East Silver Spring Elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

I think most ESS families have the good sense to avoid punching down. Yes, the family needs support. No, I don't condone the mother's behavior, nor what appears to be a failure to get interventions that the child needs.

But in this case we have people (the police, the school district, and the individual AP) entrusted with the safety of a child, funded by the taxpayers, and in positions of authority. We aim our attention at them because they violated that trust.

This parent was forced into an impossible situation. Can you imagine what might have happened to mom or child if mom had resisted those officers’ bullying? Clearly, nobody would have stepped in to help.

Unfortunately, it often requires first-hand experience with trauma to understand how other people navigate and survive trauma in the moment.

You don’t just not “punch down.” You stand up for people in your community when they are harmed and a cover-up follows. It shouldn’t be so hard for people to imagine what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

I think most ESS families have the good sense to avoid punching down. Yes, the family needs support. No, I don't condone the mother's behavior, nor what appears to be a failure to get interventions that the child needs.

But in this case we have people (the police, the school district, and the individual AP) entrusted with the safety of a child, funded by the taxpayers, and in positions of authority. We aim our attention at them because they violated that trust.

This parent was forced into an impossible situation. Can you imagine what might have happened to mom or child if mom had resisted those officers’ bullying? Clearly, nobody would have stepped in to help.

Unfortunately, it often requires first-hand experience with trauma to understand how other people navigate and survive trauma in the moment.

You don’t just not “punch down.” You stand up for people in your community when they are harmed and a cover-up follows. It shouldn’t be so hard for people to imagine what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes.

How is it punching down to call a spade a spade? The mother clearly stated she wanted to abuse her own son and would if she wasn't scared of the system. No one I know would have said the same thing in the situation she was in. If you want to stand up for someone, you should be standing up for this child who isn't getting what he needs at school OR home. That much was very obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Administrators at ESS sat idly by while police harassed and tormented a five-year-old student in their care. I wouldn’t send my child there.

That's an unfortunate event, but before this I'd heard nothing but good things about that school from its community.

Criminal incident; not “unfortunate event”.

I guess it is criminal that a cop was bullying a 5-year-old but I'd describe it as unfortunate that the administration didn't intervene. However, the video I saw was outside of the school so likely it happened before they even knew what was going on.

I'm an ESS parent and I absolutely think the AP should have intervened (the principal was not on site). A lot of parents in the community agree, and have publicly and privately pushed MCPS and MPCD to take action against the folks responsible, including the two police officers, the AP, and others who were in the room as this child was abused by the cops.

If one watches the whole video, a ton of the cops yelling at this child is happening in the school building. Some of it happens in front of the AP and the (now retired) reading specialist. Some happens in front of and with the consent of the child's mother.

But here's the thing I'd caution folks about - this could happen in your school just as easily as it happened at ESS. This was the result of the police not taking action against abusive cops, of MCPS putting two inexperienced white administrators at a school that is predominantly Black, and of MCPS never teaching staff and administrators the limits of police authority inside a school building. I've talked to probably 15 teachers from around the county, and none of them had any idea of whether they could just tell the cops to....leave. They have not been trained to deescalate situations when the escalated party is law enforcement.

As the seniormost person in the building, the AP had a responsibilty to act, but she had no training on how to do so. I think that's probably why MCPS has reassigned her rather than terminating her. White people are, in general, overly deferential to police and she was new to administration. Basically, she had none of the tools in terms of identity, exposure, or experience, to handle this appropriately. That's on MCPS for not training administrators, and, again, for not ensuring that schools have administrators who look like and share some experiences with their student body.

Honestly, the only administrator I've ever run across who I think would have done the right thing in this situation is the previous ESS principal. She would hever have stood for this, but she had a lot going for her in terms of experience and exposure to law enforcement that this AP did not.

She had no training in how to intervene on behalf of child? Ask them to wait in the hall? Ask them to be respectful (and be respectful themselves)? While all the adults were in the wrong, I had the most issue with the school staff that should know how to protect children. I do not think MCPS needs to have a specific training on what to do in this exact situation...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of school, are you aware of the significant expansion into the neighborhoods served by ESS Elementary and Sligo Creek Elementary of the zoning plan for Downtown Silver Spring? The idea is to allow greater density -- not huge buildings, but triplexes and quadriplexes -- where there are currently single family homes.

I live in ESS, and I’m thrilled by this. I can’t tell you how many wonderful neighbors we’ve lost because home prices forced them out of the neighborhood when they were ready to buy. I don’t think it’s a negative at all.

I also live here and welcome it for the same reason. We need housing options in between $1600/mo 2 bdrm apartments and $800k 2 bdrm SFH. As a life long city girl, I’d be happy to see duplexes and triplexes here. This is an amazing community and it will benefit from not pricing out long time working-class to middle income renters who want to stay.

Agreed, and it is also in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. I live in a SFH in East Silver Spring. One block over, there is a small apartment complex with maybe 12 units. There are also a bunch of storefronts with apartments on top.

Similarly, new multi-family housing replaced the previously derelict police station. That's GOOD for the community. There's a proposal to shorten the abandoned bank building at the corner of Fenton and Sligo and put more multi-family housing there. That's better for the neighborhood than an abandoned building, by a lot.

Depends who moves in there. If it matches the rest of that intersection, maybe not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of school, are you aware of the significant expansion into the neighborhoods served by ESS Elementary and Sligo Creek Elementary of the zoning plan for Downtown Silver Spring? The idea is to allow greater density -- not huge buildings, but triplexes and quadriplexes -- where there are currently single family homes.

I live in ESS, and I’m thrilled by this. I can’t tell you how many wonderful neighbors we’ve lost because home prices forced them out of the neighborhood when they were ready to buy. I don’t think it’s a negative at all.

Sligo Creek and same. Judging by the signage up on our street, neighbors also agree. We own a SFHs that are literal steps from the Purple Line route. It's a ridiculous misuse of space and public transit resources to insist that those have to be maintained as SFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

Oh, I'm not sure. On the case where a mother actively advocates for abuse? Then turns around and sues bc she can make money off her son's emotional trauma? A lawyer who would try and make it seem like the mom was the victim? We've seen this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

Oh, I'm not sure. On the case where a mother actively advocates for abuse? Then turns around and sues bc she can make money off her son's emotional trauma? A lawyer who would try and make it seem like the mom was the victim? We've seen this.

Wow—that is bonkers, even by DCUM standards! Thanks for a good laugh when everything else about this situation at my children’s school makes me weep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

Oh, I'm not sure. On the case where a mother actively advocates for abuse? Then turns around and sues bc she can make money off her son's emotional trauma? A lawyer who would try and make it seem like the mom was the victim? We've seen this.

Wow—that is bonkers, even by DCUM standards! Thanks for a good laugh when everything else about this situation at my children’s school makes me weep.

Bonkers? Nah....

Seek help if you think this way. Yikes...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

I think most ESS families have the good sense to avoid punching down. Yes, the family needs support. No, I don't condone the mother's behavior, nor what appears to be a failure to get interventions that the child needs.

But in this case we have people (the police, the school district, and the individual AP) entrusted with the safety of a child, funded by the taxpayers, and in positions of authority. We aim our attention at them because they violated that trust.

I agree with you up to an extent. The mother already was receiving support from the state in that she admitted to having interactions with CPS where she was advised that she was not allowed to beat the child. And it is that admission which also makes the civil case a lot easier, but still emotionally tricky, to defend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

Oh, I'm not sure. On the case where a mother actively advocates for abuse? Then turns around and sues bc she can make money off her son's emotional trauma? A lawyer who would try and make it seem like the mom was the victim? We've seen this.

Wow—that is bonkers, even by DCUM standards! Thanks for a good laugh when everything else about this situation at my children’s school makes me weep.

Bonkers? Nah....

Seek help if you think this way. Yikes...

"Seek help"? Ah, translation for the people reading this thread - the poster is using the "n*ts and sl*ts" defense in an attempt to libel and discredit the other poster. Either they probably work for the Superintendent of Schools or their attorney. Why? Who on Earth could defend the police and school's actions towards the child? They weren't even respectful, let alone conducted themselves professionally.

I'm not the other person who posted, but there is a point that the police / school was wrong on this one. There's a phrase I read that applies to a situation like this - adults are adults, children are children. There is no excuse for how the adults treated that child. The school staff and police are professionally trained. There's no excuse, no matter how you slice it. The school deals with parents who are convicts, gang members, drug dealers, or just all-around bad people. It comes with the territory. Their job is to deal with that parent's child in a way the child does not follow in their parent's footsteps. In this particular case, they failed.

Also, MCPS can't say they haven't done this before / after. There are other cases that never hit the press, so don't think this is isolated or unique by any means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

+1

And I suspect mom’s lawyer has been active on this thread.

On what basis do you suspect this?

Oh, I'm not sure. On the case where a mother actively advocates for abuse? Then turns around and sues bc she can make money off her son's emotional trauma? A lawyer who would try and make it seem like the mom was the victim? We've seen this.

Wow—that is bonkers, even by DCUM standards! Thanks for a good laugh when everything else about this situation at my children’s school makes me weep.

Bonkers? Nah....

Seek help if you think this way. Yikes...

"Seek help"? Ah, translation for the people reading this thread - the poster is using the "n*ts and sl*ts" defense in an attempt to libel and discredit the other poster. Either they probably work for the Superintendent of Schools or their attorney. Why? Who on Earth could defend the police and school's actions towards the child? They weren't even respectful, let alone conducted themselves professionally.

I'm not the other person who posted, but there is a point that the police / school was wrong on this one. There's a phrase I read that applies to a situation like this - adults are adults, children are children. There is no excuse for how the adults treated that child. The school staff and police are professionally trained. There's no excuse, no matter how you slice it. The school deals with parents who are convicts, gang members, drug dealers, or just all-around bad people. It comes with the territory. Their job is to deal with that parent's child in a way the child does not follow in their parent's footsteps. In this particular case, they failed.

Also, MCPS can't say they haven't done this before / after. There are other cases that never hit the press, so don't think this is isolated or unique by any means.

Ummm, no one was defending the police or the school. Their actions were reprehensible. So were the mothers. Do you know how to read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

I think most ESS families have the good sense to avoid punching down. Yes, the family needs support. No, I don't condone the mother's behavior, nor what appears to be a failure to get interventions that the child needs.

But in this case we have people (the police, the school district, and the individual AP) entrusted with the safety of a child, funded by the taxpayers, and in positions of authority. We aim our attention at them because they violated that trust.

I agree with you up to an extent. The mother already was receiving support from the state in that she admitted to having interactions with CPS where she was advised that she was not allowed to beat the child. And it is that admission which also makes the civil case a lot easier, but still emotionally tricky, to defend.

There are a lot of elements that will make the civil case tricky, including the part of the video where she expresses anger at the school becasue she believes they are the ones who called CPS (it appears correctly, and in keeping with their responsibilities as mandatory reporters).

I do wish we would put a little more of a spotlight on the abusive cops in this situation. I will not defend the actions of any of the teachers or administrators who stood by, but how are we not talking more about the police, who have faced zero repercussions for their actions? I know ESS families have been diligent in writing to the County Council and MCPD about the cops, but I would think that any parent in the county would be angry that those police are still out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why anyone hasnt addressed the fact that the mom also was abhorrent. That child should have been placed in CPS immediately. But now, mom is suing the district, the police department, etc. and will likely get rich from this.

I think most ESS families have the good sense to avoid punching down. Yes, the family needs support. No, I don't condone the mother's behavior, nor what appears to be a failure to get interventions that the child needs.

But in this case we have people (the police, the school district, and the individual AP) entrusted with the safety of a child, funded by the taxpayers, and in positions of authority. We aim our attention at them because they violated that trust.

I agree with you up to an extent. The mother already was receiving support from the state in that she admitted to having interactions with CPS where she was advised that she was not allowed to beat the child. And it is that admission which also makes the civil case a lot easier, but still emotionally tricky, to defend.

There are a lot of elements that will make the civil case tricky, including the part of the video where she expresses anger at the school becasue she believes they are the ones who called CPS (it appears correctly, and in keeping with their responsibilities as mandatory reporters).

I do wish we would put a little more of a spotlight on the abusive cops in this situation. I will not defend the actions of any of the teachers or administrators who stood by, but how are we not talking more about the police, who have faced zero repercussions for their actions? I know ESS families have been diligent in writing to the County Council and MCPD about the cops, but I would think that any parent in the county would be angry that those police are still out there.

CPS needs to know about situations which may be harmful to a child's welfare. I also mainly blame the police for handling this poorly. It supports the whole defund the police notion that tax dollars would be better spent on training than on para-military equipment....