Teacher shot at Newport News elementary school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Criminal Justice at work?

https://apnews.com/article/virginia-school-shooting-teacher-newport-news-2313674ec980908c33e60d59f1cec075

I cannot imagine working in such a poorly run school system with students placed inappropriately in classrooms without needed supports and then fighting hard to avoid paying out money to a teacher who was shot by a first grader.

Well most systems around the DMV have students placed inappropriately. And the school system isn’t fighting paying her. They just disagree on what is owed. She wants a big payout and the school system believes she’s owed workers comp, which provides wage loss, medical and permanent disability payments.

They ARE fighting it. Workers comp isn't nearly enough for what she experienced, and I would love to be privy to the behind the scenes conversations about how to cover up what really transpired and the terrible decisions that were made regarding this child's placement, despite his history of disturbing behaviors.

Will add that in all of my years of teaching and evaluating students with special needs, I've never known of a situation in which a parent was in the classroom daily...and most definitely should not be one who uses drugs.

I agree that we would never see those accommodations in the DMV. And apparently the legislature in VA believes that WC is sufficient to compensate injured workers or they would change the law. This is just a case where the courts are going to have to decide whether it is workers’ comp. It’s going to be years because this will go to VA’s highest court.

And while this is truly horrific, there are far worse accidents/incidents that have been deemed workers’ comp. It’s our country’s trade off - employees can always get compensated when hurt at work even if they are at fault but in exchange they can’t sue if it is the employer’s fault. There are some exceptions on both sides like if someone intentionally hurts themselves. But when it happens while working it is almost deemed workers’ comp. I’m looking forward to seeing the ultimate decision here.

Last thing I’ll say is that I think WC is more generous than you believe though it won’t likely reach millions in benefits - but it’s possible given her age.

What? You're way off here - it simply doesn't get any worse than being intentionally shot by a 6 year old.

Period. Full stop.

One could contend that there are things as bad; but nothing worse or "far worse".

NP here. I'm very glad for you, that you don't know some of the other things things that can happen to employees, but I agree with the PP above you that there are far worse things that have been deemed worker's comp in the past.

Just because you can't imagine them, doesn't mean that they don't exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

ull
I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

I get that you can't charge a 6 year old, but how on earth has there been no mandated full psychological evaluation?

The mom/parents/family failed horrifically, but the kid clearly isn't neurologically "normal." At what point is an evaluation made a medical requirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

That has to be incorrect because the child spent kindergarten at a different elementary school where he choked his teacher with a jump rope and was expelled. So he was transferred for 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

That has to be incorrect because the child spent kindergarten at a different elementary school where he choked his teacher with a jump rope and was expelled. So he was transferred for 1st grade.

PP here. I get that, and maybe there is documentation. I just know that kids can be transferred to a different school "quietly" with little documentation other than word of mouth as to past behaviors. It's truly beyond anything I've ever seen in the world of special education to have a child's mother (a drug addict it appears) in the classroom each day. I'm highly doubtful that he had a properly documented IEP.

[Anonymous]

From today's sentencing: https://wtop.com/virginia/2023/12/her-6-year-old-son-shot-his-teacher-now-a-virginia-woman-faces-sentencing-for-child-neglect/

"The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator."

"Taylor was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. The combination of her state and federal sentences amounts to a total punishment of nearly four years behind bars."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His great-grandfather, who has custody, said that he’s in school but it’s not a Newport News public school.

So private? Or moved away from that area and now at a public school in another county??

Public outside NN is what I heard. Hopefully without violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

That has to be incorrect because the child spent kindergarten at a different elementary school where he choked his teacher with a jump rope and was expelled. So he was transferred for 1st grade.

There are a lot of photos of the child on another site, the parents and family did not lock down social media until very recently. The child is small and skinny but has very low set ears, which sometimes correlates with lack of empathy.

The parents and grandmother exposed him to a lot of violent media, GTA, the father watches a lot of violent movies and porn, the all called him "Badness" and noted his outbursts and dysregulation. The grandmother and mother had new relationships, wonder if he felt "left" and that added to his anger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

That has to be incorrect because the child spent kindergarten at a different elementary school where he choked his teacher with a jump rope and was expelled. So he was transferred for 1st grade.

He attended a daycare w/ a K program in the intervening time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe he is enrolled at another school. Hell to the no.

I am 100% sure he is enrolled in a therapeutic school, likely within a psychiatric facility or juvenile detention facility for children. They cannot disclose this due to privacy issues.

+1. There is no chance a regular public school would take him. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is upon arrival based on the paper trail and teachers and other families would jump ship immediately.

I really hope you are right re: therapeutic school with psych.

The problem is that parents and sometimes previous schools and school systems don't forward all the info. Or they purposely omit certain facts from IEP minutes. Or a child gets "homeschooled" for awhile and enrolls in another district without all the paperwork. Trust me, it's not uncommon for kids with significant behavioral and neurological issues.

DP. I think this is generally true but this incident was so widely publicized and you can find the names of a lot of the people involved quite easily.

I hope you're right, but pictures of the child aren't readily available; and it seems that no thorough, formal documentation of his issues exists.

That has to be incorrect because the child spent kindergarten at a different elementary school where he choked his teacher with a jump rope and was expelled. So he was transferred for 1st grade.

PP here. I get that, and maybe there is documentation. I just know that kids can be transferred to a different school "quietly" with little documentation other than word of mouth as to past behaviors. It's truly beyond anything I've ever seen in the world of special education to have a child's mother (a drug addict it appears) in the classroom each day. I'm highly doubtful that he had a properly documented IEP.

Guesses as to why this child/family were handled SO differently, even after the very serious issue in K at another school? Sometimes the father attended too, or one of the grandparents.

Maybe she passed a background check? She did not have these charges before the shooting and if she used edibles she would not reek of weed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From today's sentencing: https://wtop.com/virginia/2023/12/her-6-year-old-son-shot-his-teacher-now-a-virginia-woman-faces-sentencing-for-child-neglect/

"The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator."

"Taylor was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. The combination of her state and federal sentences amounts to a total punishment of nearly four years behind bars."

I also read on wavy that the child told the police he got the gun out of her purse in the top drawer of his mother’s dresser. It was not in the top shelf of her closet with a trigger lock like she claimed. Hence she kept a loaded gun, in her purse, in her dresser and he knew it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His great-grandfather, who has custody, said that he’s in school but it’s not a Newport News public school.

So private? Or moved away from that area and now at a public school in another county??

Public outside NN is what I heard. Hopefully without violence.

This child has no business being enrolled in a mainstream public school. This is why alternative schools should still be a thing.
Or at least have him educated virtually. He is clearly a threat to others.
I sincerely hope he is receiving some sort of therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His great-grandfather, who has custody, said that he’s in school but it’s not a Newport News public school.

So private? Or moved away from that area and now at a public school in another county??

Public outside NN is what I heard. Hopefully without violence.

This child has no business being enrolled in a mainstream public school. This is why alternative schools should still be a thing.
Or at least have him educated virtually. He is clearly a threat to others.
I sincerely hope he is receiving some sort of therapy.

+1 and an appropriate IEP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His great-grandfather, who has custody, said that he’s in school but it’s not a Newport News public school.

So private? Or moved away from that area and now at a public school in another county??

Public outside NN is what I heard. Hopefully without violence.

Well, that is impossible for this kid. He is one of those that will continue to commit crimes and be violent until he kills someone or is killed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Criminal Justice at work?

https://apnews.com/article/virginia-school-shooting-teacher-newport-news-2313674ec980908c33e60d59f1cec075

I cannot imagine working in such a poorly run school system with students placed inappropriately in classrooms without needed supports and then fighting hard to avoid paying out money to a teacher who was shot by a first grader.

Well most systems around the DMV have students placed inappropriately. And the school system isn’t fighting paying her. They just disagree on what is owed. She wants a big payout and the school system believes she’s owed workers comp, which provides wage loss, medical and permanent disability payments.

They ARE fighting it. Workers comp isn't nearly enough for what she experienced, and I would love to be privy to the behind the scenes conversations about how to cover up what really transpired and the terrible decisions that were made regarding this child's placement, despite his history of disturbing behaviors.

Will add that in all of my years of teaching and evaluating students with special needs, I've never known of a situation in which a parent was in the classroom daily...and most definitely should not be one who uses drugs.

I agree that we would never see those accommodations in the DMV. And apparently the legislature in VA believes that WC is sufficient to compensate injured workers or they would change the law. This is just a case where the courts are going to have to decide whether it is workers’ comp. It’s going to be years because this will go to VA’s highest court.

And while this is truly horrific, there are far worse accidents/incidents that have been deemed workers’ comp. It’s our country’s trade off - employees can always get compensated when hurt at work even if they are at fault but in exchange they can’t sue if it is the employer’s fault. There are some exceptions on both sides like if someone intentionally hurts themselves. But when it happens while working it is almost deemed workers’ comp. I’m looking forward to seeing the ultimate decision here.

Last thing I’ll say is that I think WC is more generous than you believe though it won’t likely reach millions in benefits - but it’s possible given her age.

PP here. Thank you for taking the time to share this info. Very helpful! I'm just still rather horrified and in disbelief that a child with this history of issues would have been in that classroom setting with his mother (or other parent?) as support. It's just really hard for me to understand the administrators' decisions.

What I want to come out of this horrific case is that admin (and the school district) get in such trouble from the decision to keep this child (that had already throttled his K teacher, and much more), in a mainstream classroom, and left all the parents of the class in the dark, that no admin can ever pull such a dangerous stunt ever again.

I don't know what needs to happen legally, but the current climate in Virginia is all about parents wanting to be aware of their kids' books/lessons/pronouns and everything else in detail - but what parents need to know most of all, is that their child is not placed in a classroom with a violent psychopath (or repeat rapist for that matter!)!! In psychiatry there is such a thing as the duty to inform potential victims. It supersedes all other confidentiality laws. School districts minimizing violence, and sweeping history of violent crimes, or history of significant violent assaults, and similar under the rug, or simply moving the student around to another unsuspecting school, needs to be impossible in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67406777

"They have argued that Taylor needs therapy for mental health issues, including schizoaffective disorder, and treatment for marijuana addiction."

So frightening that she could even purchase a gun to begin with.

How about some nitwit "educator" with a doctoral degreed thought this woman should be in her child's classroom every day. As a parent or teacher in the school, I would be furious.

I would be, too. Shortly after this happened, a parent from that classroom wrote on Reddit that they were only aware that he was a problematic child, but not nearly the extent of it. He picked on certain children, too, and terrorized them.