INCLUSION DAILY EXPRESS -- Deanna Lesneski "Flag Pole Mom"

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"Flag Pole Mom"
Deanna Lesneski Protests For Weeks To Get Appropriate Education For Son

2000
August 30: Mom Straps Herself To Flag Pole In Protest
August 31: Lesneski Gets Outside Support For Her Protest
September 1: Mom Unlikely To End Flag Pole Vigil Soon
September 5: Mom Leaves Flag Pole
September 6: Mom Back at Flag Pole
September 7: Parents Object To Lesneski's Flag Pole Protest
September 8: Mom's Vigil Likely To Last Through The Weekend
September 12: Another Meeting Done, More To Go
September 13: Flag Pole Mom Can Continue Protest For Now
September 20: Flag Pole Mom Victorious In Protest For Son's Education
September 27: Paper Praises Lesneski, Blasts School
September 28: "Flag Pole Mom" Responds To School Self-Medication Bill

Mom Straps Herself To Flag Pole In Protest
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August 30, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--All children who have Down syndrome within the McGuffey School District are educated outside the district. All, that is, except Ryan "Max " Lesneski, 7, who attends Blain-Buffalo Elementary School. Max's mother Deanna says she wants her son to attend classes in his home district, where she and the boy's four older siblings went to school. And she wants for Max, who has a hearing disability, to receive the services she feels he needs -- services which the district had agreed to provide.

About 9:30 Monday morning, Deanna demonstrated her resolve to make sure he gets those services by tying herself to a flagpole in front of the school.

Deanna says the school informed her that they would no longer administer asthma medication for Max. It is a claim district officials dispute. They say they have no problem giving Max any of his medicine.

Deanna says this is only one the many problems she has had with the district in getting them to comply with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in serving her son. She claims that they also failed to modify a computer for Max, to assign a qualified sign language interpreter for him, and to provide an adequate summer school. She says these were part of a 13-point plan the district agreed to follow in February. A judge is expected to review the case this morning.

District officials say they are meeting Max's needs and don't understand why his mother is protesting. And even though they are concerned about the effect the public spectacle will have on their students, the district says it has no plans to arrest Deanna.

By Monday afternoon, about 20 members of a local independent living disability rights group organization had joined the protest. The protesters, many in wheelchairs, had to park about a mile away from the campus. They spent the night with Deanna and were expected to continue the vigil through last night.

More details are available from this story in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000830flagpole3.asp

Lesneski Gets Outside Support For Her Protest
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August 31, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--As more disability rights activists joined a mother who has strapped herself to a flagpole to protest the school her son attends, a judge has threatened to open a full hearing into the dispute.

Since Monday morning, Deanna Lesneski has been sitting in a lawn chair which she tied with jump ropes to a flag pole in front of Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School. Lesneski says she did this after school officials told her they would not administer medications to her son Max, 7, who has Down syndrome and asthma. Lesneski claims that when the boy had an asthma attack that morning, school personnel took his inhaler away from him and refused to give it back until his mother arrived.

The district disputes her claim, saying they have never refused to give Max his medications, but that sometimes the medication has not delivered or the prescriptions have been impossible to read.

Lesneski says this is only the most recent problem she has had with the district. She says the school has not lived up to its part of an individualized education plan in which the district agreed this spring to provide a communication device and a trained sign language interpreter to work with her son, who uses sign language to communicate. The aide the district has assigned, Lesneski says, only has 15 hours of sign language training.

U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich yesterday ordered the school to provide him with the school's medication policy and the name of the sign language interpreter. He added that if the district and Lesneski cannot end the dispute soon, he will order a full hearing to learn the facts for himself.

Also yesterday, Lesneski was joined by a number of local parents who have children with disabilities, several representatives of the Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living, Southwestern PA ADAPT, and other supporters from as far away as Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Georgia. More demonstrators are expected to show up today.

Lesneski says she has no plans to leave her vigil, at least until a contract is signed between the school and a proficient sign language interpreter.

Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran this item:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000831flagpole4.asp

Mom Unlikely To End Flag Pole Vigil Soon
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 1, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Unless if an emergency conference is called today, it appeared this morning that Deanna Lesneski's, which began Monday morning, may continue at least through the weekend.

A clerk from U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich's office confirmed that his schedule was full yesterday and today, and that the judge may not hear more on Lesneski's dispute with the McGuffey School District until at least next week.

Lesneski tied a lawn chair to a flag pole in front of Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School on Monday, after school staff refused, she says, to administer medication to her son Max, 7, who has Down syndrome and asthma, and uses sign language to communicate. She sat down on the chair and expected district officials to come out to discuss the issue within a couple of hours. As the hours and days went by, parents of other children with and without disabilities, along with disability rights activists from around the area and other states, began showing up to demonstrate their support.

Lesneski says the district has failed to adhere to its part of a February agreement in which it agreed to provide Max with a sign language interpreter and a computerized communication device. The district has provided an aide, but the aide has only had 15 hours of sign language instruction, Lesneski claims. A communication device sits in the school unused, because nobody knows how to use it.

District officials continue to deny Lesneski's allegations.

On Wednesday, Judge Cindrich met with representatives from both sides of the issue. He told district officials to provide him with the district's medication policy along with the sign-language interpreter's name and training details. His clerk confirmed yesterday that the documents had arrived at his office, and that the judge's schedule is full until next week, according to this article from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000901flagpole3.asp

Also yesterday, Lesneski talked about her son Max and the situation that led up to her protest, in an interview with Mike Reynolds of Uppity Disability Internet Resources. You can listen to the interview by accessing a link on Mike's home page:
http://www.uppity-disability.net/

Mom Leaves Flag Pole
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 5, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--At 10:00 a.m. last Monday, Deanna Lesneski, 47, tied a lawn chair to the flag pole in front of her son's school and sat down in it. At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, she got up and went home, declaring victory for the five-day protest.

"I want to get a shower so bad I can't stand it," said Lesneski.

The end to the dramatic protest came a few minutes after McGuffy School District officials announced their intention to contract with a woman who has a Master's degree in Deaf Education and has taught deaf students for several years to be a teaching assistant at the school. The contract would mean the district had decided to abide by an agreement it signed in February, to provide an appropriately trained aide for Lesneski's son Max. The seven-year-old has Down syndrome, asthma, and uses sign language to communicate.

Lesneski began her vigil, she says, after school staff members told her they were not going to administer the boy's asthma medication. What she thought would have been a small demonstration grew as disability rights advocates from the local area and several states came to the rural elementary school to show their support.

Late on Friday, the district also agreed to have an meeting to discuss Max's Individualized Education Plan during a meeting with Lesneski on Tuesday morning. More than 25 people were scheduled to attend that meeting.

Saturday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette included this item about the vigil and the agreement that ended it:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000902flapolereg5.asp

Mom Back At Flag Pole
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 6, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Claiming her son's school did not follow through with pledges it made on Friday, Deanna Lesneski once again tied a lawn chair to the flag pole in front of the school last night, then sat down to resume a protest she started over a week ago.

Lesneski's original vigil began last Monday morning after, she claims, staff members at Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School told her they could no longer administer medication for her son Ryan "Max", 7, who has Down syndrome, asthma, and communicates through sign language. She began her demonstration to protest the medication issue along with other parts of an agreement signed in February, in which the district agreed to provide a sign language interpreter and a computerized communication device for her son. The district had hired an aide to work with Max, she said, but the aide had had only 15 hours of sign language training.

On Tuesday, Lesneski's lawyer filed a complaint in U.S. District Court. The next day, Judge Robert Cindrich asked attorneys representing Lesneski and the district to come up with a solution, and ordered the district to provide him with its medication policy and information about the sign language aide the school had hired. He added that if the two sides could not come up with a working agreement, he might have to rule on the complaint.

Cindrich refused the district's request to order Lesneski to stop her demonstration, pointing out that he cannot infringe on her First Amendment right to protest. Disability rights advocates from the local area had begun arriving at the school almost immediately after the vigil began. Advocates from surrounding states continued to show up throughout the week to show their support.

The protest lasted until Friday night, when district officials told Lesneski they were going to contract with a Master's level teacher who had several years experience working with deaf children. Lesneski says the district also promised to have a nurse available to administer medications to Max, she said.

Lesneski was back at the flag pole last night, saying the new teacher apparently had been hired to observe her son but not educate him. She said that during one class yesterday, Max got no help from the teacher when he had difficulty communicating with others.

Acting Superintendent Frank Zito explained yesterday that the district hired the teacher at a rate of $70 per day, to act as a mediator between Max and others if communication problems came up. A nurse or other qualified person also will be on hand at the school to administer Max's medications, Zito said.

Lesneski was better prepared for her vigil last night, showing up with a sleeping bag and blankets. Overnight temperatures were expected to be below 50 degrees.

Parents Object To Lesneski's Flag Pole Protest
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 7, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--During a meeting at Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School last night, about 70 parents expressed outrage at the mother who has drawn attention to their school by demonstrating in front of it.

Some of the parents criticized Deanna Lesneski, 46, demanding she be removed from the area. Others complained about her seven-year-old son Max, saying he had been aggressive with fellow students and that meetings regarding him took the teacher away from their children.

Lesneski spent the 7th day of her vigil sitting in a lawn chair strapped to a flag pole, protesting what she says is the district's lack of responsiveness to her son's needs. She says the school has repeatedly failed to provide the supports for Max which they agreed to provide in February. Max has Down syndrome and asthma and uses sign language to communicate. Other McGuffy School District students with Down syndrome are educated outside the district, but Lesneski wants Max to attend the same school his siblings attended, and to get the supports he needs to be successful.

At one point during the meeting, acting district superintendent Frank Zito had to physically come between one enraged parent and an advocate defending Lesneski.

"We don't need you in here," one man yelled at the advocate. "Get out."

Zito went on to answer questions and concerns from the crowd. Zito also announced the resignation of the Master's level teacher of deaf students who had been hired to work with Max. The teacher worked for less than a day after Lesneski discovered that the woman was hired to observe her son, not work with him directly. The district is continuing the search for a qualified teacher to fill the job.

According to today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the district also wants a court to order Lesneski and her supporters -- advocates for people with disabilities -- removed from the flagpole area to a spot at the edge of school property.

Mom's Vigil Likely To Last Through The Weekend
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 8, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Deanna Lesneski, 46, says she plans to end her flag pole vigil, at least temporarily, on Monday morning -- exactly two weeks after she first started it. That is when she is scheduled to meet with McGuffy School District officials and representatives from the state Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association to work out a possible solution to the dispute Lesneski has with the district.

Lesneski began her protest on the morning of August 28, claiming Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School officials refused to administer medication for her son Max, who has Down syndrome, asthma and communicates through sign language. She sat down in a lawn chair she strapped to the flag pole in front of the school, expecting district officials to come out to resolve the matter in a few minutes or hours. As time went on, she said the school has repeatedly failed to respond to her son's needs and provide the supports they agreed on in February, including an aide proficient in sign language and a qualified person to administer medication when Max needs it.

Lesneski ended her vigil last Friday when district officials told her they had hired a Master level teacher who has taught deaf children. She resumed on Tuesday, when she learned that the teacher was not hired to work directly with Max in his classroom.

At the same time of Lesneski's meeting on Monday morning, Judge Paul Pozonsky is scheduled to hear arguments from district attorneys seeking an injunction to have Lesneski and her supporters moved from the flagpole area to the edge of school's property where the demonstration cannot be seen from the school building.

Throughout her demonstration, disability rights advocates, many in wheelchairs, have come from surrounding areas to show their support for Lesneski. She has also received phone calls of support from around the world.

After clouds and some showers tonight and early Saturday, the weather in the area this weekend is expected to be clear and in the low 80's during the days and in the low 60's at night.

This rather positive feature from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives some background on the Lesneski family:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000908flagpole2.asp

Another Meeting Done, More To Go
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 12, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Deanna Lesneski continues her protest strapped to a flag pole today, following what she called a "successful" meeting with McGuffy School District administrators and Health Department officials regarding her son's medication, yesterday.

Lesneski started her protest on the morning of August 28 after, she claims, the district had refused to give asthma medication to her son Max, 7, who has Down syndrome, asthma and a hearing disability.

During yesterday's three-hour meeting, the district agreed to revise their policy to allow a licensed practical nurse, currently on staff as a clerical aide, to administer Max's medications. The current policy only allowed for the district's registered nurse, who is only scheduled at Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School one day a week, to administer medication to students. The new policy has to be approved by the school board.

The other issue Lesneski is protesting, having to do with an aide proficient in sign language to work with Max, is scheduled to be dealt with Wednesday when Health Department officials and representatives from the Pennsylvania Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association are to meet with the district and Lesneski. She ended her protest on September 1 when district officials told her they had hired an aide skilled in sign language, but started again four days later when, she says, the aide was only hired to observe and not interact one-on-one with Max. The aide quit later that day.

Today, Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Pozonsky is scheduled to take up a complaint filed on Friday, in which district attorneys are asking that Lesneski and her crowd of supporters be ordered to move the protest from the flag pole to an area off district property and out of school view.

Last night, the school board voted unanimously to permit only district employees, parents and students on school property. The move would allow Lesneski, who parents and district officials say has been seen defecating and urinating on school property, to remain at the flagpole. Lesneski says she had not been allowed into the building to use the restrooms.

The ruling would ban from school property news reporters and protesters, many in wheelchairs, who have shown up to support the mother. But the district's security and safety director told the board and the group of angry parents who showed up to complain about Lesneski, that it would be almost impossible to enforce the board's ruling.

Lesneski has written letters to local, state and federal officials -- even President Clinton -- to enlist support in dealing with her son's education and the district's resistance to follow an agreement written as part of his individualized education plan in February. One advocacy resource office is encouraging advocates and parents with disabilities to show their support for Lesneski's cause. The office of Reed Martin says it will forward all letters written to the McGuffy School District or to Deanna Lesneski. You can contact them in Morgantown, West Virginia, by phone at 304-598-3406, fax at 304-598-3512 or email Connie Matthews at the Reed Martin office: connie@westco.net

Today's Observer-Reporter ran this article about last night's board meeting:
http://www.observer-reporter.com/NEWS/WASH/9-12-00wash1.html

Flag Pole Mom Can Continue Protest For Now
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 13, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Deanna Lesneski will probably not be ordered by a court any time soon to move from the flagpole in front of the Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School where she has been protesting for 13 of the last 16 days.

The mother of Ryan "Max" Lesneski, who has Down syndrome, asthma and a hearing disability, began her protest on August 28, claiming the district had not lived up to its part of a 13-point agreement worked out in February. The agreement, part of the boy's individualized education plan, called for the hiring of an aide proficient in sign language, an extended school year for Max, and inclusion training for the community and district employees. Lesneski says it took three meetings with a state Department of Education hearing officer to get the agreement approved because she and the district could not agree on a solution. In March, Lesneski took her fight to federal court, asking U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich to enforce the agreement.

A hearing scheduled for yesterday morning, in which a Common Pleas Court judge would have considered the school's request to order Lesneski and her supporters off school property, was cancelled when one of her attorneys filed a motion asking that a federal court hear the issue. Peter Suwak made the move to put the issue back in the hands of Judge Cindrich.

Lesneski was scheduled to meet this morning with McGuffy School District and Health Department officials and representatives from the Pennsylvania Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association to discuss her request to hire an aide skilled in sign language to work with Max. She ended her vigil on September 1 when the superintendent told her they had hired an aide skilled in sign language. When she learned on September 5 that the aide had not been hired to work one-on-one with Max, she tied herself back to the flagpole.

A meeting to review and update Max's IEP is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Special Education attorney Reed Martin and his assistant Connie Matthews traveled to visit with Lesneski on Friday. In this article Martin compares Lesneski's refusal to leave the flagpole to Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in the 1960's -- an action considered a turning point in the struggle for civil rights in the U.S.:
http://www.reedmartin.com/flagpolemom.html

Flag Pole Mom Victorious In Protest For Son's Education
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 20, 2000

WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--Satisfied that her son's educational needs will be met in his classroom -- at least for now -- Deanna Lesneski yesterday ended her three-week long protest tied to the flagpole in front of Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School. Her decision came after a four-hour meeting with state and school officials, and a meeting with the aide who is to begin working with her son on Monday.

"This is all I've ever wanted," said Lesneski, after she untied her lawn chair from the flag pole, hopefully for the last time.

The mother of 7-year-old Ryan "Max" Lesneski, who has Down syndrome, asthma and uses sign language to communicate, met with about 20 officials from McGuffey School District, Washington County Intermediate Unit One and the state Department of Health. Joining her were two of Max's therapists, her attorneys and a representative from Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living, a local disability rights organization.

The group yesterday developed an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for Max, which outlines expected education outcomes and how services will be delivered. One of the main points which had remained -- the hiring of an aide who is proficient in sign language to work with Max -- was addressed to Lesneski's satisfaction during the meeting. Lesneski met for some time with the aide, who will work with Max on a one-on-one basis, seven hours a day, five days a week. Some of aide's salary will come from the Washington County Intermediate Unit One, which receives federal money for special education programs.

Another issue, regarding Max's medication was worked out during a meeting with a Department of Health mediator last week. The school's medication policy had only allowed the district's registered nurse, who travels between five schools in the rural district, to administer medications. A new policy will allow a licensed nurse who currently works as a clerical aide, to administer medications to Max.

Lesneski's protest, which began on the morning of August 28, had to do in part with Max's last IEP, written in February. In that IEP, a 13-point agreement was worked out with the district, calling for the hiring of an aide proficient in sign language, an extended school year for Max, along with "inclusion training" for the community and district employees. After the district failed to implement provisions of the agreement, Lesneski took her fight to federal court in March, asking a U.S. District Court Judge to enforce it.

Lesneski had stopped her vigil on September 1, after the school superintendent told her they had hired an aide to work with Max. She resumed her protest the following school day upon learning that the aide was only to observe the boy and not work directly with him.

Within a day of beginning her protest, disability rights activists from the local area and surrounding states worked in shifts to keep Lesneski company.

Lesneski told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that if the district does not abide by the new agreement, she would be strapping herself to a flagpole at the state's capitol in Harrisburg.

Paper Praises Lesneski, Blasts School
September 27, 2000
WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA--"Inclusion is not about enhancing the sensitivities and adaptability of the students who will come in contact with the special-needs child, although it can do that," writes the editor of Monday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"It is about giving everyone the thorough and efficient education he deserves."

This editorial suggests that schools work to develop a meaningful educational experience for children with disabilities before having to deal with the "annoying persistence" of parents like Deanna Lesneski. Last week, Lesneski ended a 19-day vigil, tied to a flagpole in front of her son's school. She stopped the protest only after she was certain the district would provide appropriate services to her son Max, who has Down syndrome, asthma and communicates using sign language.

"It shouldn't be this hard," writes the editor:
http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20000925edflagpole1.asp

"Flag Pole Mom" Responds To School Self-Medication Bill
September 28, 2000

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA--"I have goosebumps," Deanna Lesneski told a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter yesterday. Lesneski had just learned that the state House yesterday approved a bill that would force schools to let students with asthma take their own asthma medicine.

"This is very crucial. It could be a life-and-death matter," said Lesneski, who had been dubbed the "Flagpole Mom".

It was one month ago today that Lesneski was told by her son's school that they would not allow the boy, who has asthma and Down syndrome, to use his asthma inhaler. She learned further that the only person allowed to administer the medication was the district's nurse, who has to attend to five schools in the rural district. In protest, Lesneski then tied her lawn chair and herself to the flagpole in front of the school. The protest lasted 19 days.

The McGuffey School District finally allowed a licensed nurse, who works as a clerical aide, to help Max, 7, with his medication.

Yesterday's unanimous vote by the House Education Committee would force Blaine-Buffalo Elementary School and the state's other 500 districts to write policies allowing students to take asthma medicine on their own. The bill is expected pass the full House the Senate, according to this item from today's Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000928asthma6.asp

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