always an advocate

Yesterday, Thursday, I called the Child Study Team at H's school because we had yet to hear from the bus company regarding his transportation for the upcoming school year... which by the way begins on Tuesday.

The head of the CST (the outsourced CST, due to budget cuts), proceeds to inform me that we have a new case manager now. She gave me the name of this person, I asked how to spell it, and if we were going to be contacted with more information. She assured me I'd be getting a letter.

So I'll just wait for that letter to arrive, and in the meantime not have any expectations about anyone making a decision about anything. Oh, and thank goodness his transportation was unresolved so I had to call, thus allowing them a convenient opportunity to tell me about the new case manager at the same time.

Then she offered to call the Transportation Coordinator herself-- more good news! We had almost two days to figure this out. I was being silly, I had nothing to worry about.

Until she ended the conversation with, "I'll give you the name and number of the bus company in case you don't hear back. You can call them tomorrow."

Hayden has been going to that school for three years and I already knew the name of the bus company, but got my pen ready anyway. 

Then she said, "It's Stalker and the number is--"

My brain shut off. I'm sorry, my son is being dropped off by a stalker?

"Can you spell that for me, please?" I asked. Hesitating.

She told me she was not sure how to spell it, but repeated the name. It was then that I heard the "aah" sound, as opposed to the "aaw" sound. Stocker! Got it.

Never heard of them.

Needless-to-say I never heard FROM them, either. So here it was, Friday, and still no call back. By 11-ish I picked up the phone again to re-trace my investigation.

I don't even have the patience to outline what happened next, and truthfully I lost count of the phone calls, but nearly FOUR hours later this was the outcome:
The co-op never called the Transportation Coordinator to let them know that, in fact, Stocker could not accommodate the route.

O.K. So, it's Friday afternoon before a 3-day Holiday weekend, and then school starts, and I don't know how my son is getting home on Tuesday.

More waiting for a call-back. 2:51PM my cell phone rings (by the way, they tried calling the house first after I spent the last two days giving my cell phone number to every single soul I spoke to).

It was the Transportation Coordinator, and she proceeded to tell me that Hayden would be picked up by First Student (great!) at 8:20-something in the morning (not great).

"He takes the bus home," I said. "It's in his IEP... that hasn't changed in three years. I always drop him off in the morning so he only needs the transportation from school. That may change one year, but for now everything is the same as it has always been."

"Oh, so he only needs the route home? OK."

"Am I to assume if they've straightened out morning transportation, that the afternoon is automatically fine?"

"I would think so." 


"Can you please call me back this afternoon to confirm?" 


At 3:15PM my cell phone rang again.

He will be dropped off at 3:30 by Jeff. "He's a really nice guy," she says.

"I know," I answered. "He was the previous driver," (which, uh, she should have known), "and he's great. And truthfully if I was able to pick someone myself I'd choose him."

"Oh, that's great!" she exclaimed, cheerfully. "Then something good came out of this!"

I don't agree that if someone had been on-the-ball in the first place, this would somehow translate to Hayden having a different driver?

NO. The only good that came out of this... Hayden's tense mother proactively solved what would have been, a disaster. Finally my ability to worry paid off!

Maybe I should send a letter, myself. To the co-op, and thank them for this much-needed surprise stress for the last two days. Happy Labor Day! 

I need a glass of wine.