Last year, my husband and I paid for a tutor for our daughter (who has ADHD) because she was failing math. By the third quarter, she was still failing so we decided to have her kept back a year and sent to another school so that she wouldn’t have the stigma of seeing her friends pass on ahead of her. We also verbally asked to have her tested academically. This didn’t happen.

The principal sent a letter stating that he didn’t feel that she was a candidate for retention.

Her final report card says differently. She failed two subjects and, except for two good grades, she received Ds.

Not only was she passed onto the next grade (6th), but we were never even offered summer school for her. I wasn’t too worried about this because we were going to move and wouldn’t be in Lewiston any more and could have the new school test her, but that fell through. So I even tried to have her placed in another public school, hoping to finally have her tested by the teachers there and kept back to 5th grade. I was refused this option also.

My family, not just my husband and I, all feel that she should be kept back. My daughter even knows she needs to be kept back. Don’t we, as her parents, have the right to decide what’s in the best interest for our child?

I don’t think this is what they meant by “No Child Left Behind.”

Kellie Dury, Lewiston

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