bite.
Taking her arm, he commanded, “We need to resolve this Travis Idell mess. His mother is camped out at the superintendant’s office, and Dr. Wraige is not happy.”
“The intake conference is set up for Thursday.” A meeting Skye was dreading.
She had read the reports that Mrs. Idell had brought her, and, as Travis’s mother had claimed, the private psychiatrist who had examined the teen had diagnosed him with a learning disability. But the doctor hadn’t provided the results of his assessments, and Skye couldn’t determine if he had even done any psychological evaluations— psychiatrists often didn’t. He also hadn’t returned Skye’s phone calls. To make matters worse, when she’d examined the boy’s school records, none of the group tests or any other information in his file supported the doctor’s conclusion.
“She wants to meet today.” Homer mopped his head with a bright red handkerchief. “She’ll be here for a Promfest meeting after school, and wants to meet right before that. She says two would be convenient.”
“Maybe for her.” Skye plucked her calendar out of her tote bag and flipped it open to October fourth. “I have an appointment at the grade school with the kindergarten teachers at one. I don’t think I can make it back here by two.”
“You can talk with teachers anytime.” Homer waved away her objection, turned, and walked away, hollering over his shoulder, “Dr. Wraige wants us to humor this woman and get her off his back.”
The rest of the day passed as it had begun—badly—and Skye had a throbbing headache by the time she arrived for the Idell meeting. As she took her seat, she glanced around the table, noting that only Mrs. Idell made eye contact, and her glare intensified Skye’s pain. None of the staff, which included the principal, nurse, social worker, special education teacher, and English chairperson, looked up from the papers they were all studying.
Homer cleared his throat and said, “Let’s hear your information, Ms. Denison.”
Mrs. Idell nodded as Skye summarized what the psychiatrist had written, and she smiled when Skye noted that on the group ability test Travis had scored in the superior range. On the group achievement tests, he was above grade level.
But the woman’s glare returned when Skye brought up her concern over the lack of assessment data in the psychiatrist’s report, and she snapped, “Are you telling me you think you know more than a medical doctor?”
“That’s not what I said.” Skye kept her voice even. “I said that considering that Travis has a superior IQ, is achieving at a commensurate level, and is passing all his classes, a learning disability is not indicated according to the state and federal guidelines as they exist now.”
“So you’re excluding him from services?”
“Not necessarily. Perhaps the psychiatrist did have testing done, and perhaps those results do indicate that Travis is LD, but that information is not in the report you gave me, and the doctor has not returned my calls.”
“You’re telling me we spent twenty-five hundred dollars”—Mrs. Idell’s voice shrieked like a noon factory whistle—“and you’re not going to give my son the help he needs?”
“Not at all. What I’m saying is that I need to see some details so I can figure out what type of services he requires.” Skye scooted her chair as far away as possible from the irate woman.
“I’m sick of jumping through hoops for you and this sorry excuse for a school.” Mrs. Idell pounded on the table. “Either Travis starts receiving help tomorrow morning, or I’m going to make all of you sorry—especially you, Ms. Denison.”
CHAPTER 6
Moments Like These
“That went well.” Homer sneered. He and Skye had moved to her office after Mrs. Idell had stormed away. “Just stick the little bugger in special ed. It would serve him and his mother right.”
Skye closed her eyes in an attempt to find her happy place, counted to ten, and bit her tongue, but she still blurted out, “Have I been talking to myself for the past four years? We can’t simply slap a student in special education. We need data to back up the decision. And it would not ‘serve him and his mother right.’ He needs counseling, which I’ve offered to provide on numerous occasions, and she and her husband need parenting classes, which you refuse to let me suggest to them.”
“Okay, okay, already.” Homer scowled. “You know I was only kidding.” He paused in his pacing and stared down at Skye, who was seated behind her desk. “You’re not usually this touchy. Something wrong?”
“No.” Skye blew out a lungful of air. “Everything’s fine. I’m sorry I lost my temper.”
“Good. We don’t have time for you to be having some sort of breakdown.”
“Right.” Skye kept a straight face. “The school year must go on.”
“Glad you’re on board.” Homer resumed his pacing, then spun on his heel and marched over to Skye. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Since you have such a bad history with the Idells, I’ll assign Jackie to be case manager. From now on she’ll handle all parent contact. You keep trying to pin down that damn psychiatrist.”
Skye frowned, a protest on her lips, then reconsidered. Homer had a point. She had never managed to establish a rapport with the Idells; it made sense to let Jackie try. “That’s a great idea.” Skye hid a small grin. Besides, if the new social worker failed, it would prove that it wasn’t only Skye with whom the parents had problems.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll have a talk with Jackie and bring her up to speed.” Homer stood. “She’s doing a fantastic job. I’m sure she can fix this mess, too.”
Homer scurried from the room before Skye could respond. She stared at the closed door for a second, then glanced at the wall clock. Her headache was nearing migraine level, and she had to be at the Promfest meeting in fifteen minutes.
She opened her bottom drawer and stared at its contents. Nestled side by side were a bottle of Aleve and a fresh package of Double Stuf Oreos—she had finished off the previous cookies last Friday. Would a pill or a cookie get her through the meeting without her head exploding?
Who was she kidding? She’d been eating a half dozen Oreos every afternoon this past week. Skye had ignored Jackie when she’d kidded Skye about being addicted. But now as Skye reached for the medicinal chocolate wafers with the oh-so-soothing cream center, she wondered if Jackie might be right.
Annette Paine had complained about the picnic table–type seating in the cafeteria, so this meeting was being held in the home ec room. The chairwoman probably wouldn’t consider it much of an improvement. Although there were regular chairs, the room was crowded with sewing machines, stoves, washer/dryer combos, and refrigerators.
Actually, Skye didn’t think the queen bee would be satisfied with anything less than a suite at the Ritz- Carlton. Skye smiled meanly, thinking,
Although Skye arrived a few minutes early, nearly every seat was already taken. There were only two empty spots, and one was next to Zinnia Idell.
Before Skye could decide what to do, Annette moved to the front of the room and called the meeting to order. She shot Skye an irritated look, and Skye scurried over to the seat next to Kurt.
As she pulled in her chair, he gave her a teasing smile. “Good choice.”
“What?”
“I hear Zinnia Idell would like to kill you.”
“How did you hear that?” Skye’s tone was irritated.
