Could I sue our local Alabama public school?

Could I sue our local Alabama public school?
Ok, I don't want anyone thinking I am sue happy or anything, but here goes. My children recently moved in with me from their fathers home. Actually this is August and they moved here in January. The reason that they moved here is that my children had some emotional problems and had even been put into alternative school in Florida where they moved here from. My daughter has since been diagnosed as bipolar. My son was just not happy there any longer. Their father decided that maybe it would be best that they came to live with me for the best interest of the children. I am a stay at home mom and can offer more one on one attention and be there more than he could at that time and also because maybe they would be happy here. He was seriously worried that one day he would wake up and one of them would be dead. So after an incident in January where my son was rushed to the hospital on a Friday he called and asked me to come get them an I did the very following day. It is approx. 7-8 hours to drive on way to get there so I couldn't go right then. Here is where my question comes in. The school here would not let me register them without my divorce papers being modified to say that the children would be living with me during the school months. The docket in Florida where they live is quite long. Even after getting a change of venue to a different county where he lives and the docket was shorter, we have still been waiting for our day in court over this. The school here in Alabama has refused to budge whatsoever. I have asked if I had a notorized letter from their father would that work to register them while waiting for the papers from the court, they said 'no.' I have asked if he came here to register them and let them know in person that they were going to be living with me could they be registeres. They again said no, because he was not a resident of the school district. I have asked several people and gotten help from many others in finding the right questions to ask officials, etc. I have even went to our local courthouse and asked what to do at the DA's office and a woman who used to work int he family court division, said that I should be able to get a letter from the court where the paper work was files that says that a modification has been filed and that should work to let the children get registered. I called to make sure that would work from the school before I followed through on this, and again the school said 'no.' I have called, and went to our city school board and they say that it is up to the principle of the school, who repeatedly has told me 'no.' I called the county school board and they told me it was up to my city school board. I cannot afford the cost of home schooling my children. They already failed school last year because they were unable to take their exams. Teh school they attended in Florida allowed them to do their school work online for the remainder of the year last year, but alas there was nowhere for them to go to take their exams, and so they failed. Not to mention that they were doing their work online and while they could do it, they still lacked classroom instruction which was necessary for them to fully understand what they were learning. I may have been able to understand what they were doing, but I am unqualified to properly teach that to my children as they need. I am no teacher as far as academically. I can help with homework, etc., but I cannot replace a good teacher. So my children had fallen behind as it was and I am not sure that if they had somewhere to take the exams last year whether they would have passed anyway. I checked on getting something from the courts locally so that I could get them registered, but the courts in Florida hold jurisdiction because that was where the original divorce and custody was filed. So I could not do it in the state of Alabama. I am at my whits end with this and my children need and deserve the right to catch up. It is their constitutional right to have an education, but what can a person do when a school will not budge to allow a child to get an education. I would like for children to be able to catch up with their prper grade. My daughter is 13 and will turn 14 and she is still in the 6th grade. My son is 14 and will 15 in the 7th grade. This is unacceptable when this could have been avoided, had they been given a chance. Now we have just started a new school year and my children cannot do school work online any longer and they are still unable to attend school, so by the time they are able to they will either have missed too many days to pass or be so far behind this school year to be able to catch up. Home schooling is too expensive for me and therefore is not an option. Can I sue the school for this in order to afford tutors to help my children with their education and possibly be able to have them catch up. Also to help change the school rules on this. I understand the reason to have them, but when I have exhausted every means of enrolling them including their father registering them, what can I do? PLEASE HELP ME Sincerely, Desperate mom in Alabama Sorry Missy, but I think your answer was quite rude. I am a stay at home mom, because my youngest son need me to be here, for personal reasons and yes I am remarried and my husband is working to help support the family. I do not live on food stamps, or anything else. BEside for those that do, what help there is for everyone is there for the ones that need it and if they need it, our government is set up to help them. I know there are those that take advantage of it, but I am not one of them. I did get a local judge today to say that the treatment is unfair and granted me a custody order so that I could enroll them. I had already gone to the DA's office to get some help and ask a couple questions as I said and they had even told me that I should be able to take a paper there from the court where the modification was filed and should be able to enroll them. The school, as I have heard likes to keep anyone who might cause a stir and be somewhat difficult out of their school. Also when I first posted this question, it was before I had gotten the phone call from sayong that the judge would see and help me. I will not delete this question as it may help someone else and I think some people need to be more considerate. I asked for help, not to be critisized. Thanks to all those that did help me and good luck to all those that may be in similar circumstances and don't give up. I HAVE been very persistant. I had lawyers, juvenile probation officers and the DA's office even helping me because I wouldn't give up. Education is important and American Children's right as an American citizen to have it.
Law & Ethics - 7 Answers - 2008-08-14 05:37:15

Best Answer
From what you said, I assume their father has legal custody. If so, then there really is not anything you can do with the school until this is changed. About the only thing you can do is try to get the courts in Florida to expedite your case because of the situation with the school.

All Answers
Answer 1
how are you a stay at home mom ... single mom.... paying bills? dont sue.. get a job to support your kids needs. i lived in alabama for 2 years and i moved out of there as quickly as possible bc its full of ppl like you. lazy... living off the government. my taxes are paying for your needs.
2008-08-14 05:43:44

Answer 2
Wow Missy! Is it possible that the person is remarried and has other children? Anyway, I think there are special rules that help public schools from being sued, but I'm not positive.
2008-08-14 05:48:11

Answer 3
You can sue anybody for anything, however I would do just what the people told you to. Get the modification and a notarized letter from the Dad and take the documents there in person, to both the school board and the local school. If that school still says no, then ask for a zoning exemption and put them in another school. If you do have to take it to court you have the documents and proof that you did do what they told you to back you up. If push comes to shove and the Dad is ok, then just have him come to your state and register them, all he has to really do is have junk mail sent to your house. You have to stop being lazy and fight, this is a fight you should have been in their face everyday if necessary 8 months ago. Good luck
2008-08-14 05:49:03

Answer 4
You should have put your focus on getting an emergency order done in the state of Florida, that way your children could have gotten in school back in January. It is surprising that you have not been able to get this matter thru the court system in the last 8 months? Your ex-husband should have contacted an attorney to handle the matter in the most efficient matter possible. Your ex-husband should have coordinated with you to pick up the children to bring them to a testing site in Florida for them to take their final exams. His lack of effort on his part can be attributing to the delay in the process. The Alabama school system is doing nothing wrong, according to the documents you have you do not have the authority to register the children in school or have them living with you. Like they said, you must get the modification from Florida. It seems as if your ex-husband was overwhelmed by your children and the issues they have, especially if they were already in the alternative school system in Florida. I hope you have addressed their unique issues with the Alabama school system so they can get the appropriate resources. It seems as if your children are at least a couple of years older than their peers, this fact alone will make them sick out among the crowd, but if they have emotional/behavioral difficulties, the school system will need to know because the children will soon pick up on it and their transition to the schools in Alabama will be difficult.
2008-08-14 06:00:15

Answer 5
From what you said, I assume their father has legal custody. If so, then there really is not anything you can do with the school until this is changed. About the only thing you can do is try to get the courts in Florida to expedite your case because of the situation with the school.
2008-08-14 06:00:53

Answer 6
You can sue the school and the school board, but you will probably not get very far. Go to the school and ask for registration forms and list their address as your address. Do not answer any custody questions. That is not the school's business. If children live in the school district, they should be enrolled. The school is attempting to avoid getting embroiled in a custody battle. If they will not enroll the children, ask for tutoring. if the school will not budge, look for a competent attorney.
2008-08-14 06:05:30

Answer 7
You can sue but will probably lose. Custody (and therefore residency) is ordered by the court, not by agreement. You are not empowered to overrule the court, even if everyone wants to. The rules the school board has exist to prevent school shopping -- to make it fair for all. To change the rules, get elected to the school board or support a candidate who feels as you do. You would have one shot at winning. If there is no actual rule being enforced, or it is being enforced incorrectly. Go find out.
2008-08-14 06:43:12