Scandal Poolesville High School Student Arrest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

If they would only use RJ correctly, these problems would disappear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

If they would only use RJ correctly, these problems would disappear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

If they would only use RJ correctly, these problems would disappear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

You’re under the incorrect assumption that it is better in most other districts. It is not. You and others are just more aware of what goes on in MCPS because of how big it is AND because of how folks talk about it. Go do some actual research of other school districts and you’ll see quickly that MCPS is not alone. Heck you don’t even need to go far. Look at Baltimore, DC, Fairfax. Look at some southern states. But be sure not to just select wealthy town district as the basis of your research. Or if you do, look down the street of the not so wealthy district.

As the PPP said, we as a society have not setup systems appropriately to deal with this. Our solution is to just build more and more prisons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Interestingly, prison education can be superior to mainstream schools if they actually offer remedial literacy programs that are evidence based. Due to the refusal to track, remediation isn’t possible in mainstream schools. (even with an IEP they don’t really offer it.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks are so quick to blame MCPS for shuffling around kids that have problems. There’s no other solution. They can’t build more alternative schools to stick the kids who don’t want to “do school” because the schools end up being failing schools which don’t meet the requirements of the public schools to provide a free and fair public education. Kids that used to drop out at 16 can’t since the age of mandatory attendance was raised to 18 around 2015. As a society we have no actual plan to support children 11-17 who need real support to overcome trauma / poverty / learning disabilities and become productive citizens. We just hope that we can use the schools to contain kids until they grow up. Shuffling the trouble makers around used to separate them from other kids and reduce poor behaviors, but now with cells phones and easy transportation, they easily stay in contact with each other.

I think you are mostly right but let's clarify that the call isn't for alternative programs for kids who "don't want to do school."

It is for programs to meet the legal requirement to educate kids who have committed crimes, and not to mainstream those kids back into regular high schools so they can rape their classmates four months later.

The context for this thread was kids who commit crimes. Not all kids who don’t want to do school commit crimes, but almost all kids who commit crime aren’t interested in school (based on the grades of HS students that go through our school who get into trouble.)

There used to be schools for kids like this, but they got shut down under No Child Left Behind around 2005-07 timeframe because according to the data, these were failing schools because the kids couldn’t read/do math. It didn’t matter that the educational opportunity was there, the outcomes weren’t acceptable.

Again, as a society we don’t have a good solution for this. What I think children like this need are special boarding schools in remote areas that address mental and physical health, education, and vocational training. Put them in construction trade training while repairing homes for the elderly in Western Maryland. Have them help with parks services clearing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees, cleaning waterways. Get them into pre-apprenticeships learning electrical grid/solar farm/wind farm work. Teach them household skills such as cooking and cleaning while they help to maintain their group home. Pay for enough qualified adults to do this work with these kids. These type of programs are expensive up front, but they save society money down the road in reduced crime, legal system costs and running prisons.

Experience shows that MCPS often has the absolute worst solutions to these sorts of problems, though. I don't know why, maybe because a district near the nation's capital draws people always looking for the next thing, but this district is chockablock with half measures that look good on paper for about one year, and then start falling apart in the implementation, but it doesn't matter because the person whose brainchild it was has moved to a new role.

So, the question is this: MCPS is not the only school district in the country dealing with adjudicated youth. What do other districts do?

Over on the special needs forum some MCPS programs for higher needs kids actually do seem to be stable and functional, especially Bridges and RICA. But they are hard to get into and are for kids who have bona fide mental health issues that result in behavioral disruption.

For kids who “just” are chronically truant or have engaged in serious criminal behavior, they need to be transferred to an alternative program so they do not disrupt the education of others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to create controversy when there isn't any?

There were no issues with the student while the child was at Poolesville.

The student did well at Ewing so they transitioned back to a regular school program. I have no knowledge of what happened at Clarksburg but some kids are going through a lot and obviously this child needed help at that time.

The alleged criminal activity was something that could have happened before they were placed at Poolesville and had nothing to do with the school.

This seems like a standard part of being part of being in public school and as a Poolesville parent I do not have concerns about how this was handled other than the principal revealing too much information about the student so that busybody parents like you could have ammunition to gossip about the child.

This is not a controversy . Kid was arrested with a warrent, but did any one now that he was not possessing any harmful objects before he got arrested? what if he had got violent and other kids would have got hurt in the process?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand your post. The school had a shelter in place to make sure the arrest was done without any risk to the students and to protect the child's privacy. They handled it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand your post. The school had a shelter in place to make sure the arrest was done without any risk to the students and to protect the child's privacy. They handled it well.

No shelter in place. Read the principle’s letter.

[Anonymous]

Please stop jumping to conclusions.

A child was arrested for a crime but we don't know if they are guilty and won't for a while.

We don't know the child's history. This could be the first crime the child is accused of in which case there was no reason to not have him in a mainstream school.

There are other kids who go to the alternative program, do not have further issues, and then do really well in life and I for one am glad they had the opportunity to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand your post. The school had a shelter in place to make sure the arrest was done without any risk to the students and to protect the child's privacy. They handled it well.

Not true. There was NO shelter in place. The juvenile was arrested in a portable classroom during the school hour. The principal sent a community letter simply stating there was an arrest of a student, everything is fine, etc. etc. He wanted to cover up the fact that the school had received a juvenile delinquent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand your post. The school had a shelter in place to make sure the arrest was done without any risk to the students and to protect the child's privacy. They handled it well.

Not true. There was NO shelter in place. The juvenile was arrested in a portable classroom during the school hour. The principal sent a community letter simply stating there was an arrest of a student, everything is fine, etc. etc. He wanted to cover up the fact that the school had received a juvenile delinquent.

Exactly! I don’t understand why other people on this thread are praising the principals. “Impressed at the professionalism of the principals”. More details and a second letter was shared by the principal of poolesville ONLY AFTER a local poolesville FB group posted the arrest report of the student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand your post. The school had a shelter in place to make sure the arrest was done without any risk to the students and to protect the child's privacy. They handled it well.

Not true. There was NO shelter in place. The juvenile was arrested in a portable classroom during the school hour. The principal sent a community letter simply stating there was an arrest of a student, everything is fine, etc. etc. He wanted to cover up the fact that the school had received a juvenile delinquent.

Exactly! I don’t understand why other people on this thread are praising the principals. “Impressed at the professionalism of the principals”. More details and a second letter was shared by the principal of poolesville ONLY AFTER a local poolesville FB group posted the arrest report of the student.

Well, I don't go to the school, so I only saw the more detailed letter, hence my compliments to the principal.

[Anonymous]

OP here-

I think the principal Ws in a bad spot. MCPS wanted cover up. For any PHS parents on the call this evening- please push MCPS hard on their process for sending kids to alternative school.