PGCPS policies to prevent abuse are hurting us further

[Anonymous]

Anyone at MAFI? One of the first grade teachers has disappeared...

[Anonymous]

For any of you where teachers have been out on leave, have any of them returned? If so, approximately how long do you think they were out? Due to the desire to maintain employee privacy (in other words, no immediate communications from administration on a teacher's absence) it can be hard to determine. A teacher can be out for several days before parents catch on. This is especially true when you have younger kids who may be challenging to get information from.

[Anonymous]

All the teachers who are out on administrative leave at our school left around September 4. None have returned.

[Anonymous]

They have really stepped up their response to potential abuse. All complaints, regardless of how minor, are handled by the board and not by the supervising principal. In the case of any complaint the teacher is automatically put on administrative leave. Teachers cannot make physical contact with a student or a student's belongings.

I understand the need for vigilance but there has to be better alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have really stepped up their response to potential abuse. All complaints, regardless of how minor, are handled by the board and not by the supervising principal. In the case of any complaint the teacher is automatically put on administrative leave. Teachers cannot make physical contact with a student or a student's belongings.

I understand the need for vigilance but there has to be better alternative.

My issue is that they don't have a PLAN to investigate and get teachers back in the classroom by "X" time. My kid's teacher is on admin leave because she touched a student (I won't say why to protect privacy, etc) in a non-violent, non-abusive way. So now he has a sub that no one knows how long she will be teaching the class. They aren't distributing any communication AND the county is instructing the schools not to say anything about the "missing" teachers.

This is a complete nightmare. People are on paid admin leave for crazy stuff.

[Anonymous]

They need to at least double if not triple the number of investigators they have working internally.

Teachers are being replaced by substitutes, who may or may not be any good themselves. And now there is a sub shortage so teachers who are sick are not being replaced with subs, and the classes have to be split up amongst other teachers in the building. That used to be an emergency measure only, like for use during flu outbreaks when a lot of teachers were unexpectedly out sick. Not a common occurrence in October.

[Anonymous]

I learned that at last week's board meeting they discussed some new position where the responsibility would be to head up the group tasked with conducting these investigations. I would post the video, but unfortunately I am unable to access the PGCPS.org site which is odd. Could we have crashed the site or maybe they are doing some major upgrades to the site???

Anyway, one teacher at my school returned after being out since the beginning of the school year. A few more are still out and there is rumor that another one was put on leave today.

[Anonymous]

One teacher has returned to my child's school and the other is supposed to return shortly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I learned that at last week's board meeting they discussed some new position where the responsibility would be to head up the group tasked with conducting these investigations. I would post the video, but unfortunately I am unable to access the PGCPS.org site which is odd. Could we have crashed the site or maybe they are doing some major upgrades to the site???

Anyway, one teacher at my school returned after being out since the beginning of the school year. A few more are still out and there is rumor that another one was put on leave today.

As referenced above, see the board meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJcaTYMbdM&index=1&list=PL4585E4C6234DE895

[Anonymous]

The flip side. My elementary child complained to me of being grabbed and "snatched" [my child's words exactly] out of line by a substitute. I wanted to speak with the Principal, but was torn. My concern about the issue being escalated beyond what made sense for the scenario was what caused me to pause. Of course, I called the next morning and spoke to my Principal. I was confident that she would handle the situation appropriately (speak with my child and the substitute separately to understand the situation and educate the substitute further if necessary, etc). Later in the day I received a voice mail from the Instructional Director. Really? I didn't want to talk with the Instructional Director. I wanted to learn what transpired from the substitutes perspective from my Principal. I also wanted to ensure that the substitute understands the policy as well as what is appropriate. I am losing faith in the process. What ever happened to addressing certain items at a local level through your Principal? I am sensitive to the fact that there are real abuse cases out there that need to be investigated and I don't want my issue to detract the right people from investigating those cases. We parents should never have to second guess calling our Principal to address an issue, especially if we are confident that our child had a legitimate issue, simply because we are afraid of the "over response" to the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The flip side. My elementary child complained to me of being grabbed and "snatched" [my child's words exactly] out of line by a substitute. I wanted to speak with the Principal, but was torn. My concern about the issue being escalated beyond what made sense for the scenario was what caused me to pause. Of course, I called the next morning and spoke to my Principal. I was confident that she would handle the situation appropriately (speak with my child and the substitute separately to understand the situation and educate the substitute further if necessary, etc). Later in the day I received a voice mail from the Instructional Director. Really? I didn't want to talk with the Instructional Director. I wanted to learn what transpired from the substitutes perspective from my Principal. I also wanted to ensure that the substitute understands the policy as well as what is appropriate. I am losing faith in the process. What ever happened to addressing certain items at a local level through your Principal? I am sensitive to the fact that there are real abuse cases out there that need to be investigated and I don't want my issue to detract the right people from investigating those cases. We parents should never have to second guess calling our Principal to address an issue, especially if we are confident that our child had a legitimate issue, simply because we are afraid of the "over response" to the issue.

So at this point, they are not doing this. Everything is being escalated and teachers are being suspended immediately. NOTHING will be handled locally this school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The flip side. My elementary child complained to me of being grabbed and "snatched" [my child's words exactly] out of line by a substitute. I wanted to speak with the Principal, but was torn. My concern about the issue being escalated beyond what made sense for the scenario was what caused me to pause. Of course, I called the next morning and spoke to my Principal. I was confident that she would handle the situation appropriately (speak with my child and the substitute separately to understand the situation and educate the substitute further if necessary, etc). Later in the day I received a voice mail from the Instructional Director. Really? I didn't want to talk with the Instructional Director. I wanted to learn what transpired from the substitutes perspective from my Principal. I also wanted to ensure that the substitute understands the policy as well as what is appropriate. I am losing faith in the process. What ever happened to addressing certain items at a local level through your Principal? I am sensitive to the fact that there are real abuse cases out there that need to be investigated and I don't want my issue to detract the right people from investigating those cases. We parents should never have to second guess calling our Principal to address an issue, especially if we are confident that our child had a legitimate issue, simply because we are afraid of the "over response" to the issue.

So at this point, they are not doing this. Everything is being escalated and teachers are being suspended immediately. NOTHING will be handled locally this school year.

But the thing is, if more and more teachers are being placed on leave while allegations are being investigated, even ones with no basis that should be handled at a local level -- they will be replaced by subs who may frankly have their own problems... IF a sub can even be found. I understand that there is a serious sub shortage this year, probably because they are also getting complaints.

We got a letter from my son's school that his principal is on leave. The letter didn't say medical, administrative, whatever... just "This is to notify you that the principal is on leave. The AP is in charge." I can't help but wonder what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The flip side. My elementary child complained to me of being grabbed and "snatched" [my child's words exactly] out of line by a substitute. I wanted to speak with the Principal, but was torn. My concern about the issue being escalated beyond what made sense for the scenario was what caused me to pause. Of course, I called the next morning and spoke to my Principal. I was confident that she would handle the situation appropriately (speak with my child and the substitute separately to understand the situation and educate the substitute further if necessary, etc). Later in the day I received a voice mail from the Instructional Director. Really? I didn't want to talk with the Instructional Director. I wanted to learn what transpired from the substitutes perspective from my Principal. I also wanted to ensure that the substitute understands the policy as well as what is appropriate. I am losing faith in the process. What ever happened to addressing certain items at a local level through your Principal? I am sensitive to the fact that there are real abuse cases out there that need to be investigated and I don't want my issue to detract the right people from investigating those cases. We parents should never have to second guess calling our Principal to address an issue, especially if we are confident that our child had a legitimate issue, simply because we are afraid of the "over response" to the issue.

So at this point, they are not doing this. Everything is being escalated and teachers are being suspended immediately. NOTHING will be handled locally this school year.

But the thing is, if more and more teachers are being placed on leave while allegations are being investigated, even ones with no basis that should be handled at a local level -- they will be replaced by subs who may frankly have their own problems... IF a sub can even be found. I understand that there is a serious sub shortage this year, probably because they are also getting complaints.

We got a letter from my son's school that his principal is on leave. The letter didn't say medical, administrative, whatever... just "This is to notify you that the principal is on leave. The AP is in charge." I can't help but wonder what is going on.

You are preaching to the choir. On one day last week we got a letter saying the principal (who is on admin leave) had resigned. Two days letter, we got w letter to say the previous letter was incorrect and the principal was NOT resigning.

[Anonymous]

How many principals are on leave right now? How many teachers? Is there any way to know?

[Anonymous]

Parents check out this excerpt from a PGCPS News brief: http://www.pgcps.org/communications/press.aspx?id=234325

Dr. Maxwell went on to discuss the school system’s “roadmaps” to greatness – the Student Safety Task Force recommendations and The Promise of PGCPS strategic plan.

But that’s not all, he said.

“As many of you know from your own experiences, reforming an organizational culture requires holding people accountable,” said Dr. Maxwell. “We will not protect an adult’s job at the expense of a child’s well-being. We will keep moving past challenges towards greatness.”

The above statement does resonate and it really puts into perspective what is important. I can support the statement totally, all I would ask is that there be some balance and proper execution of the policy. Addressing the issues cannot be done by eradicating any employee where a concern is raised. From conversations, that I have had with various employees, there may be a avenue for addressing items that are not severe at the local level, but folks are afraid of any accountability and liability so they escalate to their supervisor to avoid any backlash.