Swanson?

[Anonymous]

New article today. Police were called 22 times to Swanson so far this year. In addition to weapons, kids were being photographed using the bathroom and videos of them were air-dropped. JFC. What is going on there??

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/amid-a-rise-in-bad-behavior-an-arlington-middle-school-changes-rules

[Anonymous]

Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

The bathroom stuff going on is stupid but isn't going to result in kids getting killed. The 7th grader who brought the taser should concern everyone. That child has already been suspended this year multiple times for threatening other students, including telling students that he is going to get a weapon and shoot the school. This is not a secret in the 7th grade. I am worried that all the noise about the Swanson bathroom situation and the kid getting punched in gym class is drawing attention away from what is going on with this one particular child in 7th grade. He is freaking kids and teachers out, but the principal and APS administration don't seem to be taking it seriously. I think APS is downplaying the situation because they don't want to reopen the SRO debate. This kid should not be in school though. He's supposedly suspended through spring break, but the 7th graders are worried about what he might do when he comes back and whether he will get access to a real gun over the next two weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

The bathroom stuff going on is stupid but isn't going to result in kids getting killed. The 7th grader who brought the taser should concern everyone. That child has already been suspended this year multiple times for threatening other students, including telling students that he is going to get a weapon and shoot the school. This is not a secret in the 7th grade. I am worried that all the noise about the Swanson bathroom situation and the kid getting punched in gym class is drawing attention away from what is going on with this one particular child in 7th grade. He is freaking kids and teachers out, but the principal and APS administration don't seem to be taking it seriously. I think APS is downplaying the situation because they don't want to reopen the SRO debate. This kid should not be in school though. He's supposedly suspended through spring break, but the 7th graders are worried about what he might do when he comes back and whether he will get access to a real gun over the next two weeks.

What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

I have not heard of anything like this at DHMS or Williamsburg, where I know people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the news said police have been called to the school 22 times in the past year? this is what you get when you remove SROs
these kids need some social emotional learning clearly

This isn't just an issue of removing SROs. This is an issue of putting kids who should be in alternative placements into gen ed environments. Removing SROs is a convenient lightning rod but it's not the real problem. The real problem is that the pendulum has swung way too far on inclusion and mainstreaming. Those of us who work in education have been saying this since NCLB started. I guarantee the kids who are causing trouble had issues in elementary school well before the pandemic and the administrators there quietly swept them under the rug. In a high SES district that's usually a mixture of parents refusing to agree to alternate placement and too many discipline referrals looking bad for schools. The pandemic let a lot of administrators off the hook because discipline referrals magically disappeared when these students were no longer in the buildings.

This 100%. I worked in a NArl ES for many years and was really saddened witnessing what you wrote about above. On more than one occasion, a student really, really should have been moved to an alternative placement, but the parents refused so they just stayed or transferred to a neighboring school. Therefore, the child wasn't getting the support needed and other students also paid the price.

+2. Spending all of this time away from school isn’t serving this child. He needs to be in an alternative placement, and hopefully the school is doing the legwork to accomplish that. It would be great if the parents were partnering with the school rather than fighting it, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the news said police have been called to the school 22 times in the past year? this is what you get when you remove SROs
these kids need some social emotional learning clearly

This isn't just an issue of removing SROs. This is an issue of putting kids who should be in alternative placements into gen ed environments. Removing SROs is a convenient lightning rod but it's not the real problem. The real problem is that the pendulum has swung way too far on inclusion and mainstreaming. Those of us who work in education have been saying this since NCLB started. I guarantee the kids who are causing trouble had issues in elementary school well before the pandemic and the administrators there quietly swept them under the rug. In a high SES district that's usually a mixture of parents refusing to agree to alternate placement and too many discipline referrals looking bad for schools. The pandemic let a lot of administrators off the hook because discipline referrals magically disappeared when these students were no longer in the buildings.

This 100%. I worked in a NArl ES for many years and was really saddened witnessing what you wrote about above. On more than one occasion, a student really, really should have been moved to an alternative placement, but the parents refused so they just stayed or transferred to a neighboring school. Therefore, the child wasn't getting the support needed and other students also paid the price.

+2. Spending all of this time away from school isn’t serving this child. He needs to be in an alternative placement, and hopefully the school is doing the legwork to accomplish that. It would be great if the parents were partnering with the school rather than fighting it, too.

This kid has a history of issues - and now he's home alone doing.... what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

The bathroom stuff going on is stupid but isn't going to result in kids getting killed. The 7th grader who brought the taser should concern everyone. That child has already been suspended this year multiple times for threatening other students, including telling students that he is going to get a weapon and shoot the school. This is not a secret in the 7th grade. I am worried that all the noise about the Swanson bathroom situation and the kid getting punched in gym class is drawing attention away from what is going on with this one particular child in 7th grade. He is freaking kids and teachers out, but the principal and APS administration don't seem to be taking it seriously. I think APS is downplaying the situation because they don't want to reopen the SRO debate. This kid should not be in school though. He's supposedly suspended through spring break, but the 7th graders are worried about what he might do when he comes back and whether he will get access to a real gun over the next two weeks.

What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

Stop posting here about it and call the Arlington police with your concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

Disclaimer that I'm not a mental health professional but based on rumor it sounds like this is a very troubled child who needs serious mental health support and should not be in a general education environment as he is a danger to others. Home on suspension doesn't do it, but neither does allowing him to continue to enter the school every day knowing he is a threat to those around him both by his actions and words.

You can formally document your concerns via a report at apsva.us/ssrem and via the police non-emergency line. Email the principal and the school board. Make noise. Now that this is out, it's a lot harder to sweep under the rug than boys filming their own genitalia.

[Anonymous]

Not having any firsthand knowledge of this kid or his actions, it sounds like he should be getting mental help, should be in an alternate school, & could have a restraining order filed against him if he’s making threats at school to keep him from returning to Swanson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not having any firsthand knowledge of this kid or his actions, it sounds like he should be getting mental help, should be in an alternate school, & could have a restraining order filed against him if he’s making threats at school to keep him from returning to Swanson.

Is this a possibility in Arlington? Honest question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

The bathroom stuff going on is stupid but isn't going to result in kids getting killed. The 7th grader who brought the taser should concern everyone. That child has already been suspended this year multiple times for threatening other students, including telling students that he is going to get a weapon and shoot the school. This is not a secret in the 7th grade. I am worried that all the noise about the Swanson bathroom situation and the kid getting punched in gym class is drawing attention away from what is going on with this one particular child in 7th grade. He is freaking kids and teachers out, but the principal and APS administration don't seem to be taking it seriously. I think APS is downplaying the situation because they don't want to reopen the SRO debate. This kid should not be in school though. He's supposedly suspended through spring break, but the 7th graders are worried about what he might do when he comes back and whether he will get access to a real gun over the next two weeks.

What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

Stop posting here about it and call the Arlington police with your concerns.

Uh, I don't know this kid or go to Swanson, I was asking in the larger question, how do schools handle these situations now in the light of past shootings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

Disclaimer that I'm not a mental health professional but based on rumor it sounds like this is a very troubled child who needs serious mental health support and should not be in a general education environment as he is a danger to others. Home on suspension doesn't do it, but neither does allowing him to continue to enter the school every day knowing he is a threat to those around him both by his actions and words.

You can formally document your concerns via a report at apsva.us/ssrem and via the police non-emergency line. Email the principal and the school board. Make noise. Now that this is out, it's a lot harder to sweep under the rug than boys filming their own genitalia.

Wait, what???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

Disclaimer that I'm not a mental health professional but based on rumor it sounds like this is a very troubled child who needs serious mental health support and should not be in a general education environment as he is a danger to others. Home on suspension doesn't do it, but neither does allowing him to continue to enter the school every day knowing he is a threat to those around him both by his actions and words.

You can formally document your concerns via a report at apsva.us/ssrem and via the police non-emergency line. Email the principal and the school board. Make noise. Now that this is out, it's a lot harder to sweep under the rug than boys filming their own genitalia.

Wait, what???

Read the Fox 5 article. "A staff member told FOX 5 students were filming each other using the restroom, then AirDropping the videos to classmates, and sharing them on social media. "

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson isn't alone, there's been other bad incidents at other middle schools. The difference is that a very vocal parent clearly has a connection to Fox News and is often quoted in the Fox articles. We are Swanson parents and very concerned, but the news articles are focused on Swanson because parent(s) are drawing media attention to it.

The bathroom stuff going on is stupid but isn't going to result in kids getting killed. The 7th grader who brought the taser should concern everyone. That child has already been suspended this year multiple times for threatening other students, including telling students that he is going to get a weapon and shoot the school. This is not a secret in the 7th grade. I am worried that all the noise about the Swanson bathroom situation and the kid getting punched in gym class is drawing attention away from what is going on with this one particular child in 7th grade. He is freaking kids and teachers out, but the principal and APS administration don't seem to be taking it seriously. I think APS is downplaying the situation because they don't want to reopen the SRO debate. This kid should not be in school though. He's supposedly suspended through spring break, but the 7th graders are worried about what he might do when he comes back and whether he will get access to a real gun over the next two weeks.

What is the right response here? If they expel him he could escalate; at this point he hasn't done anything serious enough to warrant arrest (unless the taser thing is still going to trial?). Have the parents been tracked down, they should be meeting with the sheriff regularly.

The taser thing isn't going to trial, because the Swanson principal didn't call the police when it happened. 7th grade parents reached out to Fox News about it, but that's the first time the police heard about it. The interim Swanson principal came out of retirement to take this job. She was the principal at Key Elementary for two decades before she retired. She's handling these middle school students like they are elementary students, and they are walking all over her. Just look at the PTA email that went out today. "We will continue to work with the students to help them manage their journey through the middle school years." Okay, but how about calling the cops when a student shows up with a weapon? She thinks she can get this all under control by talking to the kids and giving them candy when they visit her office.