Dear Cyndy,

Thank you for letting me see the draft of Victoria's
presentation to the School Board. I find it a very
adequate expression of Victoria's concerns which in
its present form might well be optimally persuasive
to the School Board. At this late date, I wouldn't
advise advocating any major changes. The members of 
the Board, after all, will represent a cross section
of the community and as such they are unlikely to attach
much importance to succinctness or brevity. On the contrary,
length and impassioned delivery might well tend to be
persuasive. I would prepare and submit to the Board
in advance a text of what I proposed to say; then,
without embarrassement, I would put on the presiding
officer if he became impatient, the onus of stopping me 
before I had said it all.

I'm very hesitant to write anything that might be construed 
as "advice". I don't know Sam, I don't know Victoria, I
have no intimation of the policies or prejudices of the
school board. My most immediate concern is for Sam himself,
who must be aware of and will be affected by a controversy
of which he is the focus, no matter how it is resolved. It
seems to me important that Sam be protected to the greatest
extent possible from the fallout, if any, of the contemplated
proceedings.

My second concern is for Victoria. There's no problem if she
persuades the school board, but if she fails, I would want 
her to be in the best possible position for the sequel,
whatever it might be. It seems to me very important to treat
the controversy as a matter-of-fact business issue, and
to avoid, at all costs, offending or being offended; to try
to understand the concerns and to anticipate the reactions
of the Board. I assume that the Board is not hostile, and
has no agenda except to save money. So here's how I would
proceed: (I said I wouldn't give advice, and literally, I'm
not. I'm simply explaining what I would do in this situation.)

1) I would start out by asking the Board for concessions which
don't cost them anything: specifically some direct communication
between parents and teachers about Sam's homework assignments.
E-mail messages seem like a good idea. Such arrangements might
be even smoother if they could be worked out ad hoc with individual
teachers rather than imposed by School Board fiat.

2) I would attempt to secure for Sam some "affirmative action"
type of adjustment with respect to in-class assignments for which
his disability is a significant handicap. If I understand 
correctly, there is a spectrum of possibilities: outright
exemption from certain kinds of assignments; systematic
modification of certain kinds of assignments; or affirmative
action type grade subsidies, such as systematic grade inflation
by one or more degrees, i.e. from a D to a C or a B-.
At the same time, I don't think at Sam's age and at his grade
level, it's an important issue. So long as Sam is regularly
promoted, poor grades at this stage are the teacher's problem
as much as the student's. When Sam overcomes his handicap,
as we hope he will, in tenth grade, the marks he received
in fourth or fifth grade won't matter.

3) I would seriously consider NOT asking the School Board to
pay for a special coach. My do-it-yourself bias persuades me
to try to learn what the coach would in fact do for the student
and then to try to provide Sam with the required remedial work
myself. If family circumstances do not permit this, I would
identify and hire such a coach and pay with my own funds, just
as I would expect to pay, for example, for private school or for
music lessons. Finally, there are some circumstances where 
I might offer to reimburse the school in part or in whole
for the cost of the coaching that Sam needs.

=============================

If my interpretation of the situation is correct, it's not
wise or worthwhile to make of this problem a legal issue, -
unless, as seems unlikely, Victoria, like myself derived
satisfaction from the legal process, and that for her,
as for any lawyer, win or lose, litigation would be an end
in itself.

There probably isn't time, unless the mediation hearing were
postponed, or unless there were occasion for a second hearing
at a later date. For a legally compelling presentation, one
needs, to be filed prior to the hearing:
a) citations of specific statutes and or regulations, 
b) citations of legal precedents - reported cases,
c) written opinions regarding diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis
with and without treatment from "experts" who would be willing
and able to offer persuasive testimony at any hearing or trial.
This facet of preparation for litigation would probably be
prohibitively expensive. If one were willing to risk losing the
case, one might forgo expert testimony with the expectation of
prevailing in consequence of the defendant's procedural errors.
But such errors would, if at all possible, be forgiven by the
Court, inasmuch as the Court will be strongly biased in favor
of the School Board.  Under no circumstances would I hire a
lawyer.

P.S. Be generous, and allow "accommodation" a second "m".

I hope this helps and doesn't disconcert.

Jochen