Supervision at recess in elementary school question

[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.

Nothing…and I truly mean nothing makes sense in MCPS. Well, the only edict that maybe comes close is Deepthroat’s: follow the money. Single most legally corrupt organization in the DMV. Thankfully we pulled the kids after 3 long and arduous years from W elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Dude, you have to be talking about 20 years ago. Our kids were in elementary a decade ago and MCPS elementary frowned upon it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I had a kid in elementary in MCPS 4 years ago and it was encouraged.

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.

Dude, you have to be talking about 20 years ago. Our kids were in elementary a decade ago and MCPS elementary frowned upon it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Dude, you have to be talking about 20 years ago. Our kids were in elementary a decade ago and MCPS elementary frowned upon it.

I had a kid in elementary in MCPS 4 years ago and it was encouraged.

[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.

Nothing…and I truly mean nothing makes sense in MCPS. Well, the only edict that maybe comes close is Deepthroat’s: follow the money. Single most legally corrupt organization in the DMV. Thankfully we pulled the kids after 3 long and arduous years from W elementary.

So very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Dude, you have to be talking about 20 years ago. Our kids were in elementary a decade ago and MCPS elementary frowned upon it.

I had a kid in elementary in MCPS 4 years ago and it was encouraged.

Our school has parents volunteer at recess now.

[Anonymous]

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?

Bullying happens frequently during recess. I used to volunteer often and I had to raise it time to time. Too many kids and if you have special need kids then it's almost guaranteed that they will face some problem due to lack of supervision.

[Anonymous]

I am a para and also work at lunch and recess. A few thoughts:

1. Not all paras are also lunch and recess aides. Some schools have separate lunch/recess positions, which are usually 1.5-2 hours and are fairly hard to fill. If you ARE available for a middle of the day short shift, please consider joining us.

2. Many of the unfilled para positions are listed as TPT - or temporary part time. These staff get no benefits, are unpaid for every holiday and snow day, and have no job security from year to year. Many, many of these positions support special education students - and as both a para and the parent of a special education student who has had a 1:1 aide in the past, this hurts. Those of us who are permanent actually do have good benefits and I think pretty decent pay for part-time positions, but when you ask people to fill our most difficult positions without benefits, leave, or job security, it's no wonder people don't want to take them.

3. Good volunteers are great, but not all volunteers are good. This is why I think some schools decide to either not have parents volunteer or limit the roles in which they volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Kids can’t wonder off the school premises, otherwise they should put more fences. At our school, principal repeatedly remind parents to tell grandparents can’t spectate during recess, they will be told to go away. Any dangerous behavior observed from the students, they will be pulled to principal’s office and detention. At our school I think most kids do fine during recess, the bullies will bully everywhere, so the location won’t make a difference. I knew one incident a girl injured her lips from going down the slide and kept her hands in the pocket and fell right on her face, but that’s considered an accident, the school didn’t hold liability and the parents were fine with it. So I guess more staffing could prevent that kind of injury to happen, but you never know.

[Anonymous]

My son was seriously hurt due to the fact that playgrounds are not supervised well. This was pre-COVID, but two other children pushed my son and he hit his head on a pole. Ended up in the hospital for 3 days and in physical therapy for 2 months. Had to pull him from compacted math because he couldn't process the information as well due to his head injury. The police and the principal did absolutely nothing because of the ages of the kids. Filed a bullying report because they threatened to do it again to him. Fortunately, I was able to get a COSA to another school but I'm not surprised to hear that it's still the same. It infuriates me. If I had another elementary-aged child, I would never let my kid play on an MCPS playground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was seriously hurt due to the fact that playgrounds are not supervised well. This was pre-COVID, but two other children pushed my son and he hit his head on a pole. Ended up in the hospital for 3 days and in physical therapy for 2 months. Had to pull him from compacted math because he couldn't process the information as well due to his head injury. The police and the principal did absolutely nothing because of the ages of the kids. Filed a bullying report because they threatened to do it again to him. Fortunately, I was able to get a COSA to another school but I'm not surprised to hear that it's still the same. It infuriates me. If I had another elementary-aged child, I would never let my kid play on an MCPS playground.

I’m so sorry your son went through that. I hope he’s having a good experience at his new school.

[Anonymous]

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?

Bullying happens frequently during recess. I used to volunteer often and I had to raise it time to time. Too many kids and if you have special need kids then it's almost guaranteed that they will face some problem due to lack of supervision.

OP here. I’m seeing this and physical fighting a lot. There’s just not enough staff keeping an eye on the kids and yes, a child could easily walk away or go home without anyone noticing. Or be abducted, frankly. I wear my volunteer sticker for identification but no one outside even checks I’m a legitimate volunteer. I just find the whole Lord of the Flies approach to supervision really appalling.

[Anonymous]

I agree that there’s too little supervision but I also work at a school and I can tell you there’s nothing we can do. We just do not have enough staff to run the place. Here’s who we have had supervising recess lately: the counselor, the assistant principal, the secretaries, the intervention teacher, and the staff development teacher. These people all have important places to be but we just don’t have enough staff.

When I was a kid, teachers went out to recess with you. But now they have to do a 1.5 hour planning block in the middle of the day every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a para and also work at lunch and recess. A few thoughts:

1. Not all paras are also lunch and recess aides. Some schools have separate lunch/recess positions, which are usually 1.5-2 hours and are fairly hard to fill. If you ARE available for a middle of the day short shift, please consider joining us.

2. Many of the unfilled para positions are listed as TPT - or temporary part time. These staff get no benefits, are unpaid for every holiday and snow day, and have no job security from year to year. Many, many of these positions support special education students - and as both a para and the parent of a special education student who has had a 1:1 aide in the past, this hurts. Those of us who are permanent actually do have good benefits and I think pretty decent pay for part-time positions, but when you ask people to fill our most difficult positions without benefits, leave, or job security, it's no wonder people don't want to take them.

3. Good volunteers are great, but not all volunteers are good. This is why I think some schools decide to either not have parents volunteer or limit the roles in which they volunteer.

This is an entirely too rational and thoughtful response for DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there’s too little supervision but I also work at a school and I can tell you there’s nothing we can do. We just do not have enough staff to run the place. Here’s who we have had supervising recess lately: the counselor, the assistant principal, the secretaries, the intervention teacher, and the staff development teacher. These people all have important places to be but we just don’t have enough staff.

When I was a kid, teachers went out to recess with you. But now they have to do a 1.5 hour planning block in the middle of the day every day.

1.5 hour planning block? In what universe is this?