As far as I can tell, New Trier’s basic position is that, yes, the system is problematic and we are sympathetic to the concerns of parents. They handled yesterday very well:
Friendly — if not a bit nervous — he offered an application. She filled it out. Scanning a second sheet of enrollment requirements, she fumbled through her file and gave him everything she had. He diligently went away to make copies.
That same process was played out again, CPS student after student.
After some time in the heat, Gelissa had a seizure, and New Trier staff moved her to air-conditioned offices and called New Trier nurse Joan Liess.
Johnson and Liess hit it off, sharing conversation about Gelissa and the lack of needed services for her at CPS. Then Liess gave Johnson a tour of the special ed department.
Johnson observed teaching staff fully complemented by nurses and aides in well-equipped classrooms with low student-teacher ratios.
And as she wheeled Gelissa out, Johnson whispered: “Can you make this possible for my baby, Lord?”
That makes me really sad.