A few people have asked me for more information regarding the accessibility at G's school. I'll try to sum it up here.

First of all, when I first met the principal (Mr Powell) a few years ago, I asked him if there was an elevator. When he said there wasn't, I asked how I would get to the second floor. He said, "Oh, I dunno, we'll put you on a forklift and put you through the window, or something".

When G was in 1st grade, I was a very active member of the parent run art program (and still am). The art class was located in the portable outside of the main building, which had about 3 steps to get in. I asked him if we could get a ramp and he said sure, but he drug his feet and drug his feet. Finally, I told him that one of the other parents, Shanta, was just going to bump me up and down the stairs. He freaked out and said we couldn't do that because he was afraid that Shanta would hurt her back. I basically said, "well, too bad, you've had plenty of time to get a ramp here and I, as well as the woman in charge of the art program, have reminded you numerous times". He said, "Well, okay, but as far as I'm concerned, I have no idea how you are getting in and out." A year later, the ramp was built. Edited to add that he told me I should park on the blacktop behind the building where no one is supposed to park because kids walk there. I told him I wasn't comfortable with that. Duh.

Parking became a problem for me when G was in 2nd grade because they changed some things during the summer between 1st and 2nd grade. I asked Mr Powell if we could get a disabled parking spot and he said sure. Once again he drug his feet and drug his feet. I reminded him numerous times and each time he apologized and said he forgot. One day, I was getting out of my car and I got stuck in the mud and almost fell out of my chair. A parent happen to be walking by and they helped me and then later told Mr. Powell about it. It wasn't until a parent complained and he realized that I could have been injured that he called someone about getting a sign.

Last fall I asked him what we were going to do about G's classroom being on the 2nd floor the next year. Since there isn't money for an elevator, we decided that the only thing to do would be to move her classroom to the main level. He continued to gripe and complain about it, as if moving a classroom to the main level was a huge ordeal. Then, about a month before school ended last spring, he decided to check to make sure he legally had to move the classroom for me. Jerk. How about just doing the right thing instead of doing what he has to do?

Now this year, 4 days after school started, he decided to lock all of the doors until the bell rang at 8:00. For the past many, many years, the doors were left unlocked since about 6:30, and people slowly trickled in between 7:45 and 8:00. So now that the doors were locked, everyone came in at once and since the only wheelchair accessible entrance to the building is at the back of the school, I had to go in and fight everyone going in the opposite direction. This is especially hard considering I'm dealing with a bunch of elementary kids who don't look where they are going. I told Mr Powell that this wasn't working for me and his solution was that when I got to school, I needed to call the secretary on my cell phone and then the secretary would call the teacher in the classroom closest to the wheelchair accessible door, and then that teacher would come open the door for me a few minutes before 8:00. I thought that was a pretty crappy deal, but I went with it. It didn't work. That teacher was often not in her classroom. I told Mr Powell that his brilliant idea wasn't working (I didn't say "brilliant" to him). After much discussion, he decided that the janitor would unlock the door at 7:55 and if I was there, I could get in. However, if I wasn't there waiting at exactly 7:55, the door would remain locked until 8:00. At this point, I had enough, and I started corresponding with him via email so that I had it all on paper. I told him that this needed to be resolved by the next morning and if it wasn't, I was going to have to involve his supervisor. Next morning, the door was unlocked and I haven't had any problems since.

None of these things should have been an issue to begin with, and he made a huge issue out of each and every one. And it's not like I'm asking a lot. If I had it my way, there would be wheelchair acessible access to the front door, so that I could go in just like everyone else. There would be an elevator so that I could get to the 2nd floor, just like everyone else. I know this world wasn't built for those of us in wheelchairs, but geez, in all of the above issues, it didn't take much at all to make me happy.

I don't know a single parent who thinks this guy is doing his job. Oh, and guess how much he makes? $125,000 yearly! A group of us have discussed getting him moved or fired of whatever it is they do with with the doofuses.

(It isn't fair of me to call him a jerk, because he's actually nice. He's just clueless.)