Troy is in the fourth grade, but he has never experienced a stable school offer, according to mother Monica Tangen. This week, the 9-year-old has not been to school at all. Why? Because the school does not have assistants who can help the son through the day. Troy has cerebral palsy. This means that he needs help with everyday tasks that his classmates manage themselves. Therefore, he is entitled to an assistant at school. Grønnåsen school in Bodø. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr The mother has suspected for a long time that her son has not received the help he is entitled to. In 2022, she therefore sent a complaint to the state administrator. In January this year, they gave the municipality marching orders for the school to provide Troy with training in line with previous expert assessments of the boy. But little has happened, according to the mother. Has offered himself as an assistant After Troy’s former assistant left in February, the school has not found a good replacement. – I myself have volunteered as an assistant or we have used employees that we use at home, she says. But now the solitaire does not work. Last week, the mother was informed by the headmaster by e-mail that they do not have anyone who knows her son well enough to assist him. They apologized for this. According to Tangen, the son has also not been sent any plans that he can work on from home. – He has no possibility of going to school either this week or next. We have also received no solution from 22 May. I must have a decision before I am allowed to create a rotation and hire more people. That is what we hope will happen. On Monday this week at the latest, the mother says that she again dressed two children in the morning and got them both out in the car to drive to school. – Troy’s twin sister got out of the car to large protests without her brother, she says. Mother received this message on Monday 8 May: 14:18GSGrønnåsen school: New absence – There is a registered absence at Troy Østensen Tangen, 4CAbsence date: 08.05.2023 Absence type: Documented daily absence Registered by: xxxxxxGreetings Grønnåsen school – It will be extra provocative to receive yet another absence notification, when he does not actually have a school offer, she writes in an e-mail to news. Bodø municipality tells news that they have set aside their own staff to work with the boy at school, but that the staff are on sick leave and they are having great difficulty finding qualified replacements. Read the full response from the municipality further down in the article. news has previously written about Troy not having received the special education lessons he is entitled to either. It then emerged that Bodø municipality had cut over 20,000 special education hours in the last four years. Tangen believes the school is unable to find suitable assistants. That is why she has applied for a decision that Troy can bring with him BPAs who know him well. – That person must be there for him in all possible vulnerable situations. He has a right to follow himself safely and to have a stable framework around him. We have doctors’ statements that say he depends on having it for a stable everyday life, she says. The problem is that Bodø municipality will not approve decisions during the day. – We cannot continue with this. You are desperate. What should one do? – If we don’t get help from someone from outside, we will go through this school year as it is now. When he starts the 5th grade, everything starts again. My son does not have the same rights as other children. Have not come across such an “extreme case” – There is a child here who is not actually welcome at school. The school has made it very clear that they have no solution for this boy. It certainly shouldn’t work. That’s what Rebekka Holmaas says, who is an advisor in Løvemammaen’s help service. She adds that the school and the municipality are perceived as having little interest in sorting things out. The organization Løvemammaene has gone from being mothers who stood up for their own children with special needs, to becoming an organization that helps others in the same situation. In an email they write that they have never come across such an “extreme case”, where they have had to have two case managers to work on it. They have supported Tangen in the case and have contributed to sending letters of complaint, both to the municipality, the State Administrator and to the Equality and Discrimination Ombudsman. On 1 May, they sent a complaint to Grønnåsen school where they believe that the school violates the Education Act on two points. Will give the state administrator better sanctioning options – We have been disappointed that the state administrator has no authority to help us get the school on track to sort things out, says Holmaas. Because even though Bodø municipality has received several orders that they must find a solution for Troy, the organization claims nothing is happening. Therefore, they believe that the state administrator must be given better sanctioning options. – It is quite clear that a message from the state administrator is not enough for some municipalities, says Holmaas. She believes that municipalities do not follow up on decisions from the state administrator because there are no consequences. – This is a resourceful mother. Think of all those sitting there without such a resourceful mum or dad and who are completely run over. The child will be left as the loser Storting representative Dagfinn Olsen (Frp) says he has been following the case for some time. – It is completely tragic that you have a child here who does not receive follow-up. Both the State Administrator and others have been involved in this and have concluded that the child needs BPA. – I know I am being reasonably provoked. The municipality must acknowledge its responsibility, they are responsible both for BPA and for the child to receive education according to the Education Act, says Dagfinn Olsen (Frp) Photo: Ola Helness / news If the school does not have resources, it is the municipality that is responsible for ensure that children get the offer they should have, according to Olsen. Furthermore, he says that the BPA scheme should be subject to the state, so that no one feels that the municipality says no. – It cannot be the case that a municipality should sit and neglect such an arrangement and that a young person who could actually learn something at school is left as the big loser, because the municipality does not follow up on its responsibility. He says that the municipalities’ respect for the State Administrator is too poor. – After all, the municipality flatly gives the lift in administrative levels and bodies above themselves. I don’t understand how it works. The municipality: – It is very difficult to find qualified replacements news has sent several questions to Bodø municipality regarding the case, including how the municipality has followed up the decision by the State Administrator from earlier this year. Bodø municipality has also received a statement signed by the mother, which releases them from the duty of confidentiality regarding the son. Question from news to Bodø municipality Why can’t the municipality provide a permanent assistant and/or special educator in the boy’s everyday school life as the mother requests? How does Bodø municipality think that Troy is being followed up in the school situation as of today? In a decision from January this year, the State Administrator orders the municipality to ensure that Troy received the extra teaching and help he is required by law to have. This involves 10 hours per week with a special education teacher, 2 hours per week with a professional in the pool or physical education, and 13 hours per week for follow-up and help in other subjects and activities. Has the municipality/school followed up on this decision from the State Administrator? If so, in what way? Why can’t the municipality grant BPA in the school situation for Troy as mother wants? In an e-mail dated 5 May this year from the rector at Grønnåsen, the following is stated: “Hello. I have now looked at the possibility of staffing until 17 May internally and we cannot provide familiar personnel as the situation is. I apologize for the the disadvantages it will entail, but I cannot do anything about it as the situation stands at the moment.” Mother believes that in practice this means that Troy is refused to come to school because he needs a person he knows well in connection with the needs he has in a school situation. How does the municipality assess this? Bodø municipality replies in an email to news that they can confirm that the student has not been to school because the assistant is on sick leave. They say they cannot go into individual issues. – We have previously offered the mother another assistant in transport to and from school, but this has been refused because the boy does not know the assistant well enough, according to the mother, says nursery and school manager in Bodø municipality, Tore Tverbakk. He tells news that they are working hard to find solutions. – Separate staff have been appointed to work with the boy at school, but the staff have been called in sick, and it is very demanding to find qualified replacements. We have arranged several talks, and want to resolve this through dialogue with the mother, and not in the media. The case about Troy became a TV issue in February after the municipality was told by the State Administrator to turn around: Troy’s mother suspected that her son did not receive the education he was entitled to – and called for an overview of how he was followed up. She didn’t get that, but in February the State Administrator in Nordland said that the school must get special education in place immediately.
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Monica Tangen despairs that Troy (9) cannot go to school – news Nordland
