Inca: ‘He would have fought, but we did not know him like that at all’.

Inca: ‘He would have fought, but we did not know him like that at all’.

At 10 years old, Milano moves from Groningen to his grandparents in Almere. There they want to enroll him in a school of their choice. But after months of delay, it turns out the future school does not want to accept him due to an incorrect report. Grandmother Inca Menig and her husband contact Ouders & Onderwijs when they notice that the school tries to push Milano unnecessarily towards special education.

“When Milano came to live with us, there was a report made about him at his old school. He was said to have fought with another child and reacted ‘primarily’. With kicking, hitting and shouting. But we did not know him like that at all. It was also corona time, so that report was made based on only a phone investigation.

Based on that report, the future school in Almere wanted to get advice from an orthopedist. That way they could see what they could do for him. I thought: ‘How nice that they are working on this’.

Then after a meeting with Milano, we heard nothing more from the school. I contacted 56 schools in Almere, but no one wanted to accept him. That first school had already been in contact with them. We had already asked for help from the children’s ombudsman, an education consultant, and that is how we also found Marieke Boon, theme advisor Tailored Education at Ouders & Onderwijs.

Threat

From Marieke we got good advice. It turned out that the school had been trying to get Milano into special education without us knowing. One of the attendance officers had said there was no place for our grandson at the school of our choice, but there was at special education. We had to enroll him there within two weeks, or else they would report abuse to Veilig Thuis. On advice from Marieke and the children’s ombudsman, we did not agree to this.

Refusal withdrawn

Eventually we visited a school for special education for orientation. But during the tour we were shocked by what we saw. One student was banging his head against a window. Another got into a fight with a teacher. It was surely a good system, but it was not where Milano belonged.

Marieke referred us to several agencies, including the disputes committee. Because of this, a hearing took place where our situation was mapped out.

After that, the Home Sitters Team was called in and the talk with them was decisive. They were very tough about the injustice that school did to Milano. An attendance officer then forced another school from the same School governing body to accept him. As a result, he ended up in a nice school in the class of a young teacher who dared to work with him.

Well grounded

Milano has now been at a regular secondary school for two years. If we had not fought for him, he would have ended up in special education. It would be like planting a plant in the wrong soil. He would not grow well.”