Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 08:17     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
My daughter was harassed and we discussed different ways for her to stand up to the kid. I believe that you need to equip your child to deal with these situations instead of running away from them.

However, no situation is ever "textbook."

In my daughter's case, nothing worked. So I filed a complaint and requested that they remain separated in classes - seated apart and absolutely no group work.

The behavior stopped. This isn't to say the kid isn't bothering others, however, as bullies will always find another victim.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 07:45     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Well, it's summer now, but I would have filed a bullying report form for each and every single incident, with a courtesy copy to the relevant office at MSDE.
What kind of crappy principal allows the situation to get so bad that the family wants their child out of the school!?


Unfortunately, unlike a private school in a public school the principal cannot throw a bully kid or a disruptive kid out of the school. They do have to follow the due process as prescribed by MCPS.
OP, is your kid being bullied by one child or is everyone bullying your child? If it is one child you can request that your kid gets put in another classroom. OR you can take the voucher and move to a private.


Not my child, but my friend's child. From what she said it's a group of girls bullying her daughter. She's filed multiple complaints, but nothing's been done that's why she thinks transferring her child would be the best solution.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 07:31     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Well, it's summer now, but I would have filed a bullying report form for each and every single incident, with a courtesy copy to the relevant office at MSDE.
What kind of crappy principal allows the situation to get so bad that the family wants their child out of the school!?


Unfortunately, unlike a private school in a public school the principal cannot throw a bully kid or a disruptive kid out of the school. They do have to follow the due process as prescribed by MCPS.
OP, is your kid being bullied by one child or is everyone bullying your child? If it is one child you can request that your kid gets put in another classroom. OR you can take the voucher and move to a private.


What do you mean "take the voucher and move to a private?" Are you saying you think that OP will get a private placement such that the county will pay for private school? That seems like a pretty unlikely result since the threshold for a private placement (at least in the special needs context where the issue arises more frequently) is quite high. I can't imagine the county would make it easier in the context of bullying.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 07:30     Subject: Re:Transferring schools due to bullying
I dont want to name the schools but I had a friend with a 3rd grader in a MCPS school. She was being bullied by another girl repeatedly and when my friend made the school aware they switched friends DD to another class. Problem was the bully had friends in the other class and they carried on the bullying.
Eventually my friend got her kid into a different MCPS school but it took a long time.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 07:13     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Mcps has a good policy against bullying, far more effective than any private because ultimately they CAN suspend or remove the bully if the behavior doesnt stop.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 05:20     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.


What are you talking about? Some people - kids included-,just suck. Leaving them behind is a great thing.
We took our DD out of a catholic school where she was being bullied and the school was awful at managing things and it was a great decision.


Either the other students are treating the OP's child poorly and violating the school's anti-bullying rules, in which case they are the ones who ought to be facing consequences and any inconvenience that results from their behavior, or the actions of the other students aren't in violation of OP's child's rights or school rules, in which case OP's child needs to learn to deal with the unpleasant classmates because life is full of less than pleasant people.

I think it sends sends a bad message to allow someone else's poor behavior to cause you to alter your own, and I think it does no one any favors to be thin-skinned and avoid even the smallest conflicts, so either way OP's child is not the one who should be having to leave the situation.

My children were lucky enough to never face bullying in school, but I did as a child including, in addition to fairly constant teasing and social exclusion, some mild physical aggression and a few incidents of sexual harassment. I certainly don't think that running away from the people who were trying to intimidate and humiliate me would have been an appropriate or beneficial decision.


That cis a chicken or egg situation. SIL may have been bullied because she was thinn skinned and reacted in a way the bullies enjoyed, hence the bullying continued.

+1. I agree with this. My SIL was made fun of and parents reacted by changing her school. It was the start to frequently having to make accomadations for SIL. To this day she's incredibly thin skinned, can't handle any conflict and is emotionally fragile.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 05:08     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.


What are you talking about? Some people - kids included-,just suck. Leaving them behind is a great thing.
We took our DD out of a catholic school where she was being bullied and the school was awful at managing things and it was a great decision.


Either the other students are treating the OP's child poorly and violating the school's anti-bullying rules, in which case they are the ones who ought to be facing consequences and any inconvenience that results from their behavior, or the actions of the other students aren't in violation of OP's child's rights or school rules, in which case OP's child needs to learn to deal with the unpleasant classmates because life is full of less than pleasant people.

I think it sends sends a bad message to allow someone else's poor behavior to cause you to alter your own, and I think it does no one any favors to be thin-skinned and avoid even the smallest conflicts, so either way OP's child is not the one who should be having to leave the situation.

My children were lucky enough to never face bullying in school, but I did as a child including, in addition to fairly constant teasing and social exclusion, some mild physical aggression and a few incidents of sexual harassment. I certainly don't think that running away from the people who were trying to intimidate and humiliate me would have been an appropriate or beneficial decision.


+1. I agree with this. My SIL was made fun of and parents reacted by changing her school. It was the start to frequently having to make accomadations for SIL. To this day she's incredibly thin skinned, can't handle any conflict and is emotionally fragile.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 04:27     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.


What are you talking about? Some people - kids included-,just suck. Leaving them behind is a great thing.
We took our DD out of a catholic school where she was being bullied and the school was awful at managing things and it was a great decision.


Either the other students are treating the OP's child poorly and violating the school's anti-bullying rules, in which case they are the ones who ought to be facing consequences and any inconvenience that results from their behavior, or the actions of the other students aren't in violation of OP's child's rights or school rules, in which case OP's child needs to learn to deal with the unpleasant classmates because life is full of less than pleasant people.

I think it sends sends a bad message to allow someone else's poor behavior to cause you to alter your own, and I think it does no one any favors to be thin-skinned and avoid even the smallest conflicts, so either way OP's child is not the one who should be having to leave the situation.

My children were lucky enough to never face bullying in school, but I did as a child including, in addition to fairly constant teasing and social exclusion, some mild physical aggression and a few incidents of sexual harassment. I certainly don't think that running away from the people who were trying to intimidate and humiliate me would have been an appropriate or beneficial decision.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 00:16     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:Well, it's summer now, but I would have filed a bullying report form for each and every single incident, with a courtesy copy to the relevant office at MSDE.
What kind of crappy principal allows the situation to get so bad that the family wants their child out of the school!?


Unfortunately, unlike a private school in a public school the principal cannot throw a bully kid or a disruptive kid out of the school. They do have to follow the due process as prescribed by MCPS.
OP, is your kid being bullied by one child or is everyone bullying your child? If it is one child you can request that your kid gets put in another classroom. OR you can take the voucher and move to a private.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2017 00:01     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.

No, this is the best response. I was bullied in HS and changing schools was the only thing that worked (it was huge for my self-esteem too).
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2017 23:59     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Well, it's summer now, but I would have filed a bullying report form for each and every single incident, with a courtesy copy to the relevant office at MSDE.
What kind of crappy principal allows the situation to get so bad that the family wants their child out of the school!?
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2017 23:49     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.


What are you talking about? Some people - kids included-,just suck. Leaving them behind is a great thing.
We took our DD out of a catholic school where she was being bullied and the school was awful at managing things and it was a great decision.
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2017 23:46     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Don't do it. That's just about the worst response possible.
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2017 21:12     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
No experience with this exact situation, but researched the transfer process for a similar reason and think the regular COSA process might apply. You would need permission from principal of the current school and permission from the principal of the new school.
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2017 20:35     Subject: Transferring schools due to bullying
Has anyone had to transfer their child due to bullying? What was the process? I'm asking this for a friend who's considering transferring her child from an MCPS school because of bullying.