The Best Kept Secret

Deciding whether or not to move to a new town, when you have children, involves more than looking at the prices of real estate. You also have to check into the school district. This is usually a pretty easy thing to do - in fact, most good realtors can give you some great insights into which school districts are "good" and which are "questionable." No biggie.

Deciding whether or not to move to a new town, when you have special needs children, involves some real detective work. You see...the "ranking" of a school's special education program is a secret - bet you didn't know that. You can try to ask other parents of special needs children but they are rarely of any significant help. The ones that are receiving exceptional care for their child are usually under a confidentiality agreement by the district to not disclose information pertaining to services rendered. I swear I'm not making this stuff up. Usually the only vocal parents are the disgruntled ones and that isn't always a true indicator of the district's committment to their special needs students. And...if you call the district directly and try to get information you are informed that they can't even have a conversation with you regarding services that they do or do not offer until you have purchased a house in their district (of course by then it is too late to bail if the school is a real dud).

So, as my family begins the process of looking for a new town to move to, I channel my inner Sherlock Holmes and try to gather as much information as I can. But ultimately, I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Wish me luck.