FCPS Delays Report About Conditions at Day Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED Centers are now called CSS programs. They changed the name to reflect the huge number of kids with autism, that used to be called ED, back in the day.

The staffing makes a huge difference, but it’s also hard to find staff, because so many kids are aggressive, and schools don’t have enough space. Add to that the responsive classroom business and Ross Greene. These kids need behavior mod to get under control, in a respectful and supportive environment, with clear consequences and incentives.

Then there are the parents who refuse therapy or meds for their kids. It’s a mess.

Well, the strategies that work for kids with ASD are very different than the strategies for kids with mental health issues or ADHD. So lumping them all together in one room at a CSS site with 10 kids to 1 teacher in a grade K-3 class does not work. At all.

FCPS doesn't care about these kids and just wants to pass them along thru the system with as little investment as possible. Its amazing they get anyone to agree to work at the CSS sites or Burke/Quander/Cedar Lane. They need those jobs on a completely different salary scale.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School board and FCPS admin should be required to tour TJ and Burke & one of the FCPS contract schools on the same day, and then explain themselves.

Agree 100%. I have a friend who is an itinerant ST and she has been to Burke and some of the crappy day schools and she said they are so depressing. The day "schools" are often just a few bare cinderblock rooms in an office park somewhere.

[Anonymous]

If they cared about these kids, they would pay the staff a lot more. And have them in actual school buildings like the general education students attend.

Its in everyone's interest for FCPS to have effective special ed schools, because it keeps disruptive kids out of the regular classrooms. Most people would support spending money to build and staff schools for these kids.

[Anonymous]

The FCPS centers are not bare cinderblock buildings. The problem is that the kids are so mentally ill and the parents cannot be required to get treatment. A school is not a medical facility. They can only do much. At Burke, they have a terrible time getting kids to go home on the bus, because they don’t want to go home.

We are talking about second grade kids that literally attack teachers, biting and choking and scratching at the eyes. Some weeks ago, a Burke kid went through the office in pursuit of a specific teacher and punched her in the head. And no, the cops weren’t called.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School board and FCPS admin should be required to tour TJ and Burke & one of the FCPS contract schools on the same day, and then explain themselves.

And every person who has ever voted against or complained about tax increases.

They could get rid of the entire top administration at Gatehouse and it wouldn’t matter a bit. FCPS is not funded to be able to provide support to these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The absolute stupidest thing was for them to no longer allow kids to go to Phillips. There are kids at Burke who run out of the building and directly into traffic. This happens daily. The police are there constantly. These kids are seriously mentally ill and need carefully used restraint and seclusion. Teachers are attacked constantly. Kids run all over the building, cursing and throwing things, but they can’t be restrained or forced to stay in a classroom if they want to leave it, because that is seclusion.

There are ED centers still, but they are not getting student referrals, because the bar is set so high to get them there. You’d think they were trying to send them to the JDC, instead of a small classroom with counseling and therapeutic supports.

It’s insane. It’s heartbreaking,

The plan now is to send a bunch of these Burke kids to residential placements, which will cost a ton, because we can’t send them to places like Phillips. Some of these little kids at Burke only attend for two hours a day, because they are so out of control. Let them go to Phillips and similar places that have helped students in the past.

If they aren't going to restrain kids, they need basically a 2 staff to 1 kid ratio and huge facility improvements in order to implement other strategies and keep kids safe. FCPS is not staffing these schools correctly and the facilities are not being renovated.

FCPS is not staffing SPED correctly across the county even at your basic neighborhood ES....trust me you'd be shocked at what's goin on in your childrens' school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School board and FCPS admin should be required to tour TJ and Burke & one of the FCPS contract schools on the same day, and then explain themselves.

Agree 100%. I have a friend who is an itinerant ST and she has been to Burke and some of the crappy day schools and she said they are so depressing. The day "schools" are often just a few bare cinderblock rooms in an office park somewhere.

YES!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS centers are not bare cinderblock buildings. The problem is that the kids are so mentally ill and the parents cannot be required to get treatment. A school is not a medical facility. They can only do much. At Burke, they have a terrible time getting kids to go home on the bus, because they don’t want to go home.

We are talking about second grade kids that literally attack teachers, biting and choking and scratching at the eyes. Some weeks ago, a Burke kid went through the office in pursuit of a specific teacher and punched her in the head. And no, the cops weren’t called.

WE have to start keeping staff safe and we are not. Maybe teachers/admin need to star filing police reports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS centers are not bare cinderblock buildings. The problem is that the kids are so mentally ill and the parents cannot be required to get treatment. A school is not a medical facility. They can only do much. At Burke, they have a terrible time getting kids to go home on the bus, because they don’t want to go home.

We are talking about second grade kids that literally attack teachers, biting and choking and scratching at the eyes. Some weeks ago, a Burke kid went through the office in pursuit of a specific teacher and punched her in the head. And no, the cops weren’t called.

Burke and Cedar Lane are awful depressing facilities. They look like palaces compared to some of the contract schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS centers are not bare cinderblock buildings. The problem is that the kids are so mentally ill and the parents cannot be required to get treatment. A school is not a medical facility. They can only do much. At Burke, they have a terrible time getting kids to go home on the bus, because they don’t want to go home.

We are talking about second grade kids that literally attack teachers, biting and choking and scratching at the eyes. Some weeks ago, a Burke kid went through the office in pursuit of a specific teacher and punched her in the head. And no, the cops weren’t called.

WE have to start keeping staff safe and we are not. Maybe teachers/admin need to star filing police reports.

Absolutely they should. If padded rooms were too horrible for students absolutely teachers should file if they’ve been assaulted