Tri-County Education Center Needs Your Help!

Tri-County Education Center in Noblesville, IN is in danger of closing it's doors. This may be our last hope to save the school. Below is a letter from one of the parents on the current situation and the school districts response.



We have been nominated for Extreme Makeover Home Edition and were recently contacted and asked to complete an application and send in video. We mailed the application materials on 04/24 and sent extensive footage of the school asking Extreme Makeover to do what it can to help these children and possibly save our school.


Please take a moment & leave a message on the coporate line 323-785-2262 of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ask them to help Savannah Ropke, her mother Sheri Reece and the Tri-County Education Center of Indiana.

To learn more about Tri-County and how it serves the needs of these children CLICK HERE. Her school serves special needs children with a variety of therapies that improve their daily lives and goes far beyond the level of a regular school to address their needs. The school is in danger of losing funding and closing it's doors.

Over the winter I appeared on Channel 6 in Indy with other Mothers with students at TCEC.

Dear Ms. Reece,

Thank you for videotaping our Tri County Education Center building for the application to Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Unfortunately, it appears that our children’s school is in imminent danger of being closed within the next year or two.

I was present at the most recent meeting of the Governing Board for the Hamilton-Boone-Madison Special Services Cooperative on Friday, April 17, 2009. As you are aware, the Governing Board is composed of the Superintendents of the seven school districts that participate in the Co-op for special education services, which includes our school (TCEC). A plan for the use of the economic stimulus funds was proposed, which you have a copy of. Despite the fact that a complete, in-depth review of the state of our school facility and the recommended repairs was presented to the Governing Board a year ago, there is absolutely no mention of using stimulus fund money (the ARRA grants) for repairs and renovations of the Tri County Education Center in the proposal, despite the fact that new projects such as the needed repairs would qualify for those funds.

Even more alarming was the proposal to use the ARRA stimulus grants to fix up one building so that one other facility could be eliminated. Here I am quoting the proposal that was presented at the meeting: “Combining facilities and administrative staff: HBM currently maintains two facilities, HBMEC and TCEC. Long-range efficiency could be reduced by combining the facilities during the two year grant period. Successfully combining facilities is contingent upon a commitment to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of HBM programs and programs in local districts. Potential short-term cost: Small scale renovation costs of one of the facilities which could be funded through the ARRA funds or CPF.”

Since the all of the HBM administrative offices (as well as Mosaics School) are currently located at the HBMEC site, guess which one of the facilities would be closed? Certainly not the administrative office site at HBMEC, which the Governing Board, at this very same meeting, just approved a $30,000 technology upgrade for so that there would be wireless internet access at their building!!!!!

Unfortunately, there is not enough room at the HBMEC site for all of the offices that are currently at TCEC, as well as the 5 classrooms, home living center, sensory room, and gymnasium (and of course, there is no pool or playground there, either). I fear that our school is in imminent danger of closure without any workable plans to relocate it.

In addition to these other issues that I have listed is the fact that the Noblesville School District recently lost their referendum for funds for new building projects. They need more school space and have no funds to build with. I know that the Noblesville Schools Superintendent is requesting the use of space in our TCEC school building for at least two Early Childhood classrooms. The previously open discussions about reimbursements for classroom space and nursing staff suddenly went “under the table” at the meeting this past Friday, with the Noblesville Superintendent and the Co-op Administrator agreeing to discuss the issue of use of space at TCEC at a private meeting. I am very disturbed by that, since these are all public facilities that are being discussed and should not be decided upon at a private meeting without public accountability. I have a very strong suspicion that Noblesville Schools wants to purchase our TCEC building for their own use, and need to do so as quickly as possible.

During a phone conversation on Friday, the Co-op administrator told me that there were no plans to relocate the school to the HBMEC site. He said that he could not comment on any plans regarding the TCEC school until after the Program Review is completed. However, his proposal recommends “expanding options for students with severe disabilities in local districts”. Since we are already aware that the special education literature supports the placement of disabled children in community schools with their non-disabled peers, I suspect that the Program Review will support disbanding the TCEC altogether and placing our students into various existing community schools. However, due to the fact that ours is not the only Special Education facility in existence for children with severe disabilities, and it was obviously a good idea for this school to exist in the first place, I have to question the wisdom of not having an alternative to community placement for children who are medically fragile, or (as is the case with many of the children at TCEC) are not adequately served by their community placement in the first place.

I really wish that I had better news about the fate of our children’s school. If the Governing Board votes to close TCEC, which they appear to be taking active steps toward, then our children will very likely not have a school at all. Renovation and expansion of the HBMEC site, which previously was a school building before housing the administrative offices, may be our only chance to preserve the very special, and very effective, educational experience that our children currently benefit from at TCEC. However, with the current climate of budget cuts in all seven of the co-op’s school districts, I suspect that this will not happen, since the Superintendents all seem to be very resistant to using the stimulus fund grants for anything other than trying to ease the shortfalls in their own districts’ general funds budgets. I fear that if they are left to their own devices, the Superintendents will only pay attention to financial considerations and take the least expensive option, which is putting our disabled children into existing community classrooms. But even that is a poor option, considering the fact that our communities have seen a huge influx of new residents and the existing schools are currently unable to keep up with their own expanding populations and will not be able to adequately house these additional special education classrooms to serve our severely disabled students.

Thank you again for your work on the application to Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Maybe there is some way that they can help us to keep from losing our children’s school. Good luck, and thanks for trying to preserve the quality of the education that our very special children receive.

Sincerely,

Theresa Treep, MD, FAAP
President, TCEC Parent Teacher Association

Please contact Extreme Makeover Home Edition and tell them that TCEC needs their help.

We've been nominated to Extreme Makeover Home Edition!

Back in July we were nominated for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Below is the letter that was submitted on our behalf.

Please wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.

Hello Extreme Makeover Home Edition,

My name is April Sjoholm and I would like to nominate Sheri Reece and her family who truly deserve an Extreme Makeover. Before I go into detail, I would hope you would take into account Savannah 's story and all the trials this little girl and her family have had to endure and will continue to endure as they battle together this lifelong disability. Their home may not look like it is ready to fall down on its own, but it is in desperate need of a makeover since it does not even come close to meeting Savannah's needs.

Savannah's Story

Sheri Reece is a single mother of 5 children. Over 4 years ago, she was involved in a life threatening car accident. The individual responsible was air borne in his vehicle when it struck her driver's side door. Sheri was life lined to the nearest level one trauma hospital with multiple injuries fighting not only for her life, but the life of her unborn child. Sheri did carry her pregnancy to term, however being a nurse herself she looked for possible complications due to the high level of trauma and near death experience. Four months after Savannah was born, she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. She is unable to sit, stand, walk, dress or even feed herself.

Sheri is not only struggling with the day to day battles of being a single mother of 5, but she also faces the challenge of providing the best possible care for Savannah . She struggles financially for several reasons according to Indiana Law, insurance companies are only obligated to offer policy limits (whatever is purchased by the policy holder). Policy limits do not even come close to covering Savannah 's life-long disability. Throughout her quest to find proper care, single parent of 5 and juggle work, Savannah 's health began to deteriorate and she lost a significant amount of weight.

Sheri was forced to quit job as a registered nurse because she could not find qualified care for Savannah . Private insurance companies do not cover home care and no facilities offer care for special needs children, so she had to quite her job to provide the proper care for Savannah not to mention transporting her to 3-5 medical appointments a week. Now Sheri has no health insurance for herself because she can not secure employment.

Before this tragic accident that has left Sheri and her family devastated and at risk of losing everything, she built a home and provided the best possible care for her family. They moved into a 2-story home in Noblesville. Now this home once a foundation for love and nurturing has become a challenge and an obstacle.

Savannah's disability will last a lifetime, but the struggle this family is facing right now does not have to be. With the help of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, this family can learn to enjoy life more and worry less about some of the obstacles they are currently facing with their home. By building a home for this family, you can not only change their lives forever, but be an inspiration to the entire community.

Description of the major challenges within the home:
Savannah was just an infant at the time Sheri bought her home. It was difficult to determine at that time what challenges lied ahead as she had not enter her developmental phases of life yet. As she started entering these developmental milestones, Sheri discovered her physical challenges and have been trying ever since to help her overcome them. Some things are in God's hands. As Savannah grew it was apparent that her physical challenges would make her severely dependent on others for all aspects of her care. Physicians have indicated to Sheri that she will most likely never walk independently. She is unable to bear weight independently either. She is reliant on adaptive devices and individuals around her to function. The adaptive devices have been very difficult to obtain, not to mention the obstacles that we must overcome in the home.

All bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the second level of the home. Thus, carrying Savannah up and down stairs several times a day. As she grows this becomes more and more difficult. Bathing has also become somewhat of an obstacle. She is a total lift.. Bending over to place her into the bathtub has proven to be a challenge. The first floor of the home does not allow enough space for a bedroom and bath for Savannah , unless an addition is built onto the home. Sheri has looked into this and realized she is unable to afford it. She is also unable to find a program that will assist with funding to make this happen. Savannah utilizes a gait trainer (walker) in attempt to ambulate. She does require assistance with this.

Sheri is diligently trying to get her to initiate steps on her own. She is able to make the motions but requires someone to push the walker in order for her to take a step. Hopefully someday she will be able to perform this on her own. Carpeting on the first level and the enclosed areas impede this goal to some degree. It is much easier for her to use the walker on solid ground. She has also looked into solid flooring for the first level and , again, simply can not afford it. Savannah is practicing potty training at school but Sheri does not have the proper accessible toilet to practice at home. It will be difficult to master this without the proper equipment and, again, have been unable to obtain.

When Savannah is cradled through the hallways and stair well, at times, her little feet bump into the walls because there is not enough room this will continue to get worse as she continues to grow. The stair well is not conducive for a chair lift (this has also been looked into) and no room for an elevator...none the less the inability to absorb the expense.

Currently Savannah is in a chair that can be transported into a vehicle, however, the chair and Savannah have to be transferred together. This is also becoming difficult. This creates safety concerns for Sheri because she has almost dropped her a couple of times with transferring her not only in and out of a vehicle but indoors as well.

A NOTE FROM SHERI:
I have only been able to have the pleasure of watching one episode of Extreme Home Makeover and it was a true miracle. Our family doesn't need the "bells and whistles" We just humbly ask for accessibility for our precious Savannah in order to make her life as she grows as independent as possible so she won't have to struggle performing tasks that all of us do every day that we unfortunately take for granted. She didn't ask for this and deserves a fighting chance. We all have choices in life that can "make us or break us". Savannah will be limited in opportunities but I, as her mother, believe that with a little help from those that care and A LOT of love, all things are possible. Savannah and I came very close to losing our lives one tragic day. She may have ended up with challenges, but God put her here on this earth for a reason and I know I would not be the person I am today without her in my life. She, along with all my children, are a precious gift. Savannah truly deserves the opportunity to live life to its fullest even with her challenges. Thank you for taking the time to consider helping Savannah .....it is folks like you that give me a glimmer of hope that miracles still exist. If you are unable to help our family at this time, I understand, but would appreciate prayer for my beautiful Savannah , our family, and the families out there that face the same challenges.

Savannah's Story

Savannah's Story
I am currently working on providing readers of this site all the details of our journey from the date of the accident to present day..It is long, detailed and complicated. I should probably write a book.

In the meantime, while I am busy with this, please view the Channel 6 news story below. I struggled for over 9 months with private insurance companies trying to get Savannah the much needed medical equipment/adaptive devices required so she could sit, stand and potentially walk. The insurance company wanted to deny the equipment due to it not being "medically necessary" ...what a crazy world we live in!!!

THANKS TO CHANNEL 6 FOR THEIR HELP!! They made one phone call to the insurance company I had been battling for over 9 months and were able to get this equipment not only authorized, but delivered to our home within 2 weeks!! We will be forever indebted to them for making this happen for Savannah!