Teacher shot at Newport News elementary school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ditch restorative justice in the schools.

It is horrible for the victim and horrible for teachers.

Return to old fashioned discipline and suspensions.

Unfortunately, can’t happen because Biden brought back Obama-era discipline policies, e.g. proportionality doctrine wrt suspensions, RJ et centera

Also, parents who block the school’s numbers on their phones are well, unhelpful, plus their attitudes of “when my child is at school, they’re your problem”

Biden has done absolutely nothing with regard to public schools which are run and governed by state and local governments. If anyone you’d have to blame Youngkin but even that’s a stretch. You’re insane or don’t know how schools work or both.

[Anonymous]

It’s really alarming how many of you think that the problem is the child being in a mainstream school instead of a “more restrictive setting”. I work in self-contained special education and it isn’t a dumping ground for dangerous kids. My students are extremely vulnerable. Many of them are nonverbal and most of them can’t read or write in a traditional way. Although they are in upper elementary, many of them are functioning on a kindergarten or prekindergarten level. We had a student transfer to my class who was of above average intelligence but disruptive and violent. The students in my class had no way to advocate for themselves around this child and I was terrified about what he could do to them. The children with the highest needs ALSO have rights and need us to protect them. Do better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really alarming how many of you think that the problem is the child being in a mainstream school instead of a “more restrictive setting”. I work in self-contained special education and it isn’t a dumping ground for dangerous kids. My students are extremely vulnerable. Many of them are nonverbal and most of them can’t read or write in a traditional way. Although they are in upper elementary, many of them are functioning on a kindergarten or prekindergarten level. We had a student transfer to my class who was of above average intelligence but disruptive and violent. The students in my class had no way to advocate for themselves around this child and I was terrified about what he could do to them. The children with the highest needs ALSO have rights and need us to protect them. Do better.

I've worked in self-contained special education in the past and am currently a special education teacher who mostly does pull out/ push in. I think a big part of the problem is that small group classes or classrooms are quickly becoming a dumping ground for students who can't handle a regular class setting and are disruptive and sometimes violent. It's completely unfair to the other students in the class who do not have these behaviors and also unfair to the staff, who are usually stretched thin trying to meet the needs of students who need a lot of extra assistance with daily living skills and activities. We used to have many more ED centers or schools that had dedicated ED classrooms for kids who could keep up academically but were too disruptive for a regular classroom setting. That fell out of favor when NCLB started. It's time to revisit the concept.

[Anonymous]

The student was under a care plan that required a parent to attend school with him, which happened up until the week of the shooting:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/19/richneck-elementary-shooting-family-statement/

And they say the gun "was secured."

What????

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this carefully crafted and curated PR statement is ridiculous. They claim to be responsible gun owners, that the gun was secure, that their child is severely disabled but not so disabled that he couldn't find and unsecure the gun, bring it to school, apparently hide it when they searched his backpack, and then aim and shot his teacher. Unreal.

Here is the statement:

Our heart goes out to our son’s teacher and we pray for her healing in the aftermath of such an unimaginable tragedy as she selflessly served our son and the children in the school. She has worked diligently and compassionately to support our family as we sought the best education and learning environment for our son. We thank her for her courage, grace and sacrifice. We grieve alongside all of the other teachers, families and administrators for how this horrific incident has impacted them, our community, and the nation.
We have been cooperating with local and federal law enforcement to understand how this could have happened. We have found there are no easy answers or simple explanations, but we would like to share additional facts previously unknown to the public in hopes that they may ease the dissonance we are all grappling with and prevent something like this from happening again.
Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearm our son accessed was secured.
While our son’s privacy interests are important, transparency in this matter is a valid community interest. Our son suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day. Additionally, our son has benefitted from an extensive community of care that also includes his grandparents working alongside us and other caregivers to ensure his needs and accommodations are met. The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives.
Since this incident, our son has been under hospital care and receiving the treatment he needs. We thank our son’s medical treatment team as well as our family, friends, and all others who have offered support during this difficult time. We continue to pray for his teacher’s full recovery, and for her loved ones who are undoubtedly upset and concerned. At the same time, we love our son and are asking that you please include him and our family in your prayers.

[Anonymous]

"responsible gun owner" "Gun secured"

These parents are awful with their statement. Unless you're telling me that the 6yr old loaded that gun, the gun was kept and stored LOADED, which is a huge no no. You store the gun and ammunition SEPARATELY. HFS!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"responsible gun owner" "Gun secured"

These parents are awful with their statement. Unless you're telling me that the 6yr old loaded that gun, the gun was kept and stored LOADED, which is a huge no no. You store the gun and ammunition SEPARATELY. HFS!!!!

It was also either unlocked or they taught their 6 year old how to unlock it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"responsible gun owner" "Gun secured"

These parents are awful with their statement. Unless you're telling me that the 6yr old loaded that gun, the gun was kept and stored LOADED, which is a huge no no. You store the gun and ammunition SEPARATELY. HFS!!!!

It was also either unlocked or they taught their 6 year old how to unlock it.

AND it was loaded or they taught him how to load a gun. My head is exploding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The student was under a care plan that required a parent to attend school with him, which happened up until the week of the shooting:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/19/richneck-elementary-shooting-family-statement/

And they say the gun "was secured."

What????

Hmm, wasn’t secure enough. Parents need to go to jail.

[Anonymous]

They have the gall to thank the poor teacher “for her courage, grace and sacrifice” but never to apologize or even say they are sorry that she was injured. That woman’s life—and career—may have been irreparably damaged.

[Anonymous]

Is it common to have a plan under which parents must attend with their kid? I've never heard of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it common to have a plan under which parents must attend with their kid? I've never heard of this.

No. And a kid whose parents are required to attend school with them all day certainly does not belong in a regular classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it common to have a plan under which parents must attend with their kid? I've never heard of this.

I have never encountered this in more than 20 years of education.

[Anonymous]

Acute disability?

[Anonymous]

As a teacher:

I’ve never heard the term “acute disability.” That’s some shady lawyer wording to avoid implicating the son as like PERMANENTLY disabled . There is no IDEA category that contains the language of “acute disability”

Kids with disabilities needing parental supervision at school should not be in a Gen Ed setting

Interesting he never brought the totally secured gun while his parents had to be in the room with him