Whitman being evacuated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one over 18 should be in a public high school. If for whatever reason they’ll turn 19 during the course of a school year (retention at some point, special program, etc.) they should complete that school year at an alternative location. 19 year olds shouldn’t be in class with 13 year olds.

You realize how many students are walking the halls of MCPS high schools who are on probation? wearing ankle monitors? Some schools have their own probation officers. There is no alternative location. They go from their bail hearing right back to their local high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I heard, the suspect has been in altercations before.

The overall issue with school violence in MCPS is that they closed down the school for students with behavioral problems (Twain) a couple years ago, to much fanfare. Now, students with issues who are a threat are just shifted around between schools. In the Damascus rape case, the ringleader was on his third high school by that point, since that's all they can do.

There is still RICA. To go there, I think that a student has to be formally diagnosed with an emotional disability. It's not just for "bad behavior," no matter how much "emotional disability" and "bad behavior" may overlap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Last year a student from the shelter was admitted to Pyle. Same story. Held back. Obviously significant issues. Disrupted a PE class by yelling and disrespecting a teacher, who asked him to stop. Selling pot at at school. Eventually arrested and led out in handcuffs. Sad. No place else to put someone like this? And we are 'racist' if we don't want this sort of thing in the school?

The same story could have been told without saying the student is from the shelter. Would it be better if the child wasn’t from the shelter and disrupted class and sold pot? Throwing the background of the child in there could lead someone to believe either only kids from the shelter cause problems or the solution to the issue is not have any kids from the shelter attend the school. Unless you are trying to say the shelter needs to provide additional supports and you are leading the way to get extra resource counselors etc, why is it relevant? If people selling pot at the school (which is a crime) is an issue, focus on that regardless of background. If children having severe emotional/behavioral issues mainstreamed at the school with no support - focus on how they have the right to an education and get the needed support while other children also get what they need in the educational environment- safety, challenging curriculum etc. Imagine you have two children - one with severe emotional/social behavioral issues and one without, how would you expect the school district to address both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The word around school is that the victim said something racist to the attacker the week before. Obviously that doesn't make it less awful. When we teach kids about why you shouldn't be racist, it might help to tell the really determined ones that if nothing else they should shut up so they don't get beaten up.

This happens at other schools, too. It's not victim-blaming; it's reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, every time we’ve tried to provide more support and advocated for a different placement for students who REALLY need it, we can’t get the parents to return phone calls or attend the meetings. We currently have a student who elopes up to 5 times per day, hits staff members and has screaming fits multiple times per day and we’ve had to have a staff member one on one with him, which means that resources are taken from others in order to make that work.

We would like to provide that support for him officially but that requires data collection and many meetings. The parent will not take phone calls and will not respond to meeting requests. This significantly delays the process to get him the services and resources he needs. This has been the pattern with almost every student with these behavioral issues. So staff members continue to be hit and resources that other kids should also have access to are being used for just this one child. —teacher

I apologize, PP, but I am wondering what word you meant to use before autocorrect fixed it. Erupts?

No, I meant that he elopes. It wasn't autocorrect. That is the term used to describe when students run out of the classroom (or any area they're supposed to be in at that time) or even out of the building. This student has done both, even with a staff member with him 1:1. He is much faster than an adult, and we are not allowed to physically stop him.

Isn't there special training that teachers and paras can take through MCPS to be able to lawfully restrain a child? I understand that the child may be not in danger if he's just running around the building, but he may be endangering other students by running so fast and he may endanger himself if he keeps running to the street or parking lot. Or does he stop when he gets to the edge of school grounds?

[Anonymous]

The state of MoCo public schools today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I heard, the suspect has been in altercations before.

The overall issue with school violence in MCPS is that they closed down the school for students with behavioral problems (Twain) a couple years ago, to much fanfare. Now, students with issues who are a threat are just shifted around between schools. In the Damascus rape case, the ringleader was on his third high school by that point, since that's all they can do.

There is still RICA. To go there, I think that a student has to be formally diagnosed with an emotional disability. It's not just for "bad behavior," no matter how much "emotional disability" and "bad behavior" may overlap.

That's one school for a specific population and with limited seats. You know how many are roaming the halls of your local school in ankel bracelets right now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, every time we’ve tried to provide more support and advocated for a different placement for students who REALLY need it, we can’t get the parents to return phone calls or attend the meetings. We currently have a student who elopes up to 5 times per day, hits staff members and has screaming fits multiple times per day and we’ve had to have a staff member one on one with him, which means that resources are taken from others in order to make that work.

We would like to provide that support for him officially but that requires data collection and many meetings. The parent will not take phone calls and will not respond to meeting requests. This significantly delays the process to get him the services and resources he needs. This has been the pattern with almost every student with these behavioral issues. So staff members continue to be hit and resources that other kids should also have access to are being used for just this one child. —teacher

I apologize, PP, but I am wondering what word you meant to use before autocorrect fixed it. Erupts?

No, I meant that he elopes. It wasn't autocorrect. That is the term used to describe when students run out of the classroom (or any area they're supposed to be in at that time) or even out of the building. This student has done both, even with a staff member with him 1:1. He is much faster than an adult, and we are not allowed to physically stop him.

Isn't there special training that teachers and paras can take through MCPS to be able to lawfully restrain a child? I understand that the child may be not in danger if he's just running around the building, but he may be endangering other students by running so fast and he may endanger himself if he keeps running to the street or parking lot. Or does he stop when he gets to the edge of school grounds?

Yes, some staff members are trained but you can't go around restraining kids multiple times per day. It is very rare that the physical restraint can be used. And the situation PP describes isn't rare at all. -NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one over 18 should be in a public high school. If for whatever reason they’ll turn 19 during the course of a school year (retention at some point, special program, etc.) they should complete that school year at an alternative location. 19 year olds shouldn’t be in class with 13 year olds.

Then you should contact your state legislators and ask them to change state law.

(Also, as a reminder, the cut-off for MCPS is September 1. So everybody except students who did early entrance to kindergarten/first grade is 14 at the beginning of 9th grade. And early-entrance students turn 14 within 6 weeks of the beginning of 9th grade.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, every time we’ve tried to provide more support and advocated for a different placement for students who REALLY need it, we can’t get the parents to return phone calls or attend the meetings. We currently have a student who elopes up to 5 times per day, hits staff members and has screaming fits multiple times per day and we’ve had to have a staff member one on one with him, which means that resources are taken from others in order to make that work.

We would like to provide that support for him officially but that requires data collection and many meetings. The parent will not take phone calls and will not respond to meeting requests. This significantly delays the process to get him the services and resources he needs. This has been the pattern with almost every student with these behavioral issues. So staff members continue to be hit and resources that other kids should also have access to are being used for just this one child. —teacher

I apologize, PP, but I am wondering what word you meant to use before autocorrect fixed it. Erupts?

No, I meant that he elopes. It wasn't autocorrect. That is the term used to describe when students run out of the classroom (or any area they're supposed to be in at that time) or even out of the building. This student has done both, even with a staff member with him 1:1. He is much faster than an adult, and we are not allowed to physically stop him.

Isn't there special training that teachers and paras can take through MCPS to be able to lawfully restrain a child? I understand that the child may be not in danger if he's just running around the building, but he may be endangering other students by running so fast and he may endanger himself if he keeps running to the street or parking lot. Or does he stop when he gets to the edge of school grounds?

...We're teachers, not bouncers. I'm 5'3 and 110 pounds. I'm not restraining anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Last year a student from the shelter was admitted to Pyle. Same story. Held back. Obviously significant issues. Disrupted a PE class by yelling and disrespecting a teacher, who asked him to stop. Selling pot at at school. Eventually arrested and led out in handcuffs. Sad. No place else to put someone like this? And we are 'racist' if we don't want this sort of thing in the school?

The same story could have been told without saying the student is from the shelter. Would it be better if the child wasn’t from the shelter and disrupted class and sold pot? Throwing the background of the child in there could lead someone to believe either only kids from the shelter cause problems or the solution to the issue is not have any kids from the shelter attend the school. Unless you are trying to say the shelter needs to provide additional supports and you are leading the way to get extra resource counselors etc, why is it relevant? If people selling pot at the school (which is a crime) is an issue, focus on that regardless of background. If children having severe emotional/behavioral issues mainstreamed at the school with no support - focus on how they have the right to an education and get the needed support while other children also get what they need in the educational environment- safety, challenging curriculum etc. Imagine you have two children - one with severe emotional/social behavioral issues and one without, how would you expect the school district to address both.

The challenge is that these kids arrive with significant issues and are often not around very long. The schools don't have the resources to handle them. I don't know how MCPS assigns teachers/aides but these are kids who come and go so probably aren't in the student counts or even the special ed counts that would trigger resources.

While the idea of plopping them into an atmosphere where the students are focused on school sounds like a good one, the gap is sometimes so large that I suspect it's a little demoralizing to them. They are also generally not eligible to participate in sports because their grades don't meet the minimums so they don't have that outlet either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Last year a student from the shelter was admitted to Pyle. Same story. Held back. Obviously significant issues. Disrupted a PE class by yelling and disrespecting a teacher, who asked him to stop. Selling pot at at school. Eventually arrested and led out in handcuffs. Sad. No place else to put someone like this? And we are 'racist' if we don't want this sort of thing in the school?

The same story could have been told without saying the student is from the shelter. Would it be better if the child wasn’t from the shelter and disrupted class and sold pot? Throwing the background of the child in there could lead someone to believe either only kids from the shelter cause problems or the solution to the issue is not have any kids from the shelter attend the school. Unless you are trying to say the shelter needs to provide additional supports and you are leading the way to get extra resource counselors etc, why is it relevant? If people selling pot at the school (which is a crime) is an issue, focus on that regardless of background. If children having severe emotional/behavioral issues mainstreamed at the school with no support - focus on how they have the right to an education and get the needed support while other children also get what they need in the educational environment- safety, challenging curriculum etc. Imagine you have two children - one with severe emotional/social behavioral issues and one without, how would you expect the school district to address both.

The challenge is that these kids arrive with significant issues and are often not around very long. The schools don't have the resources to handle them. I don't know how MCPS assigns teachers/aides but these are kids who come and go so probably aren't in the student counts or even the special ed counts that would trigger resources.

While the idea of plopping them into an atmosphere where the students are focused on school sounds like a good one, the gap is sometimes so large that I suspect it's a little demoralizing to them. They are also generally not eligible to participate in sports because their grades don't meet the minimums so they don't have that outlet either.

My kid went to ES with kids from there. Kids dont stay long enough to make friend and form bond. We had birthday party one or two kids from there joined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one over 18 should be in a public high school. If for whatever reason they’ll turn 19 during the course of a school year (retention at some point, special program, etc.) they should complete that school year at an alternative location. 19 year olds shouldn’t be in class with 13 year olds.

13 year olds aren’t in high school. My son has a July birthday and even he was 14 when he was a freshman (will graduate at 17).

What is your cut off for sending a 19 year old to a different school? April 30 birthday? Boom send you an alternate school for six weeks?

Absolutely absurd, and I don’t believe in red shirting. 99% of 18 and 19 year old seniors (adults) are just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, every time we’ve tried to provide more support and advocated for a different placement for students who REALLY need it, we can’t get the parents to return phone calls or attend the meetings. We currently have a student who elopes up to 5 times per day, hits staff members and has screaming fits multiple times per day and we’ve had to have a staff member one on one with him, which means that resources are taken from others in order to make that work.

We would like to provide that support for him officially but that requires data collection and many meetings. The parent will not take phone calls and will not respond to meeting requests. This significantly delays the process to get him the services and resources he needs. This has been the pattern with almost every student with these behavioral issues. So staff members continue to be hit and resources that other kids should also have access to are being used for just this one child. —teacher

I apologize, PP, but I am wondering what word you meant to use before autocorrect fixed it. Erupts?

No, I meant that he elopes. It wasn't autocorrect. That is the term used to describe when students run out of the classroom (or any area they're supposed to be in at that time) or even out of the building. This student has done both, even with a staff member with him 1:1. He is much faster than an adult, and we are not allowed to physically stop him.

Isn't there special training that teachers and paras can take through MCPS to be able to lawfully restrain a child? I understand that the child may be not in danger if he's just running around the building, but he may be endangering other students by running so fast and he may endanger himself if he keeps running to the street or parking lot. Or does he stop when he gets to the edge of school grounds?

...We're teachers, not bouncers. I'm 5'3 and 110 pounds. I'm not restraining anyone.

You would if the alternative is being bitten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, every time we’ve tried to provide more support and advocated for a different placement for students who REALLY need it, we can’t get the parents to return phone calls or attend the meetings. We currently have a student who elopes up to 5 times per day, hits staff members and has screaming fits multiple times per day and we’ve had to have a staff member one on one with him, which means that resources are taken from others in order to make that work.

We would like to provide that support for him officially but that requires data collection and many meetings. The parent will not take phone calls and will not respond to meeting requests. This significantly delays the process to get him the services and resources he needs. This has been the pattern with almost every student with these behavioral issues. So staff members continue to be hit and resources that other kids should also have access to are being used for just this one child. —teacher

I apologize, PP, but I am wondering what word you meant to use before autocorrect fixed it. Erupts?

No, I meant that he elopes. It wasn't autocorrect. That is the term used to describe when students run out of the classroom (or any area they're supposed to be in at that time) or even out of the building. This student has done both, even with a staff member with him 1:1. He is much faster than an adult, and we are not allowed to physically stop him.

Isn't there special training that teachers and paras can take through MCPS to be able to lawfully restrain a child? I understand that the child may be not in danger if he's just running around the building, but he may be endangering other students by running so fast and he may endanger himself if he keeps running to the street or parking lot. Or does he stop when he gets to the edge of school grounds?

...We're teachers, not bouncers. I'm 5'3 and 110 pounds. I'm not restraining anyone.

You would if the alternative is being bitten.

Nope. Did you see the size of that kid? I think I'm going to stick with my strategy of not calling anyone the N word.