Supervision at recess in elementary school question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We appreciate when parents are willing to volunteer their time and it’s the only long term solution. We are short staffed bc we are allocated so few hours for para support and secondly, paras are not applying for these positions since they can now make a higher hourly rate working at fast food chains and not have to deal with rude and unruly children. Parents HAVE to step in and support or this will not be sustainable. I think it’s reasonable for parents to give up one hour of their work day a few days a year to be our partner in all of this. I’d be willing to give up my limited pto if my child’s school requested volunteers.

However, it would also be great if parents supported schools by modeling and teaching their kids how to behave at school. Teachers remind the kids every day, but are often ignored. Parents can help by taking their kids to a park over the weekend and see how they interact with others (be present with your child and off your phone). If they misbehave, intervene, make them apologize, and hold them accountable for their actions with having consequences at home.

So you say two contradictory things here.

You say parents have to volunteer because "it's the only long-term solution." But then, in the same breath, you point out that the actual problem is we have not allocated enough resources to hire the necessary number of paraeducators needed to successfully manage recess.

So....why not instead focus efforts on lobbying MCPS for the right number of resources so that we're not relying on the kindness and availability of parents who have the privilege to work from home or not to work at all and be a stay-at-home parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a minimum adult to child ratio that MCPS schools must maintain during recess periods? I’ve begun volunteering at my child’s school at recess because I keep hearing from the kids about problems at recess. I am shocked at how few staff there are supervising and how many kids are fighting with each other. Is there some minimum threshold they have to have to maintain a safe environment?

Nope. It’s Lord of the Flies out there every day.

Yes, pretty much. It’s pretty bad. We had kids fighting at our elementary school, even pre-Covid.

Our previous principal welcomed parent volunteers, but now we have a new one who is adamant about keeping parents out of the school building.

Recess is a mess.

Which school? I would think it would be helpful to them.

[Anonymous]

Call me "not smart".

I cannot find the hourly rate being a Para Sp Ed in any of the MCPS job listings. It only said "Job Grade: 12-13 Optimal Qualified"

I also cannot find the hourly rate being a Para in any of the MCPS job listings. It only said "Job Grade: 12-13 Optimal Qualified"

And MCPS really think posting a youtube like this would attract quality candidates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me9-qdBp4tU

All fastfood places at least specifically posted say $17 and up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

The Covid money had to be used for specific things, so they can’t just move it around to use it efficiently.

It’s like because it always has been. There are empty para jobs everywhere so creating more won’t help without people to fill them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

Your reasoning is sound, but hte problem is that you've moved to a school district that doesn't use sound reasoning to make decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

The Covid money had to be used for specific things, so they can’t just move it around to use it efficiently.

It’s like because it always has been. There are empty para jobs everywhere so creating more won’t help without people to fill them.

Actually the relief money was basically a blank check, and many districts are just sitting on the cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We appreciate when parents are willing to volunteer their time and it’s the only long term solution. We are short staffed bc we are allocated so few hours for para support and secondly, paras are not applying for these positions since they can now make a higher hourly rate working at fast food chains and not have to deal with rude and unruly children. Parents HAVE to step in and support or this will not be sustainable. I think it’s reasonable for parents to give up one hour of their work day a few days a year to be our partner in all of this. I’d be willing to give up my limited pto if my child’s school requested volunteers.

However, it would also be great if parents supported schools by modeling and teaching their kids how to behave at school. Teachers remind the kids every day, but are often ignored. Parents can help by taking their kids to a park over the weekend and see how they interact with others (be present with your child and off your phone). If they misbehave, intervene, make them apologize, and hold them accountable for their actions with having consequences at home.

So you say two contradictory things here.

You say parents have to volunteer because "it's the only long-term solution." But then, in the same breath, you point out that the actual problem is we have not allocated enough resources to hire the necessary number of paraeducators needed to successfully manage recess.

So....why not instead focus efforts on lobbying MCPS for the right number of resources so that we're not relying on the kindness and availability of parents who have the privilege to work from home or not to work at all and be a stay-at-home parent?

So who do we have to lobby for this? A staffing level of less than 1:50 for 5 and 6 year old kids, is just ridiculous and it’s unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

Your reasoning is sound, but hte problem is that you've moved to a school district that doesn't use sound reasoning to make decisions.

This. If you stick around long enough, you will see this over and over and over, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

There was an actually an incident at our ES where several kids left campus during recess. It was a big deal. I have no idea what the ratios are. We’ve been told parents cannot volunteer to supervise recess (per MCPS policy) so I’m curious about the previous poster asking for parents to volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

The Covid money had to be used for specific things, so they can’t just move it around to use it efficiently.

It’s like because it always has been. There are empty para jobs everywhere so creating more won’t help without people to fill them.

Actually the relief money was basically a blank check, and many districts are just sitting on the cash.

Right- didn’t MCPS infamously use that money for bocce ball sets? Why couldn’t they use it to address the staffing shortages with higher pay? Frankly you’d probably only need to increase pay for paras by a bit to siphon away more childcare workers. I know of a couple who made the jump to MCPS because even though the pay was only marginally better, the benefits were definitely better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

The Covid money had to be used for specific things, so they can’t just move it around to use it efficiently.

It’s like because it always has been. There are empty para jobs everywhere so creating more won’t help without people to fill them.

Actually the relief money was basically a blank check, and many districts are just sitting on the cash.

It actually wasn’t a blank check. There were specific things each type of funding could be used towards. Which makes it hard in some ways to spend it efficiently on what each district really needs and some school districts have been creative in how they’ve worded/allocated to pay for things needed. Further the finding is only short term, so if you raise starting salaries with the funds, at some point you have to move those amounts into your actual budget in order to be able to continue to fund the position long term. And there is the natural consequence of likely needing to raise other salaries in order to keep up. That’s not to say that Para salaries should not be raised, but it should be acknowledged that ESSR funding is not a sustainable source of revenue by which to pay for the increase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

There was an actually an incident at our ES where several kids left campus during recess. It was a big deal. I have no idea what the ratios are. We’ve been told parents cannot volunteer to supervise recess (per MCPS policy) so I’m curious about the previous poster asking for parents to volunteer.

I would be concerned about a school not allowing parents at recess. It sounds like they have something to hide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

There was an actually an incident at our ES where several kids left campus during recess. It was a big deal. I have no idea what the ratios are. We’ve been told parents cannot volunteer to supervise recess (per MCPS policy) so I’m curious about the previous poster asking for parents to volunteer.

I would be concerned about a school not allowing parents at recess. It sounds like they have something to hide.

Not necessarily. Parents aren't MCPS employees and trained on how to descalate child conflict. And they also could show favoritism toward their child. Do you really want parents policing other people's kids' behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe this is an ignorant question as we see new to the area, but why on earth is this the case? It seems to be a huge liability. I mean, I can see a situation where a child could easily wander off or be abducted and literally no one would know. And I don’t understand why they don’t pay paraeducators more, if that is the reason they can’t hire. Where are all the taxpayer dollars going, as well as the massive infusion of funds MCPS received from COVID relief? It makes no sense to me.

There was an actually an incident at our ES where several kids left campus during recess. It was a big deal. I have no idea what the ratios are. We’ve been told parents cannot volunteer to supervise recess (per MCPS policy) so I’m curious about the previous poster asking for parents to volunteer.

I would be concerned about a school not allowing parents at recess. It sounds like they have something to hide.

Not necessarily. Parents aren't MCPS employees and trained on how to descalate child conflict. And they also could show favoritism toward their child. Do you really want parents policing other people's kids' behavior?

You must not have volunteered at an MCPS recess. Yes, I will take parents volunteering any day. When I volunteered on a regular basis when my daughter was in K, I regularly went back and forth to the nurses' office alond with several other parents because so many kids had injuries, bloody noses, etc. MCPS absolutely needs parent volunteers to make it work. Would it be better if they had an adequate number of professionals doing it? Absolutely. But given that they don't, it's not doable without a lot of parents regularly volunteering, at least in the younger grades.

[Anonymous]

Go to the MCPS website - there are MANY paraeducator positions open. When these go unfilled there aren't enough to support all the kids. BTW, teachers are also quitting mid-year