MCPS policies for parental notification when children are hit in school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Seems like no one is surprised and that no one knows of a policy per se.

I want to clarify: my heart breaks for the child who was struggling so much he had a meltdown. I don't think it's my business to know what he specific needs are. But I guess if my own child is getting hit I'd like to know it. On the one hand, I don't want there to be an expectation created that it's okay to be hit and it's no big deal. On the other hand, I don't want to blow everything up but yesterday sounded really scary and I think the kids are processing it in their own way and I would think parents should be part of that processing.

Fortunately, my daughter is very verbal so I hear every little detail so we could talk about it. Still, it is out of the mouth of a 7-year-old.

Anyway, thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Start keeping a log of incidents, check with other students and parents. I was able to get changes made once all the parents (Esp Dads) got involved. It is NOT OK to go to school and fear being hit. I think this is so commonplace that many kids don't even tell their parents. I find it very disturbing.

[Anonymous]

Mcps only wants to protect the kids with special needs,behavior problens, and your average bad ass kids. My daughter is very calm,smart and follows adult direcation all the times.kids like my kid is over look and no one knows when bullies are making going to school a nightmare.Last monday,she had enough and she fought back and send a little boy to the ER.This kid has a file with
Numerous incidents with many kids. Where was mcps waiting for?

I sign up my daugher for karat and in three months,she leaned
Enough to defend herself.my dd will not be coming next fall to this school. I will enroll her in private school.please talk to kids on a daily moment to see what's going and watch for signs that how
Safe they feel at school.so sad mcps can't protect all the childrens.only the ones they feel needs the most help.

[Anonymous]

PP, it's your daughter who sounds like a nightmare. She sent a "little boy" to the ER and you sound proud of her? Shame on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One parent met with the principal based on what her child was telling her, and the principal enthusiastically welcomed the parent's concern. In fact, she suggested that she should tell other concerned parents to email the teacher and principal indicating their concerns so she would have a paper trail to try to get the kid removed from the school. It took nearly three quarters of the year to get him removed.

Bottom line: voice your concern. That kid doesn't belong in the classroom. Send an email to the principal and request a meeting. You aren't asking to confront the kid or his parents; rather, you are demanding assurance that your child is safe in the classroom.

PP, I am flagging this for the MCPS superintendent and the special needs director and will organize other parents to demand an investigation into what happened at your school and how this child's case was handled. What the principal did is illegal and violates all kinds of federal law protecting the rights of the disabled. You never know what's going on to trigger those kinds of behaviors and the principal and you shouldn't pretend to know where a child does or does not belong. There have been many cases where it was abuse by the school that caused children to act out.

I'm not downplaying your concerns about your own child's safety but what the principal did is inappropriate both from a legal and ethical standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting comments on this thread. My child is in an ED cluster school. He says that all of the bad behaviors he sees come from mainstream kids, not the ED kids. The ED kids have highly qualified paraeducators who keep them in line. I am wondering what ED clusters you all attend who claim the paraeducators are unqualified Joe Schmoes. That would raise my hackles a bit if I knew the people who were supposed to be helping special needs kids were just brought in off the street. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that.

Same at our school which is maybe the same as PP's. The bad behaviors we see are from the mainstream kids. The few SN kids we know who had behaviors in the past are doing great with paraeducators. The worst I see is that they might cry or stomp their feet if they are upset but it's A LOT better than the mainstream kids who pinch, throw, hit and there are no consequences.

[Anonymous]

Re: this post: I'm a school staff member and there's a student with severe anger issues in my school. We have not had enough parents voice their concern about the situation. There is a lengthy history of violent incidents where both students and staff have gotten hurt, but "they" (the people who make placement decisions) maintain that the current school is the most appropriate placement and that we just need to avoid any of the triggers that might set the student off.
**********
If you are really an MCPS staff member, you should realize by this point that parents have almost no say in the placement of their child. MCPS doesn't listen to parents.
So, MAN UP. (Or Woman up) and file a grievance against "them" with your Union he next time you get hurt. Tell the parents of injured children to file a complaint against the principal and copy MSDE. The parents of the child may even know their child is not in an appropriate placement and are being stonewalled too, and they can't afford a lawyer.
You took this job, we hope, to make a difference and to help children. Take a stand and speak out. And if they threaten you with your job, file another grievance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, we had a kid with severe issues at our school. He had violent outbursts and the classroom was evacuated regularly. Nobody was ever notified. One parent met with the principal based on what her child was telling her, and the principal enthusiastically welcomed the parent's concern. In fact, she suggested that she should tell other concerned parents to email the teacher and principal indicating their concerns so she would have a paper trail to try to get the kid removed from the school. It took nearly three quarters of the year to get him removed.

Bottom line: voice your concern. That kid doesn't belong in the classroom. Send an email to the principal and request a meeting. You aren't asking to confront the kid or his parents; rather, you are demanding assurance that your child is safe in the classroom.

The kid at our school flipped desks and chairs and threw things like scissors. They got to the point where they had to have a second adult in the room at all times so they could quickly evacuate the kids.

I'm a school staff member and there's a student with severe anger issues in my school. We have not had enough parents voice their concern about the situation. There is a lengthy history of violent incidents where both students and staff have gotten hurt, but "they" (the people who make placement decisions) maintain that the current school is the most appropriate placement and that we just need to avoid any of the triggers that might set the student off.

As much as I feel terribly sad for the student that they are not getting what they need in terms of appropriate services, if my kid was in that classroom I would have had enough and would be contacting admin and the appropriate higher-ups in writing so there is a paper trail. The classroom has had to be evacuated many times. This has been ongoing for almost 2 years. Administration says their hands are tied. They don't send home notices to parents when these events occur. I believe they have been advised not to. They only send home notices if the police had been involved.

I think that if more parents voiced their concern then that might make a difference to help this child since "they" don't trust the teachers and school staff when we tell them that this child is suffering and so are the other 20 something students in the class when there is an incident. If there was enough parent concern voiced then "they" would have to take the other students' safety into account. Two years worth of logs, photo evidence and injured staff and students just haven't been enough to get a student like this the support they truly need and to ensure the other students' safety as well.

I'm not employed by MCPS, but work at a job where we come across a good number of teachers. I've heard this from other teachers. Less in ES, but much more in MS and HS. There is a decent amount of pressure on 'enforcing positive behavior' and minimizing disciplinary actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be clear, I think all children have the right to go to school and expect not to be hit. I would hope that all schools are doing what they can to keep kids safe, and to deal with perpetrators appropriately.

I still don't think schools need to inform parents every time something happens. Basically, I think that parents ought to let the school deal with it with the hitter and the hitter's parents/guardians. The hittee is the victim, and should be cared for, but the parents don't NEED to be involved unless there was an injury or unless the school isn't dealing with

Well you are correct that the child being physically assaulted is the victim here. Fort his or her parents not to be informed that their child has been assaulted is in my view ridiculous. The child who was hit clearly knows he was hit, and, if he were an adult and permitted to make his own choices as to how to respond and more mature enough to do so, he could take any number of steps. The schools are simply relying on the fact that kids won't tell their parents that they have been assaulted in their classrooms. This is not at all about student privacy. If Jack hits Jane, Jane knows it. Privacy blown right there. Jane doesn't need to know why Jack hit her, any underlying private issues, or anything about his mental or medical state. She does know, though, that her school was holy unable to protect her from violence. Sometimes this violence is small, and sometimes big. But don't let schools hide behind a shield of privacy in telling you you are not permitted to know of an act committed in public. Imagine if this happened and an adult workplace. If you were hit or taunted in front of your supervisors, who then turned around and said that, due to privacy concerns, they would be unable to prevent it from happening in the future. You might not expect your company to tell you how they are addressing the problem, but to put a stamp of approval on it and the name of privacy for a child they cannot control, that's just bullshit.

If it doesn't become formal reports there is no record of frequency of the behavior so hard to diagnose and find treatment that might work. Meanwhile kids in class observing this behavior get anxiety issues, copy the behavior, or both. Oh and they might get physically damaged too. In our (private) school parents of these kids work hard to turn it into a parent to parent discussion but ultimately everyone knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, it's your daughter who sounds like a nightmare. She sent a "little boy" to the ER and you sound proud of her? Shame on you.

She said the boy had been harassing her daughter for months and that he attacked her at recess. Is there any point at which you think it's ok for the girl to fight back against this bully? Or should she just continue to take it? I'm guessing the broken arm was unintentional, but maybe this kid will finally learn not to be a bully.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!!she was defending herself.The reces monitor said he had my dd in a headlock and she fought back.she is seven years old and in 1 grade.what was she suppose to do,let him chocked her to death!! I am not proud that he was hurt but he brought all of this own.He has been on her case for months.mcps failed my daughter and her classmates.That's why we have so many angry children who had enough and fight back.

This boy was lucky she only used her hands on him.Next time,someone will used a weapon to end his short life.My husband is a police officer with Arlington county.we have guns in our house.
My dh keeps it locked up and away from me and dd.She knows they exist.When the school called on Monday and told me what happened.I was in shocked and thank god she defend herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One parent met with the principal based on what her child was telling her, and the principal enthusiastically welcomed the parent's concern. In fact, she suggested that she should tell other concerned parents to email the teacher and principal indicating their concerns so she would have a paper trail to try to get the kid removed from the school. It took nearly three quarters of the year to get him removed.

Bottom line: voice your concern. That kid doesn't belong in the classroom. Send an email to the principal and request a meeting. You aren't asking to confront the kid or his parents; rather, you are demanding assurance that your child is safe in the classroom.

PP, I am flagging this for the MCPS superintendent and the special needs director and will organize other parents to demand an investigation into what happened at your school and how this child's case was handled. What the principal did is illegal and violates all kinds of federal law protecting the rights of the disabled. You never know what's going on to trigger those kinds of behaviors and the principal and you shouldn't pretend to know where a child does or does not belong. There have been many cases where it was abuse by the school that caused children to act out.

I'm not downplaying your concerns about your own child's safety but what the principal did is inappropriate both from a legal and ethical standpoint.

The principal did nothing wrong.

A parent met with the principal to inquire about her child's safety given the regular violent outbursts and evacuations. The principal listened, and said parents should feel free to send an email or letter or schedule a meeting with the teacher or principal if they have concerns. The principal was correct to listen and take the concerns of other parents seriously. These kids were scared. Think about how your kid might feel if a classmate had violent outbursts daily? Flipping desks, throwing scissors, breaking things, assaulting the teacher? They had a second adult in the room at all times so the kids could be evacuated.

The principal did nothing wrong.

PS - the kid is thriving at a new school that it better equipped to address her mental health issues. I know this because the mom told me that. Guess what? The kid's own mom wanted the kid in a special school as well...ya know, one equipped to actually meet the kid's special needs.

[Anonymous]

Mainstreaming is the integration of students of similar ages who had been separated up until the early 1990s into regular classrooms and special education classrooms. According to Sherri McCarthy, a professor of educational psychology at Northern Arizona State University, the idea behind it was to have teachers trained in both regular and special education, and to have two educators per classroom so that everyone would be able to stay on task.

“In reality, what has happened is that mainstreaming has been interpreted as putting all the kids in the same classrooms, but we don’t have the resources to put another teacher in there,” McCarthy said. “Now we just have a mix of kids with different needs.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/02/22/what-do-you-do-with-a-bad-kid-in-your-childs-class/

And here is a return piece from a SN mom who thinks all kids should be mainstreamed, even hers who is not potty-trained. That schools are capable of changing diapers!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/02/22/what-do-you-do-with-a-bad-kid-in-your-childs-class/

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to those of you who have made thoughtful replies and suggestions.

Also: I didn't intend to turn this into a referendum into the state of mainstreaming and special education today. In general, I think mainstreaming is the right thing to do because it's good for kids with special needs and also good for my own child overall to help her operate in the real world where there are all sorts of people with all sorts of abilities.

I just don't want my kid hit in school. And I expect to hear about it when it does happen so I can keep track of whether there is one kid in particular who is picking on her or whether there is a wholesale problem with keeping kids safe. Both require some sort of intervention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you!!she was defending herself.The reces monitor said he had my dd in a headlock and she fought back.she is seven years old and in 1 grade.what was she suppose to do,let him chocked her to death!! I am not proud that he was hurt but he brought all of this own.He has been on her case for months.mcps failed my daughter and her classmates.That's why we have so many angry children who had enough and fight back.

This boy was lucky she only used her hands on him.Next time,someone will used a weapon to end his short life.My husband is a police officer with Arlington county.we have guns in our house.
My dh keeps it locked up and away from me and dd.She knows they exist.When the school called on Monday and told me what happened.I was in shocked and thank god she defend herself.

You sound likes serious nut job hoping or expecting that some one is going to murder this child.

what was the recess monitor doing? This is part of the problem--the schools are tremendously overcrowded and they hire a couple folks with no training making $14/hr to watch hundreds of children with differing needs who have been cooped up inside for hours. It's terrible. My son had been hit repeatedly by another child but I stressed to him that he should not fight back. We dealt with it through the principal, who assigned someone to monitor the young boy. My understanding is that there is a lot of fighting on the playground. This is probably not new, though--read books about kids from a hundred years ago and the boys do almost nothing except beat the crap out of each other and torment the girls. I'm not saying it's right, but, if you're going to change behavior, you need more than 2 untrained folks monitoring 300 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The principal did nothing wrong.

A parent met with the principal to inquire about her child's safety given the regular violent outbursts and evacuations. The principal listened, and said parents should feel free to send an email or letter or schedule a meeting with the teacher or principal if they have concerns. The principal was correct to listen and take the concerns of other parents seriously. These kids were scared. Think about how your kid might feel if a classmate had violent outbursts daily? Flipping desks, throwing scissors, breaking things, assaulting the teacher? They had a second adult in the room at all times so the kids could be evacuated.

The principal did nothing wrong.

PS - the kid is thriving at a new school that it better equipped to address her mental health issues. I know this because the mom told me that. Guess what? The kid's own mom wanted the kid in a special school as well...ya know, one equipped to actually meet the kid's special needs.

NP. PP please share name of the school and the principal. Let's make an issue of it if you are so positive the principal did something wrong.