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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Freedom Hill principal going to Haycock
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Anonymous
Absolutely true. I know at least one teacher who was run out of the school after telling a parent that her child was assaulted after the principal refused. |
Anonymous
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As a parent of kids with special needs I am increasingly feeling like the administrators are a huge issue. I keep seeing reports of teachers afraid to share information that might lead kids to be identified with dyslexia etc. They are threatened with being fired for talking. Or they get “legal” training that is just inaccurate.
I know the aides are poorly trained and paid, but honestly they have been some of the best parts of my child’s education. Why don’t teachers have whistleblower style protections? |
Anonymous
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I wonder if it would be possible to ER tuft the non-verbal students in FCPS as a class and file suit for all of the abuse and lack of appropriate services they have suffered.
Any attorneys want to weigh in? I think the parents of dyslexic kids are exploring this path in some states. |
Anonymous
It is true, and I say this as someone who works as an aide in a Special Ed classroom. I think I mentioned this in a different thread once, but there are two groups of people who do this job in places like FCPS or MCPS. The first group has prior teaching experience or at least a relevant degree and doesn't want/need a lead teacher job due to being a secondary earner. The second group has either a HS diploma, GED, or maybe an AA degree and can't get a job with good benefits anywhere else. I would bet the two aides in question are in the second group. These school systems would easily attract more people in the first group if they paid better. |
Anonymous
I would love to He involved in a dyslexic class action |
Anonymous
Principals are paid quite nicely in FCPS. Not to mention pension plans... Teachers on the other hand.... |
Anonymous
Why are you posting incorrect information? You don’t work for FCPS. The link you posted is about reporting accidents and injuries. It is not This was a case of child abuse. All FCPS educators are mandated reporters and have to follow Virginia law. The principal is NOT required to make the report. The reporting staff member makes the report as soon as possible and informs the principal. Here is the policy you should have quoted: https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/94AHZZ4AFDD2/$file/P2115.pdf And here is the Virginia Code that obligates the staff member to report to CPS: 2011 Code of Virginia Title 63.2 WELFARE (SOCIAL SERVICES). Chapter 15 Child Abuse and Neglect (63.2-1500 thru 63.2-1530) 63.2-1509 Physicians, nurses, teachers, etc., to report certain injuries to children; penalty for failure to ... Universal Citation: VA Code § 63.2-1509 (2001 through Reg Session) 63.2-1509. Physicians, nurses, teachers, etc., to report certain injuries to children; penalty for failure to report. A. The following persons who, in their professional or official capacity, have reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child, shall report the matter immediately to the local department of the county or city wherein the child resides or wherein the abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred or to the Department's toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline: 1. Any person licensed to practice medicine or any of the healing arts; 2. Any hospital resident or intern, and any person employed in the nursing profession; 3. Any person employed as a social worker; 4. Any probation officer; 5. Any teacher or other person employed in a public or private school, kindergarten or nursery school; 6. Any person providing full-time or part-time child care for pay on a regularly planned basis; 7. Any mental health professional; 8. Any law-enforcement officer or animal control officer; 9. Any mediator eligible to receive court referrals pursuant to 8.01-576.8; 10. Any professional staff person, not previously enumerated, employed by a private or state-operated hospital, institution or facility to which children have been committed or where children have been placed for care and treatment; 11. Any person associated with or employed by any private organization responsible for the care, custody or control of children; 12. Any person who is designated a court-appointed special advocate pursuant to Article 5 ( 9.1-151 et seq.) of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1; 13. Any person, over the age of 18 years, who has received training approved by the Department of Social Services for the purposes of recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect; 14. Any person employed by a local department as defined in 63.2-100 who determines eligibility for public assistance; and 15. Any emergency medical services personnel certified by the Board of Health pursuant to 32.1-111.5, unless such personnel immediately reports the matter directly to the attending physician at the hospital to which the child is transported, who shall make such report forthwith. This subsection shall not apply to any regular minister, priest, rabbi, imam, or duly accredited practitioner of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church as it relates to (i) information required by the doctrine of the religious organization or denomination to be kept in a confidential manner or (ii) information that would be subject to 8.01-400 or 19.2-271.3 if offered as evidence in court. |
Anonymous
Every single school has a policy in place that before a teacher or staff person picks up the phone to call CPS or the Police, they first inform their supervisor, which in case would likely have been either one of the Asst. Principals or the Principal. As a staff person, you ARE NOT allowed to just make your own decision and call CPS or Police, especially because CPS requires the name of the individual filing the complaint. I suppose you can call anonymously and just say "please check it out because I'm not following proper protocol" but if the administrators at that point suspect it was you, then you are reprimanded. You should get your facts straight before you post stuff that you're not fully aware of. |
Anonymous
This is absolutely true! |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| As an ex-administrator at FCPS, the policy of informing the supervisor is critical especially if you suspect that another staff person is conducting the abuse. There is good reason for this--you don't want staff making decisions that could have an adverse impact on livelihood other staff. A staff person is prohibited from making the decision to contact any authority prior to speaking to their supervisor(s), which in this specific case, would likely have involved the Asst. Principal as well. I must believe that the police investigated whether or not the Asst. Principals at FH were made aware of the situation, as they did with Bloom, and determined that Bloom was ultimately responsible for failing to meet the law quoted above. I also understand Bloom's reluctance to call CPS or Police--Freedom Hill would have come up against intense scrutiny. The abuse of school children, whether regular or special needs (but especially with special needs), by your staff is a heavy mark on your record as a Principal. It's one of the worst things that can happen to you in your career. As noted above by some of you, the buck does stop at the Principal. Depending on when he was made aware of this situation, it could have had an impact on his prospect of moving to Haycock Elementary. All that said, speaking as a retired Principal from FCPS, Bloom should have informed CPS and the Police with whatever little information he had available to him. The only call he needed to have made before informing CPS/Police is the one to his supervisors at Gatehouse. This is protocol. |
Anonymous
I think we can agree here that the two teachers will face jail time. They physically abused kids and scarred them for life. No one is in disagreement. However, Bloom will probably just get a slap on the wrist and still be employed by FCPS. Won't be a principal, but I'm sure they will stick him in some desk job. So he thought his career and moving to a different elementary school were more important than the safety of the kids. Because of that physical abused continued till a new principal came in. Thank god those kids had a principal who didn't find stopping physical abuse to be a negative impact in his career. The physical abuse from April to September could have been prevented. However, one man's lack of moral sense and inability to actually do the hard part of his job those kids had to deal with abusive treatment. Yet he has been on paid leave and most likely only get a slap on the wrist, because that's just how FCPS handles things. How is that for justice? I hope the parents of the kids sue to the living hell out of FCPS. This isn't the first time. There are many instances that were covered up. The teachers knows about it. Parents know about it. Brabrand sure knows about it. FCPS needs a major change in leadership. And for those who are crying about how the initial FCPS employee that reported to Bloom should be held accountable for not reporting themselves, talk to some teachers in private about what really happens around FCPS. A lot of teachers are afraid to speak out because of the retaliation that they might face. Among the teachers, this is a common knowledge. And the some parents know that whatever they report usually gets thrown back at their face. There instances where CPS is called on the parents when the parents report in for possible physical abuse at the school. FCPS' system is broken and to start fixing that, major leadership change needs to happen. Better evaluations with not only the teachers, but all the folks who are in the supervisory roles of those teachers. What happened to those kids isn't just because of two irresponsible and sick adults. It's also happened because there aren't enough strong leaders in FCPS. Don't get me wrong. There are some good people in FCPS. Really good teachers who genuinely care. Really good folks in the leadership role that only care about how they can help to improve the lives of the students and the teachers. But right now FCPS has way too many people who only care about career advancement and not enough about the kids. Unfortunately, stuff like this happens and kids are scarred for life. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. |
Anonymous
So the principal being in the reporting chain is a clear conflict of interest. FCPS needs to establish an independent support person to help staff report abuse and then inform the principal. Because, bluntly, anyone who has decided to not report abuse because of the potential harm to their career deserves to be in jail. |
Anonymous
Such a crock. Here is what is harmful to ones career: not reporting!!!!! Look at this mess. |
Anonymous
Only in FCPS it only matters if you are caught. And they chose to abuse kids who can’t speak. |