266TH District Court

Hello again.

Sometimes it is really hard starting one of these blogs as I've said before. I know what I want to convey, but doing so without the vehemence I feel, is trying. Up to this point, Cheyenne had undergone an extensive surgery on Good Friday 2015 to remove her thyroid which contained a cancerous lesion. They also removed a lymph node to check for metastasis (disease that has spread outside the tumor.)

The tumor had been found completely by accident or divine intervention, as we believe, after a softball injury and subsequent testing. Thankfully, her spine was okay and she had no fracture, but a nodule had been seen on CT in the ER. The doctor had recommended checking into it after Chey's neck injury healed. Of course, we didn't wait, at all, and we are fortunate my inability to let things ride took over and we went ahead full steam. We did more testing, at our family doctor's office, and within a week of the accident, we were scheduled at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Their Thyroid Tumor Program was ranked third in the nation and we liked their philosophy of a team approach instead of seeing different specialists in different locations and practices.

It was a whirlwind time, that is for sure! Discovery of the nodule on March 7th and removal on April 3rd made our heads spin. Cheyenne had no intention of letting this diagnosis slow her down anymore than necessary and she was back at school within a week after the procedure. Fatigued for sure, but battling all the same. She is an amazing young woman, then and now. It is just too bad the damn school wasn't more focused on that aspect and following the Commissioner of Education's ruling than on trying to ruin her life.

I am still amazed that grown men and women would stoop so low and treat a student this way. I understand, in hindsight, that they had to - and still do. They cannot allow us to show our physical evidence. I (along with several others) believe they will do anything to stop that from happening. I was often afraid for Cheyenne's safety, especially after the bullying on campus and the obscene sexually explicit attacks on Yik Yak.  More so, it was the lack of authorities protecting her and seriously investigating that fed that fear.

We met our lawyers, Susan and Keith, at the courthouse. We chatted a bit and then proceeded inside. Cheyenne was ill and I had already made her a doctors appointment for later in the day. She was having chills and some fever, but it was imperative she be present. Now, I want to make sure that it is clear to you all as to why we were in court in the first place. I must remind you all that over the previous two years, we had followed the school's grievance protocols. We had done everything the policy required, absolutely everything spelled out in that policy, eventually filing a Petition for Review with the Commissioner of Education. A side note here, (on the record at the Level III hearing with the school board), the school's attorney said we had no recourse to do anything further if they voted to uphold the previous decisions. 

It is a good thing that I can read, huh? It still mystifies me that the attorney for DISD could also be the "impartial moderator." How could someone, on their payroll, who was accepting a fee for services rendered AND giving them advice be impartial? Answer: they can't.

But, on the other hand, it incredibly sad that most of the board member's don't check the laws themselves and instead, rely totally on said advice. This I believe is one, if not the most critical, problem with school board's. Any Tom, Dick or Harry (no offense Tom, Dick and Harry's out there) can get on one if they have enough friends to vote them in or to appoint them to vacated positions-regardless of education, intelligence or ability. In my opinion, this is more prevalent in small town settings. Now, there are exceptions to this trend. I have seen people that are willing to stand up for what is right and just, even though they are outnumbered from the get go. People who are there for what is best for the students, not necessarily the district in itself. It is a sad fact that all to often, they are squeezed out.

Anyway, after following all the guidelines, the Administrator at Level I had thrown out our grievance on an "untimeliness" basis. Basically, he said we filed outside the time allowed, which I believed we did not. After the initial denial, each level followed suit and summarily denied the grievance. It is noteworthy here to mention that the School Board's decision was not  unanimous, they upheld the previous decision by a mere 4-3 vote. My personal opinion is that those votes against had decided the outcome long before the meeting and nothing that was presented would change that.

The Petition for Review was docketed, reviewed and decided-in OUR favor-with the Commissioner ordering the district to hear the merit of our grievance. The final decision was given in January of 2015. Now remember, two long, grueling years had passed since this had begun.  Three full months had passed since the decision was given without a meeting being scheduled, AND graduation was right around the corner. The school had been given a directive from the head of the education system in the state, and they were just sitting on it! We had not been afforded full and complete due process through the grievance proceedings and had no recourse but to file a request for temporary injunction through the court system. Hence, the reason we were in court.

Hopefully, that clears up any questions in regard to why we were here.

We were not the first case of the day, so we sat and watched the other proceedings and Susan handed us a large bunch of papers she had just been given by the opposition. (Apparently, they gave much more to the judge, who was not at all thrilled.) In those papers, the school had alluded to some impropriety on Chey's behalf. We were all totally bewildered as to what they were referencing, even though we were completely convinced they would do ANYTHING to discredit her. (What else could they do? They had to deflect the fact they had yet to comply by any means possible...Even if it had nothing to do with the grievance.) All we could do was shrug our shoulders and wait.

Eventually, the time came and we moved from the stands to the arena. Picture that you are facing the judge and there are two large tables between the benches and his podium, just like on TV. We were on the left side and they were on the right and my, they had a huge constituency of followers with them. Many were recognized and several were not. My how dangerous we must have been...to warrant such a group. We, on the other hand did not have a large group. Only a few friends had come to support us. Thanks to them forever!! You really learn who your true friends are when you are in the lowest places. There were also a couple of other individuals supporting us that the DISD's lawyer tried to run off but, alas, they were not so faint of heart and stayed!

The four of us, (Susan, Keith, Chey and myself) sat down at the table. Chey was very pale and still had the steri-strips on her neck from surgery. She was also chilled so she had a lap blanket on. I was adjusting this, at one point, and noticed one of the local preachers enter and slide into a seat at the back of the room. It was a very curious site, I figured out later, he had political aspirations....

Susan and Keith had all their papers organized and we waited to start. Keith was there as our local contact in this jurisdiction to assist us since Susan's practice is in Houston. He ended being much more than that, when all was said and done. He is a very special man in my book--he rates right up there with Atticus, as does Susan!

I must admit, it is somewhat intimidating in this atmosphere due to the formality of the proceedings. I knew this case forwards and backwards and needing no prompting to remember every, ugly detail that had occurred to this point but I ran over everything time and time again. The opening statements were given and the judge tossed the large bundle of papers the opposition had sprung on him, to the side (with some vehemence may I say.)  It seemed that he was not amused such a quantity of information had been given to him right before court. I can't blame him for that!

Susan was brilliant! She stated the facts of the case as to what had brought us to this juncture. Basically, she explained that there has to be a recourse when an entity gives a directive and it is not complied with! That is what democracy is supposed to be, right?

Ms. Leon gave her presentation and then BAM!!

She told the judge that they, (DISD) didn't even know if 'the student' was going to graduate. She said that Cheyenne had something like a 15 in the grade book in her dual credit English course and it was highly unlikely that she would graduate. My heart was instantly pounding and it took everything to keep my butt in that chair and my mouth closed. All I could think was "What the holy hell was she doing?" Chey had been out on medical leave with freaking cancer and your pulling this! Jeez, we all know grades are often lagging when students are ill and they are given extended time to complete assignments and Chey was certainly ill. All Chey whispered to me was, "Just wait until my grade comes out, that will show the truth."

Susan pushed her chair back very quickly and stood up. She told the judge exactly that! They went back and forth for a while and then the subject turned to the school's due process rights...really? We had been waiting for TWO YEARS on "due process" and all we got was dragging feet! Now they wanted "due process", I couldn't believe it!  Ultimately, Ms. Leon informed the judge that they had filed for a hearing in Travis county or were about to. (They feel the Commissioner erred in his decision) The judge decided he could not make a decision without giving them their time in Travis County and we would/could follow up after that hearing. What else could we do? A few other things transpired also, but that is for another story or book-after we settle this whole mess.

We went on to the doctor afterwards. After speaking to Cheyenne's dual credit teacher's, I found out that the DISD counselor had not even disclosed Chey's illness to them-Cheyenne had done so herself. Cheyenne ended up with a high A in that class after it was all said and done. They had opened all the modules so she could work when able. Often times, she would complete several assignments at a time, then she would sleep the days away but, she did complete them and actually excelled. It is amazing what can be accomplished with a bit of understanding and compassion. The school's case is still pending in Austin at this time, as is ours, in Erath. Oh well, all we have is time right....

Time, we still didn't know what it had in store for our child though,

Next time, Pathology woes,

XXOO Make Everyday Count,

Bonnie