K student Out of Control

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can relate with the story 9:10 related. Although my DS isn't aggressive, he was in an FCPS special ed preschool starting at age 3. We wanted him held back from K to spend an additional year in the preschool and were informed by the school that his needs would be met through his IEP and he couldn't be held back. Even our high priced, highly regarded advocate ($250/hr) said there was nothing she could do. FCPS had to follow the mandated process. K was an absolute disaster for DS. We were able to mitigate some of issues by documenting immediately reactions and our suggestions as well as providing the $3.5K private evaluations we had done. As 9:10 said, it was a clusterfuck for everyone until we could get DS out of the mainstreamed classroom.

You had 2 years of state funded preschool. Special Ed preschool is expensive for the taxpayers, do you don't get it unless there are no other options. If you felt like he wasn't ready for K, you could have put him in a private school program or homeschooled him rather than let him have a terrible year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can relate with the story 9:10 related. Although my DS isn't aggressive, he was in an FCPS special ed preschool starting at age 3. We wanted him held back from K to spend an additional year in the preschool and were informed by the school that his needs would be met through his IEP and he couldn't be held back. Even our high priced, highly regarded advocate ($250/hr) said there was nothing she could do. FCPS had to follow the mandated process. K was an absolute disaster for DS. We were able to mitigate some of issues by documenting immediately reactions and our suggestions as well as providing the $3.5K private evaluations we had done. As 9:10 said, it was a clusterfuck for everyone until we could get DS out of the mainstreamed classroom.

You had 2 years of state funded preschool. Special Ed preschool is expensive for the taxpayers, do you don't get it unless there are no other options. If you felt like he wasn't ready for K, you could have put him in a private school program or homeschooled him rather than let him have a terrible year.

What you don't get is Ivymount with a behavior aid will cost $80K a year.

What you also don't get is early intervention for preschool and FAPE and IDEA helps everyone b/c the goal is to make productive members of society and not school dropouts.

Estimates from 2012 on what's spent on a SPED student per day: $73.90, which is probably less than what you spend in Starbucks in a week.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_201.10.asp?current=yes

[Anonymous]

Is that just federal spending? How much is it when you add in state and local spending?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can relate with the story 9:10 related. Although my DS isn't aggressive, he was in an FCPS special ed preschool starting at age 3. We wanted him held back from K to spend an additional year in the preschool and were informed by the school that his needs would be met through his IEP and he couldn't be held back. Even our high priced, highly regarded advocate ($250/hr) said there was nothing she could do. FCPS had to follow the mandated process. K was an absolute disaster for DS. We were able to mitigate some of issues by documenting immediately reactions and our suggestions as well as providing the $3.5K private evaluations we had done. As 9:10 said, it was a clusterfuck for everyone until we could get DS out of the mainstreamed classroom.

You had 2 years of state funded preschool. Special Ed preschool is expensive for the taxpayers, do you don't get it unless there are no other options. If you felt like he wasn't ready for K, you could have put him in a private school program or homeschooled him rather than let him have a terrible year.

What you don't get is Ivymount with a behavior aid will cost $80K a year.

What you also don't get is early intervention for preschool and FAPE and IDEA helps everyone b/c the goal is to make productive members of society and not school dropouts.

Estimates from 2012 on what's spent on a SPED student per day: $73.90, which is probably less than what you spend in Starbucks in a week.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_201.10.asp?current=yes

thank you pp

[Anonymous]

I am finding this thread very enlightening. In kindergarten, first, and again now in second grade, there has been a child in my son's class (different child each year), who has repeated episodes of out of control behavior: throwing objects at people, hitting people, etc.

It's a sad situation all around as someone else mentioned. The kids are absolutely alienating themselves from their peers, which is not good for anyone. I feel for the teachers.....and I feel for the child's family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am finding this thread very enlightening. In kindergarten, first, and again now in second grade, there has been a child in my son's class (different child each year), who has repeated episodes of out of control behavior: throwing objects at people, hitting people, etc.

It's a sad situation all around as someone else mentioned. The kids are absolutely alienating themselves from their peers, which is not good for anyone. I feel for the teachers.....and I feel for the child's family.

Are the kids from K and 1st still at the school, just in another class, or did they get sent somewhere else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, at the school where I work, what gets attention most is frequent communication to the principal about the situation at hand from as many members of the parent community as possible. This does not necessarily mean threats of legal action; quite frankly, that doesn't do much to concern the admin team but rather puts them on the defensive when working with the family. Instead, hearing from many people -- in respectful, "we're all wanting the best for all of the children involved" kinds of ways -- sends a stronger message and is more likely to get the result that you want.

OP, please listen to this post. You and other parents of kids in this class need to agree that you will all contact the principal every single time something happens. Do it by e-mail so there is a paper trail. If needed, band together and ask for a meeting between the principal and a group of you parents. One parent complaining can be dismissed; a group of parents who come together and say, "We want to meet with you to discuss shared concerns we all have about safety in this classroom" will definitely get the principal's attention. And document every interaction with this child (write down what happened) and if your kid has bruises or cuts inflicted, take photos immediately and notify the school immediately. Enough of that from enough parents and the school will speed up the process that it has to follow, believe me. And yes, the school legally does have to follow a horribly slow process.

If the class teacher is doing his or her best in this dreadful situation, be sure that you're clear that you are not blaming the teacher for the situation, but the system. I feel terrible for this teacher, who is probably very aware that her entire classroom is being held hostage by this child's behavior, and who likely wants to see the poor kid get better help than just an aide who can't even restrain him physically.

OP, also, have any parents gone to the school counselor about this? Even if the counselor cannot do a single thing about the process to get this child into a classroom environment that is better for him, the counselor could at least talk to you and other parents about how to talk to YOUR children about this. If children are scared to go to school for fear of being physically harmed, that is going to have repercussions the rest of this year and possibly beyond. I would want some advice on how to talk to my child about why I was sending her to a classroom where she felt unsafe -- as a parent, I'd feel that she was thinking I wasn't protecting her and that teachers also can't be trusted to protect children. That's not a lesson you want new kindergarteners absorbing--that their supposedly "safe" adults actually cannnot protect them. The school can talk all it wants about following procedures or providing education to all, but that means nothing to a five-year-old who suddenly realizes that the teachers she was told were there to keep her safe can't do that, and the parents who will always look after her can't do it when she's in school. What would the counselor (and principal) say to that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am finding this thread very enlightening. In kindergarten, first, and again now in second grade, there has been a child in my son's class (different child each year), who has repeated episodes of out of control behavior: throwing objects at people, hitting people, etc.

It's a sad situation all around as someone else mentioned. The kids are absolutely alienating themselves from their peers, which is not good for anyone. I feel for the teachers.....and I feel for the child's family.

I feel for those who are victimized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how all that is happening with an adult assigned just for that student. Sounds like the school is failing to come up with a plan to help this kid.

It's due to mainstreaming. My child has 7 special need kids out if 20 in his class. The majority are fine with just different learning needs. One is behavioral and it is extremely disruptive to the class.

We now are a system of forget majority --we compensate for the needs of the minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am finding this thread very enlightening. In kindergarten, first, and again now in second grade, there has been a child in my son's class (different child each year), who has repeated episodes of out of control behavior: throwing objects at people, hitting people, etc.

It's a sad situation all around as someone else mentioned. The kids are absolutely alienating themselves from their peers, which is not good for anyone. I feel for the teachers.....and I feel for the child's family.

Are the kids from K and 1st still at the school, just in another class, or did they get sent somewhere else?

The kid from my son's kindergarten was not at the school for first grade. The kid from his first grade class is still at the school (but not in his class this year). The kid in his second grade class this year was at the school for first grade last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how all that is happening with an adult assigned just for that student. Sounds like the school is failing to come up with a plan to help this kid.

It's due to mainstreaming. My child has 7 special need kids out if 20 in his class. The majority are fine with just different learning needs. One is behavioral and it is extremely disruptive to the class.

We now are a system of forget majority --we compensate for the needs of the minority.

So true and so sad that 22 other student's educations are impacted and they learn to fear school all because of one child who should not be in the classroom. So much for safety first. I'm all for inclusion but not when it puts a class of 5 yr olds in harms way, daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay for private, OP. Everyone is legally entitled to free access to education, no matter how much you don't like them.

No parent bashing. The parent has legitimate concerns about their child's safety in the classroom. First talk with teacher about concerns. Then talk with principal about concerns. Start there and see, what their response is. If you are still not satisfied, take it up the chain of command to head of schools, super, etc. Children should feel safe in classroom.

I'm not "parent bashing;" otherwise I'd have made fun of her precious "snowflake."

FAPE is the law: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html

Children should feel safe in the classroom, but it's not a legal requirement. Allowing a kid access to an education is.

A kid who behaves like this is not getting an education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay for private, OP. Everyone is legally entitled to free access to education, no matter how much you don't like them.

No parent bashing. The parent has legitimate concerns about their child's safety in the classroom. First talk with teacher about concerns. Then talk with principal about concerns. Start there and see, what their response is. If you are still not satisfied, take it up the chain of command to head of schools, super, etc. Children should feel safe in classroom.

I'm not "parent bashing;" otherwise I'd have made fun of her precious "snowflake."

FAPE is the law: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html

Children should feel safe in the classroom, but it's not a legal requirement. Allowing a kid access to an education is.

And YAY big government!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay for private, OP. Everyone is legally entitled to free access to education, no matter how much you don't like them.

No parent bashing. The parent has legitimate concerns about their child's safety in the classroom. First talk with teacher about concerns. Then talk with principal about concerns. Start there and see, what their response is. If you are still not satisfied, take it up the chain of command to head of schools, super, etc. Children should feel safe in classroom.

I'm not "parent bashing;" otherwise I'd have made fun of her precious "snowflake."

FAPE is the law: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html

Children should feel safe in the classroom, but it's not a legal requirement. Allowing a kid access to an education is.

A kid who behaves like this is not getting an education.

This is an interesting point I think. The other posters who knew children like this in FCPS who were placed in the regular K classes despite their parents' disagreement with the placement was also interesting. I think it is assumed a lot that parents of kids with these problems are being selfish or clueless and are blamed for forcing their kid into an inappropriate class when really it seems like FCPS's goal is to save money by mainstreaming kids who are not ready for it.