Busy times

Today was one of those long days that when it ends you wonder what was accomplished. I was called to sit in on a mediation between a student's family and the school district.  I was in the original IEP meeting that led to this meeting. Alot of it could have been taken care of at the IEP meeting, perhaps through setting up another meeting.  It boils down to the question of trust between the school district and the family.  The school has had a new principal and sped teacher every year for the past 4 years.  It is hard to trust a staff that is constantly changing even when it is beyond their control.  I get that...but at the same time, how does one build the bridge between the parent and the school?  The parent needed reassured that her child would be taken care of in a safe and respectful way. I had hoped that was evident at the IEP meeting.  Today was a rehash of the IEP meeting with a couple of twists such as a bus rescheduled so the child did not have to get up so early which should have been something doable before and should not have taken a mediation to settle it.  At any rate, things did get settled and the child will be back in school next week until the next blow up.  While I believe every child deserves to be treated with dignity and we need to focus on a child's needs, I sometimes wonder if adult egos get in the way.  This child has now missed over a month of school because his parents did not feel that they were heard.  At the same time, nothing was really changed today.  Because of my being in the meeting all day, 10 of my students did not get services today.  The child that we met on still has to go through the transition of having to learn to deal with all new staff and will have to now play catch up.  No one won in this situation as far as I can see yet there were several losers some who may not realize they lost. 

Tomorrow will be another busy day filled with not enough time and to many needs to be met. I do love my job in education but often feel that due to budget cuts and time constraints I am some how missing the boat. I want to give my students more, but because I cover 5 schools I am never in one school long enough to watch my students as they maneuver around their world.  Talking with teachers is done on the run and I am often not there when my students have blow outs.  Tomorrow I will see 15 kids and do two more IEP meetings which I have not prepared for.  How can we effectively meet the needs of our students when we are stretched beyond our capacities?