Reply to B-CC lockdown

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "B-CC lockdown"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Kids were taking AP tests![/quote]

Students and staff who were inside that day were expected to return to school next day! [/quote]

Oh because "we have to meet meet the number of days this school year" Apply for a F waiver![/quote]

The school made the right decision. Keep school open the next day, hold AP exams. Some kids need the resources of school to process trauma (peers and counselors) others need a break.  Many students prep for AP tests to lead up to a particular day and cancelling can be damaging.

Same with teachers -some want/need to come, others need not to. They have sick days and time off they can use. I hope MCPS HR treats these requests flexibly and the system is prepared to flood extra staff/support after these incidents.

The school did not say kids were "expected to return". The school said it would be open.  You are a parent - take responsibility for what your own kid needs. If they need to stay home, simply write a note saying they were absent for health reasons. Attending to one's mental health is a real health need, and I wrote quite a few excusal notes like that in HS w/o any problem. Your kids absence, like all health-related absences of one day, will be excused. They can make up any test, assignment, get class notes or take a make up AP exam on make-up day.

Anybody taking an AP test at the time should complain to College Board and ask for a re-take on make up day or another day. The school should be assisting with such a request, frankly.  It's reasonable to expect College Board to have alternate test forms they can administer. And/or students should consider noting in their college app that AP was taken during bomb threat lockdown. [/quote]

[b]All parents know they take responsibility for their kid's needs[/b]. How about the parents of the kid who brought a weapon to school last Monday? And how about needs of teachers? I know to take leave if needed but who is going to fill in position, a sub of which there's a shortage? [b]Someone from HR or Central is going to sub teach classes tomorrow?[/b] [/quote]

No, not all parents know they can simply write a note and have their child excused for unspecified undocumented health reasons. Not all parents know that there is an AP make up day. Many parents would prefer - like yourself it seems - to [b]focus[/b] their rage on a perceived perpetrator kid and their imagined irresponsible parent. It makes you feel better and righteous be it accomplishes nothing - actually less than nothing.

Adult society has chosen to be set itself up this way - no gun control, no access to mental health care, few programs to care for children of any age, violent/high-conflict adult communication and a preference for believing that the only true solution is an individual focus on blaming, shaming and punishing and othering the individual and parents.

Because of this, we now live in a world where gun and bomb threats are real and frequent.  Do I like it? No, but it's what we have until adults do better.

And because of that, yes, if central office wants to keep school open after a bomb threat then they are going to have to flood the zone with personnel to fill people who take leave. Ot they have to combine classes in the gym or auditorium, etc.  Is it ideal to have an HR person for a sub? No, but ideal outcomes were taken off the table by the bomb threatener.

TBH, school has to remain open for another reason - bomb threats are a little like kidnapping. You can't reward the perp with his desired goal. You can't pay kidnappers. You can't shut down school for additional days, especially for a threat that turns out not to have had any real bombs or real violent intent, i.e. a swatting threat. If you do, you are just rewarding the perp with the chaos and fear he sought as a reward. And, again, some people need to be off of school to process; some people need to be with others. [/quote]

Nah, there was no focus, it was a question. Take it easy, RECENT bcc parent.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics