Legal question about a school holding a child back in first grade

[coley]

My parents adopted my seven year old nephew recently, he has been living with them the last several years. He is a very bright child and had a little trouble academically at the first of the year. He has now brought all his grades up to A's and B's except for reading, he still has a D in that due to the fact that he is not reading his reading assignment out load in the allotted time. He does a good job reading with little to no errors except for taking 10-15 seconds longer then the teacher thinks he should.

The teacher told my parents that he needs to be held back because she feels
That he is not ready because he is to slow. My parents explained the emotional problems and these recent adoption that he has gone through but still insist that that he should be held back. My parents told her they do not agree (so does his therapist) with holding him back in first grade. The teacher told them that they do not have a choice in it. My parents are calling their attorney on Monday and having another meeting with the school about it.

Question is can the state of Oklahoma legally hold a child back without parents consent??

There is a history with the school and my parents before over some legal issues.

[talisman]

10 seconds on a reading assignment means a kid has to be held back a grade? Has to be more to it than that.

[Sean88gt]

Getting a D in reading in Oklahoma is like absolute illiteracy.

[juiceweezl]

My parents adopted my seven year old nephew recently, he has been living with them the last several years. He is a very bright child and had a little trouble academically at the first of the year. He has now brought all his grades up to A's and B's except for reading, he still has a D in that due to the fact that he is not reading his reading assignment out load in the allotted time. He does a good job reading with little to no errors except for taking 10-15 seconds longer then the teacher thinks he should.

The teacher told my parents that he needs to be held back because she feels
That he is not ready because he is to slow. My parents explained the emotional problems and these recent adoption that he has gone through but still insist that that he should be held back. My parents told her they do not agree (so does his therapist) with holding him back in first grade. The teacher told them that they do not have a choice in it. My parents are calling their attorney on Monday and having another meeting with the school about it.

Question is can the state of Oklahoma legally hold a child back without parents consent??

There is a history with the school and my parents before over some legal issues.

If a child is having noticeable trouble like that with reading assignments, there's usually more to it than that. There should already be documentation by the teacher and work done with a counselor or a dyslexia specialist, even to the point of contacting the parents about testing for dyslexia or similar conditions. Holding a child back for struggling to read out loud is complete BS, and I don't see where they have and ground to stand on with that.

Still, I'm with Tali on this one -- there has to be more to the story...If not, then the school is out of their mind.

[BradM]

When was a kid I fucking hated reading out loud. Unless it was someone else's turn, cause then I didn't have to read at all.

[Geor!]

Getting a D in reading in Oklahoma is like absolute illiteracy.

Even though I feel bad about it, I laughed.

[Randy]

Even though I feel bad about it, I laughed.

X2, except for the feel bad part.

[Treasure Chest]

1st of all, this is coming from the teacher, not the school.
2nd. If the school and your parents have past issues, I highly doubt they would hold him back out of spite. Quite the opposite, they'd be more likely to pass him just do they don't have to deal with your parents for another year.
3rd, with the whole no child left behind bullshit, it's almost impossible to get a child held back at parent request. I wanted my oldest held back in kindergarten because he was young and socially challenged (he was diagnosed with high functioning autism a year and a half later), but the school would have none of it.

It's probably not as much a matter of reading 10-15 seconds later than the teacher thinks he should, he's probably significantly below the allowable AR reading levels for his grade. Combine that with emotional issues and social problems, and they may have valid reasons for holding him back.

Could it be that your parent's reluctance is tied to the fact that they had past legal issues and they're not willing to accept anything they would consider to be criticism of their grandchild?

[Taylor]

Getting a D in reading in Oklahoma is like absolute illiteracy.

I would have to agree

[Sean88gt]

Even though I feel bad about it, I laughed.

Don't feel bad, the world needs hose operators to clean out the pig shit troughs.

[Leah]

1st of all, this is coming from the teacher, not the school.
2nd. If the school and your parents have past issues, I highly doubt they would hold him back out of spite. Quite the opposite, they'd be more likely to pass him just do they don't have to deal with your parents for another year.
3rd, with the whole no child left behind bullshit, it's almost impossible to get a child held back at parent request. I wanted my oldest held back in kindergarten because he was young and socially challenged (he was diagnosed with high functioning autism a year and a half later), but the school would have none of it.

It's probably not as much a matter of reading 10-15 seconds later than the teacher thinks he should, he's probably significantly below the allowable AR reading levels for his grade. Combine that with emotional issues and social problems, and they may have valid reasons for holding him back.

Could it be that your parent's reluctance is tied to the fact that they had past legal issues and they're not willing to accept anything they would consider to be criticism of their grandchild?

EXCELLENT post.

[coley]

I admit he had trouble at the beginning of the school year but with the help of two tutors he has came along way this semester. The school has NOT sent him to a counselor or tested him for any learning disabilities. The guidence counselor has never had a one on one meeting with him or my parents. My nephew you hasn't had any disciplinary actions towards him at all.

Dispit all the progress that he has made his teacher still thinks he needs to be held back. Oh and other elementary schools do not time first graders on how fast they can read.

We really want to know if anyone has dealt with anything similar to this and if the school can legally hold him back?

[Leah]

I admit he had trouble at the beginning of the school year but with the help of two tutors he has came along way this semester. The school has NOT sent him to a counselor or tested him for any learning disabilities. The guidence counselor has never had a one on one meeting with him or my parents. My nephew you hasn't had any disciplinary actions towards him at all.

Dispit all the progress that he has made his teacher still thinks he needs to be held back. Oh and other elementary schools do not time first graders on how fast they can read.

We really want to know if anyone has dealt with anything similar to this and if the school can legally hold him back?

I don't know the laws in OK. It is going to vary from state to state so talking with their attorney is going to be your best bet.

It is necessary to understand that if he is having that much difficulty and moves on, he may have a hard time for the rest of his school career. Once they get a little behind, it's very difficult for them to catch up.

Have you seen any characteristics of Dyslexia or any other learning disability?

[Snatch Napkin]

Enroll him in Sylvan or something similar for the Summer. It will give him a chance to catch up and be productive in the next grade, if he gets to graduate.

I'm ASSuming he had a rough time with his biological parents, which would have seriously curbed his learning skills for now. However, there's still quite a bit of hope if he was able to progress very well in one school year.

[coley]

He is already signed up for summer tutoring