By: VICTORIA A. CARUSO
For most parents, getting a kindergartener ready for school is tough. For Merrick Woods resident Amy Mogel, however, it's nearly impossible.
Mogel, 41, suffers from Dopa-Responsive Dystonia, a rare neurological disorder that limits the body's ability to produce Dopamine, which is needed to maintain balance.
DRS strikes less than 1 percent of the U.S. population and can be triggered by sudden weather changes, hormones, inadequate sleep, illness and stress.
DRS makes it precarious for Mogel to drop off her son, Max, at Chatterton Elementary School in Merrick, where he will attend kindergarten in the fall.
Mogel's ranch house on Silverbirch Road is two houses shy of the Merrick District's half-mile eligibility requirement for busing. The mother is asking the district to consider her disability and provide bus service to her son. The district, however, is sticking to its transportation policy.
Dr. Ronald Smith, Merrick superintendent, said the district can make no exceptions to its policy, even for a disabled parent. "We are required by the state Education Department to treat everyone equally," said Smith. "If the child was disabled, we would certainly provide transportation. If we give to one parent, we are going to have to give it to 20 others."
Mogel's husband, David, disagrees with the policy, saying, "The board has the ability to change their policy, they just don't want to."
The Education Department requires school districts to provide transportation to those families living more than two miles from an assigned school. Education law, however, states that school districts can transport students who live closer.
Mogel believes that busing her son would not burden the Merrick District. "The bus for Chatterton passes my house every day and stops two doors down from me," she said. "I am not asking for the school district to suffer any undue hardship in providing busing for my child. What I am asking for is reasonable and humane. All the bus has to do is back up two houses and pick up my son."
Smith said, "We are willing to look into how to help her and provide a safe way for her to transport her child to school. We can help her find neighbors in the community who can help take her son back and forth to school. Also, we would make sure that there is a handicapped spot for her and maybe arrangements can be made for her to come [to school] a little later."
Mogel says a handicapped spot wouldn't help her much. "In weather such as what we experienced this winter," she said, "it was impossible for me to walk across my porch and get down my icy driveway to my car, let alone drive or walk Max to school. In the winter, I am homebound until the ice and snow are gone."
She added, "When I took Max for kindergarten registration, I couldn't walk from the handicapped parking spot to the rear door of the school because the parking lot was filled with ice."
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires schools to accommodate students with handicaps, but not parents. "If it's not the child who has the disability, there isn't an applicable law in this situation," said Don Dreyer, director of the county Office for the Physically Challenged. "The only thing to do in a situation like this is to work with the individual school district and hope they will make an accommodation."
Bill Hirschen, spokesperson for the state Education Department, said people have the right to appeal cases to the education commissioner, but the process is long and arduous.
