Tip: I believe Charles Kaplan’s plan to show the staff I was a “difficult parent who is never happy” failed that day. He wanted me and Hayes gone. I was mindful to use only positive and truthful statements instead of giving in to my emotions and being combative. As a parent, it is hard to do.

The good news is that I made more friends than enemies during the entire staff meeting.

If you think about it, teachers are the advocates for children during the school day. Advocates like caring parents and teachers want what is best for every child; bureaucrats want what is easy and best for their careers.

Resources

Being able to read is the key to being successful in school and all through life. Reading Rockets is made possible with generous support from the National Education Association (NEA). It is an excellent resource for teaching children how to read and enjoy reading, but there is also helpful information about the Individual Education Program (IEP) process and the IEP team members. I highly encourage you to check out this wonderful organization https://www.readingrockets.org

Copyright © 2022-2025 Marilyn K Fuller. All Rights Reserved.

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