Six year old FCPS student found wandering in Centreville

[Anonymous]

Most kids that age aren't going to wander unless they are "wanderers." Meaning, a kid who has never walked away from school or home or the store before, and who has always followed the rules, isn't likely to suddenly decide to walk home one day. Hopefully, this will be a lesson to teachers to pay extra attention to kids who wander, and to parents to make sure to tell the teachers if that is how their child is.

This is June. School started in September. If this child was a "wanderer" the teacher would know.

This child knew what he was doing. Period. He knew better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Most kids that age aren't going to wander unless they are "wanderers." Meaning, a kid who has never walked away from school or home or the store before, and who has always followed the rules, isn't likely to suddenly decide to walk home one day. Hopefully, this will be a lesson to teachers to pay extra attention to kids who wander, and to parents to make sure to tell the teachers if that is how their child is.

This is June. School started in September. If this child was a "wanderer" the teacher would know.

This child knew what he was doing. Period. He knew better

Yeah, I imagine this is true. Though, I have no idea - maybe this was a habitual thing but it never got this far before.

Either way, it could have ended much worse. I am not sure how suspending the teachers and bringing in subs who have even less training would help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I saw the NBC 4 article but I think the kid lied to the dad. In kindergarten the bathrooms are in the classroom, and I doubt the whole class would just leave while he was in the bathroom. Even if they did, the child would know the schedule and where the playground/etc. were by then.

To further clarify for the PP who asked what was said on television--the excuse was that the kid came back from the bathroom and his classroom was empty. He thought school was over or something. Somehow, I think this smells--and FWIW, I taught school. Unless this kid is extremely disabled, he would know where the class was. Pretty sure the kid knew what he was doing. This was not the beginning of the year.

London Towne parent here. My child is at this school and the kids don't use the hallway bathrooms in K. If they do (at specials or whatever) they go in pairs. The back door also opens up near the playground, where the kids have recess.

I'm not blaming the kid, he is 6, but what is being said does not make sense.

My K student is in this boy's class. Recess is at 11 am and lunch is immediately afterwards. There is no way this boy would have thought school is over. What is strange is that the classroom is right next to the principals office and if he was lost I am not sure why he would not have gone to the office to let an adult know. He is not disabled and is in the classroom with my child all day. Hopefully proper protocols will be in place to ensure that all kids are accounted for

I don't think it's wise to put on the net such specific details of a classroom's schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I saw the NBC 4 article but I think the kid lied to the dad. In kindergarten the bathrooms are in the classroom, and I doubt the whole class would just leave while he was in the bathroom. Even if they did, the child would know the schedule and where the playground/etc. were by then.

To further clarify for the PP who asked what was said on television--the excuse was that the kid came back from the bathroom and his classroom was empty. He thought school was over or something. Somehow, I think this smells--and FWIW, I taught school. Unless this kid is extremely disabled, he would know where the class was. Pretty sure the kid knew what he was doing. This was not the beginning of the year.

London Towne parent here. My child is at this school and the kids don't use the hallway bathrooms in K. If they do (at specials or whatever) they go in pairs. The back door also opens up near the playground, where the kids have recess.

I'm not blaming the kid, he is 6, but what is being said does not make sense.

My K student is in this boy's class. Recess is at 11 am and lunch is immediately afterwards. There is no way this boy would have thought school is over. What is strange is that the classroom is right next to the principals office and if he was lost I am not sure why he would not have gone to the office to let an adult know. He is not disabled and is in the classroom with my child all day. Hopefully proper protocols will be in place to ensure that all kids are accounted for

I don't think it's wise to put on the net such specific details of a classroom's schedule.

Not PP but I don't think "recess is at 11 followed by lunch" is super specific. Anyone driving by the school can see when recess is. It isn't undercover.

[Anonymous]

About a mile!

Teachers should have stations outside; places where they must monitor. No iPhones, no chatting. Supervise, you're not on break!

The teacher should be fired!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About a mile!

Teachers should have stations outside; places where they must monitor. No iPhones, no chatting. Supervise, you're not on break!

The teacher should be fired!

Do you know for a fact they were chatting, or otherwise not paying attention? Which teacher should be fired - everyone on the playground that day or just one? Where does the responsibility of the parent and child come in? How do you think something like this can be prevented when there are 3 adults assigned to watch 100 kids outside?

[Anonymous]

Seriously? The school takes on 100% responsibility and accountability once my kid enters through the front doors until my DC leaves. Yes, the teachers, all who were supposed to be SUPERVISING outside recess, are accountable! How hard is that to comprehend? Cell phones should be banned while outside. WATCH the kids! You are being paid during this time to work! Not to chat!

Id like FCPS to immediately pass a motion instituting outside recess rules and not following said rules should have serious consequences! This child could have been kidnapped!

Every parent should read Protecting The Gift, and every school should sign the agreement! My kid is precious to me. If you don't want to do all in your power to ensure DCs safety, then get another job. Or give me what the state gives you, the school, and I'll put my child in private!

[Anonymous]

Once more:

Do you keep your doors at home bolted so that your child cannot get out. Do you never go water the plants and leave your child inside? Do you never take a shower and leave your kid watching television? Do you expect your child to walk away while you are doing those things?

This child did not wander off the playground. At least, that is not what the father said. He said the child came out of the bathroom and he didn't know where the class was. That is BS.

And, if they were on the playground, you cannot possibly keep each child in full view all the time. Kids come up and ask questions, etc. A teacher might be handling an altercation. Handing out jump ropes, etc.

I've stated this before: I taught for years and I never had a child run away--and I taught lots of kids with "issues". Even a Kindergarten child knows better than to leave--that is, unless he is some type of special needs child. No one has said this kid had special needs.

This is a case of something that should never have happened----but preventable? If a kid has decided to pull something like this, there are lots of opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Once more:

If schools aren't going to ensure 100% accountability and responsibility, give me the $ Richmond sends per pupil, and I'll go private.

One time incidents, like this, are one too many!

[Anonymous]

We have 4 teachers and 114 students at recess. I'm telling you we monitor the students. The recess area (playground, basketball courts, and field(s) make up a fairly large amount of acreage. I have never known a student to wander off, but if one had that in mind it wouldn't be that difficult to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once more:

If schools aren't going to ensure 100% accountability and responsibility, give me the $ Richmond sends per pupil, and I'll go private.

One time incidents, like this, are one too many!

The child who decides he is going to leave the playground takes some of the responsibility too.

I'm willing to bet that as an experiment, if I had you monitor our recess and I chose a student to sneak away, I could accomplish it without you knowing right away.

[Anonymous]

But, if I were in administration, i would do everything possible to secure my playground area. Closing fences that stay open for the community to use as a short cut, for instance. I would say that my students safety and security trumps community cut through during school hours. That's just the first thing I would since it doesn't cost any money. Then, I would look at my budget, since I'm like a CFO, and see what improvements I could make. For instance, the door leading outside in the KG-1 hallway should be alarmed. It should require a teachers badge to get out and if opened without badge, an alarm should trigger, and my staff would know that this was urgent, especially since it's in the young hallway. Given more time, I'm certain I could come up with many ideas to ensure my students were safe and secure while under my overall supervision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once more:

Do you keep your doors at home bolted so that your child cannot get out. Do you never go water the plants and leave your child inside? Do you never take a shower and leave your kid watching television? Do you expect your child to walk away while you are doing those things?

This child did not wander off the playground. At least, that is not what the father said. He said the child came out of the bathroom and he didn't know where the class was. That is BS.

And, if they were on the playground, you cannot possibly keep each child in full view all the time. Kids come up and ask questions, etc. A teacher might be handling an altercation. Handing out jump ropes, etc.

I've stated this before: I taught for years and I never had a child run away--and I taught lots of kids with "issues". Even a Kindergarten child knows better than to leave--that is, unless he is some type of special needs child. No one has said this kid had special needs.

This is a case of something that should never have happened----but preventable? If a kid has decided to pull something like this, there are lots of opportunities.

All of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once more:

If schools aren't going to ensure 100% accountability and responsibility, give me the $ Richmond sends per pupil, and I'll go private.

One time incidents, like this, are one too many!

It is one time too many, but taking that fake story the boy fed his dad as the gospel of what happened is ridiculous.

And "give me the money from Richmond" isn't how it works. If you want to go private, go private. No one is going to pay for you to do it.

[Anonymous]

Once more, to the PP going on about the banned cell phones:

There is no evidence cell phones had anything to do with this.