South Elgin mom fighting U-46 for son's health, schooling

A South Elgin mom may have lost a battle to get her son help with technology assistance and extra nursing care in school, but she's vowed to keep fighting.

Kim Stover learned recently that a hearing officer denied her request to alter her son Andrew's Individualized Education Plan to provide the 8-year-old with additional help through the school day.

"I am disappointed, but if I had to do it all over again, I would," said Stover, who represented her son's interests at last month's hearing. "I want to move forward, not back, making sure (Andrew) has a positive experience for next year."

Stover was asking Elgin Area School District U-46 to provide Andrew with an assistive technology device, a laptop with a special program to help him with his assignments and better keep up with other students.

"He's going to be in third grade next year," Stover said. "They're going to start writing more papers. He's starting to doubt what he can do. He needs that support."

The Stovers also asked that the district staff Andrew's school, Clinton Elementary in South Elgin, with a full-time nurse.

Andrew suffers from mitochondrial disease, a progressive fatigue inducing condition. He often got tired and frustrated trying to keep up with classroom writing assignments this past year, his mom said.

Andrew, who is fed through a tube, doesn't eat at school, but often encounters problems when that tube is bumped or jostled.

Although a full-time nurse is scheduled to be at Clinton next year, Stover feared that budget cuts could change that unless it was mandated through Andrew's plan.

"I am not pretending to be a lawyer," she said. "I'm a mom. I did the research, and I know my child."

Stover made her arguments during a due process hearing, an appeal process for parents of special education students to resolve issues with school districts about their child's Individualized Education Plan.

Taking an issue all the way through to the hearing level is relatively rare. According to the State Board of Education's most recent data, there were 449 requests for due process hearings in 2004, but only 54 decisions made. Most cases were either settled or withdrawn.

The Stovers' hearing was the only one in U-46 this year, district spokesman Tony Sanders said.

School district lawyer Patricia Whitten argued before hearing officer Michael Risen that Clinton's special education team had evaluated Andrew's needs and did not feel that he needed an assistive technology device at this stage.

Instead, she said, the team believed simpler solutions - using a lighter pencil and giving Andrew shorter writing assignments than his peers - would help him stay on task.

Additionally, Whitten said, the district believed it should not have to write full-time nursing services into Andrew's plan, since a nurse was already on staff at the school.

In a written ruling, Risen sided with the district.

Citing student privacy laws, U-46 officials declined to comment on the case.