32 | AUGUST 19 • 2021

EDUCATION

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Special Ed Proponent
Chaya Leah Tinman

For more than 30 years, another popular
school advocacy choice for the Jewish com-
munity was Chaya Leah “Ilene” Tinman of
Southfield.
Back in the early 1990s, Tinman found her
child’s special needs were not being met in
the school system and took it upon herself
to discover the legalities involved, learned to
rephrase what she wanted and get her son
what he was legally entitled to.
Tinman knew how unequipped she’d felt
at first and decided to help other parents
who have children struggling in school.
Word spread quick-
ly. Throughout her
decades as a school
advocate, she sat in
on hundreds of REED
and IEP meetings and
helped hundreds of
kids receive appropri-
ate supports in school.
Most times she was
able to help secure
an IEP or 504 plan for
students. “Even years later, parents still stop
me when they see me to give me an update
on their kid, telling me their child’s success
is all because of me,” Tinman said. “It’s an
incredible feeling to know I made such a dif-
ference and helped change so many lives.
Many other times, despite her best efforts,
a child was denied an IEP and helping then
felt like a “long drawn-out battle.” In those
cases, the families ultimately either took their
kids to a higher authority or threw up their
hands in defeat and gave up the fight.
“It’s always so painful to know a child is not
getting what he needs in order to succeed in
school,” Tinman said.
In June 2020, Tinman joined the staff at
Jewish Family Service, bringing her skills,
knowledge and years of experience into her
new role of director of Youth and School
Based Services, where she works directly
with the Jewish day schools in Detroit. When
parents call her these days, she helps by
guiding them to local resources. She also still
advocates for students in public schools.

— Rochel Burstyn

Chaya Leah Tinman

different back in the 1970s when Lipsitt
was a student. Her younger sister, Lori,
had learning disabilities and an auditory
processing disorder and was bounced
between second and first grade numer-
ous times, often without warning and
without her parent’s prior knowledge.
“Experiences like that always result in
negative feelings that can last a lifetime,
”
Lipsitt said. “My mother knew things
were warped, but she didn’t know how
to navigate the system. I became Lori’s
voice … just like I later became the
voice for many children with special
needs in school.
”
Lipsitt has always felt pulled toward
civil rights movements and helping oth-
ers. Her family is used to seeing Lipsitt
feeding people on the streets and buying
homeless people warm coats for the
winter.

HELP YOUR CHILD
Children are eligible for an IEP if they
qualify for special ed. There are 13
areas of eligibility: autism spectrum
disorder, cognitive impairment, physical
impairment, deaf-blind, severe multiple
impairment, early childhood develop-
mental delay, specific learning disability,
speech and language impairment, vision
impairment, hearing impairment, trau-
matic brain injury, emotional impair-
ment and otherwise health impaired.
When children do not fall into any of
those categories, they may be entitled to
a 504 plan, which also offers customized
accommodations and special education
services.
To initiate the process for an IEP
, “
A
parent needs to write a letter stating that
they want their child to be evaluated for
special ed services. It could be emailed
to the principal, Department of Special
Ed or the school psychologist — it
doesn’t really matter who,
” Lipsitt said.

“What’s most important is the date on
that letter, because legally, they have 10
school days to respond to that written
request.
”
The first meeting is called the Review
of Existing Evaluation and Data (REED)


where the parent, school psychologist,
principal and support staff will review
how the student is doing in school and
determine how the child needs to be
evaluated.
At the REED, the IEP meeting will
be scheduled. The goal is to identify the
child’s strengths and concerns, go over
assessment scores, and figure out the
accommodations, goals and objectives
and special education program and
related services which will best help the
child access his education and school
environment.
If a child is found ineligible for an IEP
,
parents have a right to request an inde-
pendent educational evaluation (IEE),
where the child will be evaluated by a
neutral party — at the school district’s
expense.
“
Again,
” Lipsitt warned. “This request
has to be in writing. Everything has to be
in writing.
”
Local parent Kelly Sessel first hired
Lipsitt when her daughter Ariel Fink,
now 25, was not succeeding in middle
school. The school was not helping her
until Lipsitt started turning up at school
meetings as Ariel’s advocate.
“Marcie knows everything inside
and out,
” Sessel said. “She fought for
our daughter and did a wonderful job.
Ariel ended up getting everything she
deserved.
”
Ariel’s IEP gave her small classes,
extra time for testing, and even said
someone should read her the informa-
tion, instead of having to read it herself.
“
Ariel ended up graduating in 2014
with a 3.6 average; she would not have

“MARCIE KNOWS EVERYTHING INSIDE AND
OUT. SHE FOUGHT FOR OUR DAUGHTER
AND DID A WONDERFUL JOB.”

— PARENT KELLY SESSEL