Oakridge Principal

[Anonymous]

The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids *love* the overnight. Cancelling the overnight part because of whatever happened last week would be a big overreaction. Worse things happen on other programs and they don't cancel the whole thing.

What’s worse than sexual assault? Murder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good lord! Who was supervising these kids?

Seriously. Someone should be fired immediately.

So a teacher should be on patrol 24/7 to keep kids from having a 2 am rendezvous? Seriously?

Um YES. I remember going on an 8th grade field trip and teachers took turns monitoring hallway and taped all of our doors so they would know if we had left.

1. That isn’t an option with tents.
2. Teachers are already volunteering their time to stay overnight. They’re going to need to be paid if you expect them to stay up all night.

Great. Then don’t make it an overnight trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

Plenty of school districts do overnight trips! All along the east coast kids do well-long trips to Washington DC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids *love* the overnight. Cancelling the overnight part because of whatever happened last week would be a big overreaction. Worse things happen on other programs and they don't cancel the whole thing.

What’s worse than sexual assault? Murder?

sexual assault is sadly not uncommon on trips, and I think it's worse when somebody who is older is the perpetrator. There have been incidents of camp counselors assaulting minors, and here, assuming this was sexual assault, it was done by a 10-year old. But we are going to keep the programs where it was an adult committing the crime, and cancel a program where it was a little kid committing the crime?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids *love* the overnight. Cancelling the overnight part because of whatever happened last week would be a big overreaction. Worse things happen on other programs and they don't cancel the whole thing.

What’s worse than sexual assault? Murder?

sexual assault is sadly not uncommon on trips, and I think it's worse when somebody who is older is the perpetrator. There have been incidents of camp counselors assaulting minors, and here, assuming this was sexual assault, it was done by a 10-year old. But we are going to keep the programs where it was an adult committing the crime, and cancel a program where it was a little kid committing the crime?

Keep in mind, it's an optional field trip. If parents don't think it's appropriate or safe, they don't need to give permission for their kid to go.

[Anonymous]

What about the issue of cancelling the trip for all 5th graders at this school? How is that fair to them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the issue of cancelling the trip for all 5th graders at this school? How is that fair to them?

Not sure if this was the principal’s call, but it certainly is not unlike her reactive way of managing the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the issue of cancelling the trip for all 5th graders at this school? How is that fair to them?

Not sure if this was the principal’s call, but it certainly is not unlike her reactive way of managing the school.

Narcissists — and workplace bullies are often narcissistic — tend to demonstrate a sense of grandiosity end exceedingly high self-confidence. This leads to impulsiveness. It’s all tied in to their lack of empathy for others and their promotion of their own interests above all else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

Plenty of school districts do overnight trips! All along the east coast kids do well-long trips to Washington DC!

in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

I think it’s great. My home district has a similar program. Has done it for 40 years for 5th graders. Like OL, kids take a day field trip around 3rd grade and go back for an overnight. I still remember it and now my nieces are doing it. My kid also loved OL and can’t wait for 5th grade trip back. And if we’re talking about equity, many kids in APS don’t have access to these kinds of experiences. APS should keep this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

I think it’s great. My home district has a similar program. Has done it for 40 years for 5th graders. Like OL, kids take a day field trip around 3rd grade and go back for an overnight. I still remember it and now my nieces are doing it. My kid also loved OL and can’t wait for 5th grade trip back. And if we’re talking about equity, many kids in APS don’t have access to these kinds of experiences. APS should keep this.

I wonder if you would have the same feelings if your child was sexually assaulted on the trip?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

Plenty of school districts do overnight trips! All along the east coast kids do well-long trips to Washington DC!

in elementary school?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

I think it’s great. My home district has a similar program. Has done it for 40 years for 5th graders. Like OL, kids take a day field trip around 3rd grade and go back for an overnight. I still remember it and now my nieces are doing it. My kid also loved OL and can’t wait for 5th grade trip back. And if we’re talking about equity, many kids in APS don’t have access to these kinds of experiences. APS should keep this.

I wonder if you would have the same feelings if your child was sexually assaulted on the trip?

NP here. Of course this is the sticky question: how would *you* feel if it was your kid? I am sure it would be like any situation where my kid was harmed because I allowed them to do something, like a sleepover or a trip with another family or something. That would be absolutely devastating and there is a good chance I would want to cancel all the trips.

But is that really how the decision should be made? I think it's best to look at it overall in a more objective manner and do a risk-benefit analysis. Statistically speaking the risk of a fifth grader being sexually assaulted by another fifth grader of the same gender on an overnight field trip is extremely low, and the benefits of the trip are high (IMO). As parents we have to make calls like this all the time. We send our kids to school even though there is a risk of a shooting, we drive our kids around even though car accidents are a big risk, we take non-swimming kids to lakes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overnight trip is just bizarre. Tell me what other school district does this? Tell me why it's needed? Tell me why the whole outdoor lab funding would not be better spent on paying our staff and lowering class sizes? And fixing our decaying buildings?

Plenty of school districts do overnight trips! All along the east coast kids do well-long trips to Washington DC!

in elementary school?

Oh, and I'll add that I think the risk of one student sexually assaulting another is higher in older grades.