My son’s junior high school in Illinois is planning to take him out of PE four days a week for RTI services. He’d only have PE one day a week, even though Illinois law says it should be at least three days. The school claims his i-Ready diagnostic scores were low last year, but he made straight A’s on his report card. They want him in small group sessions for reading and math to improve those scores, but I never gave my consent. They also said he has to ‘test out’ of RTI to get back into PE. I suggested alternatives like hiring a personal tutor, but they refused. I work in the district, so I want to handle this peacefully. Do I have any legal standing here? Can they do this without my approval?
Wow, that sounds really frustrating. I thought PE was mandatory? Like, aren’t they required to follow state laws about it?
Ari said:
Wow, that sounds really frustrating. I thought PE was mandatory? Like, aren’t they required to follow state laws about it?
Exactly, Illinois law says PE should be three days a week minimum. IDK how they can just override that.
Ari said:
Wow, that sounds really frustrating. I thought PE was mandatory? Like, aren’t they required to follow state laws about it?
PE is mandatory, but schools sometimes try to justify changes for RTI. You should push back on this.
Have they given you any formal paperwork about this? Like an IEP or something?
Rohan said:
Have they given you any formal paperwork about this? Like an IEP or something?
Nope, he doesn’t have an IEP. They didn’t give me any documents, just said he needs to raise his scores.
Rohan said:
Have they given you any formal paperwork about this? Like an IEP or something?
Wait, if there’s no IEP, can they even legally do this? Sounds fishy to me.
I think it’s messed up that they’re not offering other options. You said you suggested tutoring, right?
Quincy said:
I think it’s messed up that they’re not offering other options. You said you suggested tutoring, right?
Yeah, I said I’d get him extra help outside of school, but they basically said no.
Quincy said:
I think it’s messed up that they’re not offering other options. You said you suggested tutoring, right?
That’s ridiculous. If you’re offering a solution, they should at least consider it. Smh.
Not to be that person, but what’s RTI? I don’t really get why they’d pull him out of PE for it.
Willow said:
Not to be that person, but what’s RTI? I don’t really get why they’d pull him out of PE for it.
It’s Response to Intervention. They do small group sessions to work on skills where his i-Ready scores were low.
Willow said:
Not to be that person, but what’s RTI? I don’t really get why they’d pull him out of PE for it.
Ohh, thanks for explaining. Still seems unfair to take away his PE for that.
I’d suggest requesting a formal meeting to discuss this further. They shouldn’t ignore your consent.
Vance said:
I’d suggest requesting a formal meeting to discuss this further. They shouldn’t ignore your consent.
I already went in, but they said that’s the only time RTI is available. It feels like a dead end.
Vance said:
I’d suggest requesting a formal meeting to discuss this further. They shouldn’t ignore your consent.
Maybe mention the legal requirement for PE again? That might push them to find another solution.