Please help support Victoria's home-based special education.

Hi, I am fundraising for my daughter, Victoria. Victoria is 10 years old. She is special needs and medically fragile. She loves to learn new things and can manipulate her ipad in ways I have no idea how to.

Victoria has had an IEP (Individualized Education Program since 2018. She has received home-bound educational instruction under her IEP(s), that is until we moved into Colorado Springs Academy District 20. Since the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year Victoria has had ZERO educational instruction under her IEP because Academy District 20 refuses to educate her in a way that is individualized to Victoria based on her needs as required by the IDEA.

Academy District 20 developed her IEP based on their experience with other “similarly” situated children--which means they view all children as the same.

We have three different doctors all writing letters stating that Victoria needs to be educated in a home-bound setting in order to minimize her exposure to viruses/bacteria. This is due to the severity of her situation when she gets sick. She has had about 10 viral infections resulting in hospitalization for greater than 3 days. The last viral infection required a 5 day stay in the hospital because of a covid infection. She has never fully recovered to her pre-covid baseline.

she has had a number of other hospitalizations for non-respiratory infections as well. She had a 38 day hospitalization due to a VP shunt infection in the summer of 2022.

Victoria has a number of disabilities, including spina bifida, hydrocephalus, chronic respiratory failure, and central hypoventilation syndrome. She has a tracheotomy and a ventilator, which alone causes an increased susceptibility to viral infection, she is also on the autism spectrum among others. She also has a shunt which helps drain excess cerebral spinal fluid from her brain and qualifies for an IEP under the multiple disabilities category. She requires 24/7 care from either her parents or a RN. Victoria is never alone and will never be able to live alone or have a life that we all consider "normal". However, Victoria is genuinely kind, has a loving personality, a happiness that most of us could envy, and when educated in a setting that is appropriate for her, a love of learning.

Academy District 20 has a reputation of discriminating against children with disabilities, and prefers to spend its tax dollars on fighting parents who have children with special needs rather than educating them. The district has fought against appropriate placement for Victoria despite having letters from 3 different doctors.

I am fundraising in an effort to hire a certified teacher or tutor who can come into the home privately to continue Victoria’s education. She has at least at least 8-10 more years where the state is required to provide educational services to her.

We have tried to negotiate with Academy District 20 to provide services in a way that is appropriate but we have been consistently lied to and gaslighted. Victoria’s IEP requires that she have 1:1 educational services, and that is why I am trying to raise the funds to hire a certificated special education teacher for 3-5 days days a week/1 hour a day which is what my daughter can tolerate before physically showing signs of stress. In addition to hiring a certified teacher, the money will also be used to purchase educational materials that are appropriate for Victoria.

Thank you.