Tri-County School in Danger of Closing

I recently received an e-mail from a mother of a child with special needs that attends the same school that Savannah does...and the board is thinking of closing the school...this is a facility that specializes in the needs of our kids...we need to fight to keep it open and need as much support as we can get...apparently they are having a meeting on December 12th to begin the decision process.

I have already tried to contact the media..but the more support we have the better.

Here is the copy of the e-mail the parent send out to all the kids parents:

Hi Tri County Parents,

My name is Meredith Serpas, my daughter Olivia is a student at Tri County. I am sending you some disturbing news regarding our school. This past month Tri County received a financial review from the Superintendents of the eight school districts. Led by Dr. Barbara Underwood from Carmel, a push is being made to close the school. You read that correctly. THEY WANT TO CLOSE THE SCHOOL.

They have done all of this as quietly as they can and hope to have a meeting December 12th to decide. All this without informing the community or parents. Afterall to them, it is basically only effecting 40 plus students. I believe it is much more than that.

To save money, they want to mainstream the children to their local school districts. The cost of running Tri County is shared between three counties(Hamilton, Boone & Madison), within those counties, there are eight school districts. Tri County school handles those children who have been classified as severe or profound. It is my belief that within the spectrum of children classified as "special needs" there is a group that will not benefit from mainstreaming. The typical special needs classroom in a mainstream setting is not prepared nor equipped to handle these children. Children at this level are not learning colors and numbers they are learning "life skills". Their parents want them to communicate, feed themselves, walk . The school districts are trying to save money at the expense of what is in the best interest of the kids. They will simply Warehouse our children to save a buck. As a parent of a child in this "special category" I am appalled at how this is being handled. I am disgusted that in this age we have a group of pencil pushers who simply care about the bottom line. What will happen when you take this group and place them, some will be declared too disruptive and will have to final alternative choices. For many parents they will simply keep their kids home, isolating them and keeping them from reaching their potential.

We are the voice for our children. I am but one mom, but together we can be heard. Please contact your local Superintendent. Call the Govenor, Congressman and Senators. What they want to have happen is that they hold a meeting, make a decision and simply let us know. We do not have a lot of time. If you have any ideas let me know. I am currently trying to reach (over the holiday) and attorney for disability issues.

Meredith Serpas