Violence in Kindergarten- Sligo Creek Elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

How did you miss the comments about calling the police or CPS? Or, as you are also doing, calls to send the child to a more restrictive environment before even attempting to provide proper services and supports in the general classroom setting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

How did you miss the comments about calling the police or CPS? Or, as you are also doing, calls to send the child to a more restrictive environment before even attempting to provide proper services and supports in the general classroom setting?

Yes, people want the child to get a better placement with services and support that works, not magically forcing the child to fit into a group environment that is not appropriate for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

How did you miss the comments about calling the police or CPS? Or, as you are also doing, calls to send the child to a more restrictive environment before even attempting to provide proper services and supports in the general classroom setting?

Yes, people want the child to get a better placement with services and support that works, not magically forcing the child to fit into a group environment that is not appropriate for them.

I don't think anyone here is claiming this child was receiving appropriate supports in the general education classroom, so it isn't clear whether or not gen-ed is the correct placement. Are you familiar with how LRE is supposed to be determined?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

Not the PP but I would say the hesitation is asking an already drained staff to do more with less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

Not the PP but I would say the hesitation is asking an already drained staff to do more with less.

I'm not asking anyone to do anything except understand the county does not have infinite funds. The reason so much is being added for employee benefits is because they aren't collecting e our in premiums to fund the claims. That is a screw up on MCPS's part. Some of that money would be available for other purposes if MCPS managed it's health insurance funds properly. How else will MCPS waste money? More payouts to the McKnights and Biedelman's of the system? More settlements for the victims of sexual harassment they refused to investigate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

Not the PP but I would say the hesitation is asking an already drained staff to do more with less.

Sometimes the answer is to do less with less, but to do it better. e.g., there are programs, like MVA, that could simply be terminated and the savings passed back to schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

How did you miss the comments about calling the police or CPS? Or, as you are also doing, calls to send the child to a more restrictive environment before even attempting to provide proper services and supports in the general classroom setting?

Yes, people want the child to get a better placement with services and support that works, not magically forcing the child to fit into a group environment that is not appropriate for them.

I don't think anyone here is claiming this child was receiving appropriate supports in the general education classroom, so it isn't clear whether or not gen-ed is the correct placement. Are you familiar with how LRE is supposed to be determined?

WADR, you're the one not familiar with LRE and how it plays out for kids like this.

[Anonymous]

The failure is with the loser parents. They need to put their child in a special school or sit in class with him and restrain him themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

That PP. I wasn't sure what your point was, here, but, looking at further replies, I think it might be that MCPS mismanages money in a variety of ways, and that inflation shouldn't be the excuse for increased funding -- manage it better and they could address needs for IEPs without sacrificing other things.

Whether or not that is practicable, especially in the short term, is uncertain. I certainly hope that there can be better managerial decision making, fewer expensive initiatives of uncertain value, a dearth of payoffs, etc.

Unless the envisioned savings are, indeed, practicable (I think we don't know all the difficulty involved) and in the meantime, in any case, if we want more immediate attention to hiring to address IEPs we would need to find something else to cut or increase funding.

While inflation affects everyone, it also affects some areas more than others. Those areas associated with MCPS costs have maintained a higher inflationary rate than the budget increase for the year, so there is actually a relative decrease in funding from the perspective of that which MCPS can effect with that funding. Nobody is saying money grows on trees -- a little closer read of the posts would show that.

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Anonymous wrote:And the person who was injured yesterday and has staples in her head is a paraeducator, not a classroom teacher.

Then she wasn't doing her job, assuming she was in room to help with that student.

If, of course, any part of this story is true at all.

What in the f?

Why would you assume she was in the room as a 1:1 to that student?

Why would you assume that someone doing their job as a 1:1 aide can’t be harmed by a kid?

Are we all living on the same planet where a 6 year old shot a teacher last year or were you at your home base on Mars for that?

Why? Because MCPS's standard for getting a 1:1 is far less than what has been described in this thread.

And an adult that is paying attention should be more than capable of preventing a 6 year old from obtaining and throwing an apparently heavy object. Again, if this story is actually a true story, which seems less and less likely.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You think it is so easy that you stand next to the child and say -no, please stop, go back to your seat - and the out of control child automatically follows your directions?

That’s not how it works -you are trying to block getting bitten, kicked and hit at the same time to you are trying to prevent other kids from being attacked. You can’t physically restrain the out of control child like you could your own son or daughter. You really can’t touch the out of control child either. How do you prevent the child from obtaining heavy objects when the room is literally full of heavy objects. So the kid picks up a chair and you grab the chair, then get kicked in the shins at the same time and try not to fall over or get kicked again or stomped on. Meanwhile the kid rushes away from you and grabs a stapler and chucks it. Or a water bottle or heavy book. Or a pencil and tries to poke another kid.

It’s ridiculous you think it is so easy and keep denying teachers and staff members are being seriously assaulted all over the country by elementary aged students.

Very creative. But again, we're talking about a kindergartener. An adult assigned to a child should be able to prevent that child from obtaining and throwing an object like a water bottle. And a good paraeducator would be able to guide the child to calming strategies before a situation escalates to that level. That's literally the job.

Since it’s so easy you try it.

I didn't say it was easy-- I said it was the job. Unfortunately, MCPS does a terrible job training paraeducators, and makes minimal efforts to appropriately pair paraeducators with students based on their skills and needs.

Why are you so determined to underplay this, or blame the victims? I'm flummoxed about your motivations here.

I'm not underplaying it. But the fault here rests with MCPS not providing appropriate supports in the classroom, not with the 6-year-old child that some have been demonizing.

Got it. It’s your child. That’s why you’re so defensive. It’s almost impossible to get a 1:1 on an IEP AND HIRE SOMEONE FOR THE 1:1 (most 1:1 positions are considered critical staffing, which doesn’t come with benefits or paid holidays…why would you want a job w/o benefits when you could get hired as a regular para with benefits?). It’s likely the para in the room was not specifically a 1:1 and was helping multiple students at the time. Also, as pointed out earlier, you were not allowed to restrain a child or discipline in any way (per MCPS must speak in positive statements, instead of saying “no running in the halls please” we have been told to state it in the positive, “hallways are for walking.”

I'm not sure what your point is other than demonstrating other ways MCPS is failing kids with special needs. That should be the lesson here.

MCPS is absolutely failing kids with special needs…not to mention failing teachers who are quitting/leaving because of the lack of support and being stretched way too thin. Most families are not able to hire advocates to hold MCPS accountable, and unfortunately many MCPS teachers are reaching their breaking point and are tapping out.

Then why are there people here outraged at a 6-year-old instead of outraged at a school district with a $3.3 billion budget?

I have read this entire thread and have not seen anyone advocate for the child in question being locked up, nor have I seen anyone outraged at the child themselves. I've seen frustration at the school administration, and frustration at the situation but not at the kid.

It's clear to anyone who has seen this situation play out over the course of the school year that this is a child who is being failed by their current placement. A mainstream classroom with 25 other kids is simply not the right place for a child who is so disregulated that they routinely turned to violence. If the only thing you know about what's happening here is this thread, you may not know that several children have already been injured this year. For many, their first introduction to public school has been marked by violence, insecurity in terms of who their teacher is, and random adults rotating through the classroom trying to get this one child's needs met.

I think some parents in the classroom are upset that their kids kindergarten education has been disrupted, and that can exist simultaneously with compassion for a child whose needs are so great right now that they need a different sort of classroom environment until they can get to a place where they can learn together with their peers.

How did you miss the comments about calling the police or CPS? Or, as you are also doing, calls to send the child to a more restrictive environment before even attempting to provide proper services and supports in the general classroom setting?

Calling the police or CPS is the correct thing to do with a violent assault. It is a great way to start a paper trail and get parents and admin to start doing something about a violent student. It should be done every single time.

And while you are advocating for your hellion to stay and ruin the education of 25 other students and crush a teacher's soul, those same people can advocate for their children, to include getting said violent kid out of their general environment and probably don't care where they go, but they don't deserve to stay here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The failure is with the loser parents. They need to put their child in a special school or sit in class with him and restrain him themselves.

Trust me, most of them desperately want to do this. Now research special school waiting lists.

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Anonymous wrote:As an admin, let me remind you these “problem children” are protected under laws. Expulsion, suspension and exclusion are absolute last resorts and a lot of documentation and sign-off’s are needed. It rarely happens. Everything is done to keep the child in class, least restrictive environment, and minimizing learning instruction. These protections include ADHD, ED, mental illnesses along with learning disabilities. You might not like it but those children have just as much right as your child to be at school. Having said that, that is why all three of my children are in private schools.

This really sums it up. So many administrators aren't going to help teachers and will watch as teachers are assaulted over and over again and are fine that kids are witnessing violence every day that really affects them. Students aren't feeling safe at school. The least restrictive environment is different for every student who is in special education. It is the least restrictive environment WHENEVER POSSIBLE that works for the student to receive educational benefit and keep everyone safe. The law states "...special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

[20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.114; Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56342(b).]

A student who is incredibly violent in a general education classroom shouldn't be in a general education classroom because it is not the least restrictive environment for that student because it cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Some students just can't cope with being with 20 to 25 other kids in a class and need to be in a class with 8 students where they are working on emotional regulation. A good administrator does everything in his or her power to make this happen.

The key phrase there is "such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."

The issue is that MCPS doesn't want to provide those supplementary aids and services. So even if you can find a principal who wants to get rid of a kid, it is going to be pretty easy for the parents to challenge an alternative placement until they've been provided and failed.

The real question is why is MCPS not providing the help. These kids are begging for help. It's tragic as it will cost more long term rather than getting them the help they need early on.

It's expensive. And it is politically expedient to simply blame the problems on the kids themselves, rather than blaming the BoE and central administration for not providing the necessary resources.

Just look at this thread. Clearly everyone- teachers, students, parents- would be better off if the school devoted more resources to helping this child. But instead posters started lynching the child and their parents.

If we want the necessary resources, we need to be willing to pony up the taxes to fund them. Or we can continue to be under-funded (see the $55.7M gap just proposed by the County Executive), as has been the case for 25 years, now.

That $55.7 million includes $40 million to plug a gap in the MCPS health insurance fund caused by a mistake in setting premiums. A costly mistake. The County Executive is proposing increasing MCPS's budget from last year's budget by $128 million which is not a small amount.

Not sure that "increase" even keeps up with inflation.

People will say anything as long as it fits with their world view. It wouldn't be that hard to look this up but why would you bother? Inflation is down, my friend. If you look at the increase in benefits costs is much more than the 3.2% inflation we have had over the last 12 months.

Look closer. Wage inflation for primary and secondary school teachers for the 12 months ending in December 2023 was over 4.2%:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.t01.htm

The quarterly increases were 1.1% in March, 0.8% in June, 1.5% in September, 0.8% in December -- 1.011 * 1.008 * 1.015 * 1.008 = 1.0426493146, or about a 4.265% increase for the year. Wages (MoCo has to compete for teachers with other jurisdictions) and construction costs (another higher-than-CPI figure) are the main drivers?

If funding is even $128M more than last year, and not the $107M reported

https://moco360.media/2024/03/14/elrich-no-need-to-raise-property-taxes-to-pay-for-proposed-7-1-billion-operating-budget/

that would be maybe a 3.9% increase on a $3.3B budget (maybe 3.25% if only the $107M reported). So not as much as the appropriate inflation comparator. Meanwhile, the county budget as a whole was lifted 4.9%. Wonder where their priorities are, and have been for decades, now...

The article even quotes the county Chief Administrative Officer as saying,

"While we have a record amount of money on a per pupil basis for the upcoming year, when you compare it to inflation-adjusted dollars, we’re still not quite up to the level we were in the timeframe right before the Great Recession."

It's preposterous to say health insurance has to increase the same amount as wages. (It's also silly to say wages need to increase the same amount as wage inflation for the previous 12 months). Health cost inflation has actually been lower than the CPI . As for your point about the budget not keeping up with inflation, the point that the CAO is making us about how much money the county has. You assume that amount is infinite and we just need to increase taxes to pay for things. I don't know if you heard but the MD economy has not grown since 2017. You can't keep raising taxes on a stagnant base. And remember, the Council has to raise taxes on everyone, not just the rich people you assume will bankroll MCPS's incompetence.

PP. There was a DP who responded to you.

I see. You are talking about only the health/benefits bit while I was responding to the comment that the CE budget was an increase over the prior year. I pointed out that that overall increase might not be keeping up with inflation, to which the reply was that inflation was lower, now, to which I replied that the most applicable bits of the inflation basket (wages and construction costs) were actually higher that the increase the county is giving.

So MCPS essentially is being asked, overall, by some in this thread to do more (i.e., to get those para positions filled) with less (more $, but less purchasing power for the applicable goods & services). As others put it, they can find cuts to other programs & services or increase funding (addirional taxes or finding non-MCPS items in the county to cut). It would depend on priorities.

I don't know what's driving the health/benefits bit to be higher than certain other parts. I'd be interested to know if it represents new benefits or the same benefits for additional people. Unless it's all the underfunding gap of $40M noted earlier, which would explain it.

Inflation affects everyone. MCPS may be being "asked" to do more with less, because there is only so much money to go around.

Do you think money grows on trees? It doesn't.

Not the PP but I would say the hesitation is asking an already drained staff to do more with less.

Sometimes the answer is to do less with less, but to do it better. e.g., there are programs, like MVA, that could simply be terminated and the savings passed back to schools.

Why are you targeting the MVA? Lots of places to make cut backs that wouldn't directly impact some students.