Reply to The state of MCPS is atrocious

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I totally get why MCPS doesn’t want to give up on students. But there are a real subset of kids who are violent and disruptive, and they get shuffled from school to school rather than truly addressing the underlying issues. I don’t think many here are aware of some of the deeply disturbed family lives some of these kids are coming from. Social media is THE LAST CONCERN in these situations. But these kids are creating outsized problems.

MCPS thinks it can soften expectations to give kids multiple chances as they attempt to support mental health and teach social skills that aren’t being supported or taught at home.

It doesn’t work, and it degrades the educational experience of everyone else.

MCPS needs to go back to setting clear behavioral and academic expectations and then enforce them.   One, this actually helps a lot of kids who struggle in terms of behavior.  Two, there are kids who could behave just fine, but who take advantage of the fact there are few rules and no consequences. Three, it makes the environment healthier for everyone.

And four, for those kids with significant behavioral issues, use a collaborative case management approach to address all aspects of the child’s life. If this includes transferring the student to a special school for kids with acute behavioral issues, do it. But have a clear plan in place for reintegrating that child when they meet behavioral expectations. [/quote]

They are doing far more harm than good with their fake mental health and social support.  There is no real mental health or social support, just class discussions with teachers or SSL hour lectures/activities to "discuss it."  Kids with true mental health and other issues need real help outside MCPS, as MCPS is to educate, not parent or handle mental health crises, and should only get involved to help parents get their kids to the right support.  Many of these kids need therapists, psychologists/psychiatrists and really good evaluations and that's not happening in MCPS.  It also needs to start catching learning disabilities earlier and getting those kids help if kids cannot perform in school they get discouraged and give up or act out.  [b]MCPS and/or the county should establish a few mental health clinics outside the schools where families can go for crisis mental health (the crisis center is more set up for adults than kids) and the county needs to offer more mental health services (they do have some but not accessible to all) for kids (although I suspect one issue is they cannot hire enough social workers/therapists as no one wants to work for the county anymore as it isn't a good job as it once was)[/b].[/quote]

YES! You nailed it. MCPS is NOT equipped nor should it be the lead on TREATING AND SUPPORTING kids with mental health needs or issues. It can, though, be on the front lines of diagnosing or spotting those needs, much like they are with vision and hearing.

Prince George's County is leading the way here: https://wjla.com/news/health/walk-in-services-comprehensive-mental-health-care-available-prince-georges-county-lanham-maryland-hospital-behavioral-pavilion-treatment-community-clinic-outpatient-program-dmv-make-appointment-angela-alsobrooks

Prince William County, Va: https://wjla.com/news/local/prince-william-county-holds-ribbon-cutting-for-new-mental-health-crisis-receiving-center-glenn-youngkin-substance-abuse-elizabeth-guzman-woodbridge

MoCo needs to follow suit.[/quote]

Their vision and hearing screenings are a joke, just are the ones in the ped's clinics.  They were completely incorrect for my kids and they have no business doing medical care for kids.  If they want to provide medical care, set up clinics in some of the local schools with parent consent so kids can get regular care and physicals at a free or low cost.  It's all for the show.

They need to focus on education.  If some of these kids were getting a better education and their needs met (especially via early intervention in K-5), many of them would be doing far better later on.  When they ignore basic learning disabilities and only provide minimal support for other disabilities and delays they are failing our kids.  When they ignore smart and gifted kids and lump them all together, they are failing our kids.  When they ignore the average kids who may be struggling but too quiet or because they are passing, they are also failing those kids.

[/quote]

I don't know what to tell you. I personally benefited from the vision screenings in MCPS as a kid in the 90s, so I disagree that it doesn't work. My teachers noticed the issue, I had the vision screening and then I got a referral to an optometrist and I got glasses, which I desperately needed.

I agree with the other points, but it's not unreasonable to expect that the entity that has oversight of our kids for 6 hours a day every day can play a role in screening for physical and mental health anomalies.[/quote]

Then, you had checked out parents.  We always took ours for vision exams when we did our own.  I don't need MCPS to do medical care.  They did a huge drama for us demanding that we do a vision test for our child and it was bizarre as the child came in the week prior wearing brand new glasses and was wearing them daily.  For months they demanded a copy of the doctor's exam and prescription/receipt of the classes.  [/quote]

Why would you be so mean here? The PP said the screening helped her and you bash her parents. Personally. God! This thread is awful. There are a LOT of reasons public school behavior is lacking. It’s not just- other parents aren’t as awesome as me with my cell phone policy and regular vision checks. The world is big. There are lots of kinds of parents. It’s public school! You live near it? You go there! I don’t know why a subset of people just wants to criticize other parents )or teachers or unions). It’s so incredibly complex and life is hard for some families and most of them are trying their hardest.  And most teachers are too! And honestly kids are doing the best they can. It’s ain’t perfect,  but consider the alternative! No thanks. [/quote]

Because those checked out parents are part of the problem.  Your kids need yearly physicals, yearly eye exams and twice yearly dental cleanings.  [/quote]

It seems like many parents are unhappy that the county doesn't do more to raise their kids for them.[/quote]

It seems like you'd rather feel superior to parents than make sure kids get what they need.[/quote]

The problem is the county is so concerned with all these things that they've forgotten about education. Presently, they don't give all kids what they need and are only concerned with ones that are below grade level. Sure, that's unfortunate but all children deserve an education.[/quote]

I am sincerely sorry that you feel like vision and hearing screening 3 times in 13 years of school significantly detracts from your child's education.[/quote]

It should be voluntary.  I don’t need the school to take care of my children’s health needs.  They get yearly eye exams, more if needed, two to three time a year dental cleanings, yearly physicals and any other time they need a doctor.  It’s called parenting. Oh, and monthly to a few time a month ortho appointments.  [/quote]

You do realize that not every student is as fortunate as your children?  Sometimes we all make a sacrifice for the greater good.  [/quote]

The point the PPP is trying to make is that [b]the mission of MCPS and most other school districts is EDUCATION not community wellness and support.[/b]

While it may be easier to provide for needy kids and families in schools, that is not their mission or purpose.  If we as a nation want school systems to be in the business of community wellness and support then we need to greatly reimagine the entire system.  Schools and school systems get measured on their ability to EDUCATE kids not in the ability to provide wrap around services.  [/quote]

Some people understand that a school's ability to EDUCATE depends on community wellness and support. And other people do not understand that.[/quote]

And some understand a school's ability to EDUCATE depends on parents being parents. Most of the problems today go back to people expecting the school to raise their kids and failing at parenting.[/quote]

All the more reason for kids to have access to these services at school, so that they can be educated even though they have parents who are failures at parenting.[/quote]

Why is that exactly?  No one shows up at a doctors office expecting them to teach kids ABCs.  You don’t ask the soccer coach to teach basketball skills on the soccer field.  Why should school provide more than an education and opportunity for exploration in learning?  Schools are community centers.[/quote]

Your analogy is wrongheaded and not very applicable.

Here's a better one: Pediatricians have historically only cared about the physical wellbeing of kids, because as medical doctors, that's where they were primarily trained.

However, in recent years, pediatricians' scope and remit has expanded to focus on not just the physical wellbeing of kids, but also the emotional and mental wellbeing. So now, pediatricians are spending more time advising and investigating the emotional and mental wellbeing of kids because we understand that you can't care for one without the other.

This is why schools are involved in things like food, vision/eye screening and mental health of services because those things can be impediments to learning, if they aren't addressed.[/quote]

Actually this is not a better example, because the Pediatrician’s scope change still is in the realm of child well-being. Additionally, when they see an issue or cause for concern outside of their expertise, they recommend the patient to another provider best equipped to address.  Schools taking on food, vision/eye screening, mental health care, etc are things waay outside the scope of education or for which Educators are experts.  Expanding the scope in the realm of education purposes would be like inclusion of health class, bringing in a counselor to talk about ways to have good mental health, or even taking a field trip to a community garden to talk about healthy food and ways to grow.  All of these would still be about education.

Anything can be an impediment to learning, but that doesn’t mean school districts are best for addressing.

The reason all these things are done in school is because that is where kids are, and thus its easier to service them there.  Which would be fine, if we actually rethought how schools and services should be setup to best serve as a school and community center.  But as we haven’t, these are just add-no things that we keep throwing into the public school system.[/quote]

I don't understand your argument. Schools do the exact same thing. Almost all of their screenings push students and families to expert services. The next step after vision/hearing screenings are referrals to optometrists and/or ear doctor. The screenings are performed by medical experts, not teachers. What's your beef?

Even MCPS's mental health staff usually triage and then try to refer students to more specialized experts. Education is part of a child's wellbeing. They cannot learn if they can't see what's on the white board or screen in front of them. They can't learn if they can't hear well what the teacher is saying. They can't learn if they're distracted by hunger.

All of these things have direct implications and impacts on student education. [/quote]

MCPS should set up health and mental health clinics with the county to provide those services but their primary duty is to educate.  The county has social service programs to help with those other things.  I don't want them doing medical screenings on my child.  And, if they have all that free time to do them, how about putting that time into the kids who need the extra support, especially those with IEP's who are not getting their service hours or needs met.

MCPS provides breakfast and lunch for low-income students so that's irrelevant.  Some schools offer food pantries but that is by the PTA's.  So, again not relevant.

The school nurse is not trained to do real vision or hearing tests and the school ones are nothing like professional ones.  Medicaid covers hearing and vision tests as well as glasses.  [/quote]

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