Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 11:32     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:I'd talk to your child about it and let the school handle it. I'm impressed they told you. Great homeroom teacher. She's a keeper.


I am a bit surprised at OP's post. As an MCPS specials' (PE, Art, Music) teacher, the homeroom teacher drops the students and leaves the room for 40 minutes until the special is over. The students remain with one teacher unless there is a 1-on-1 para for a student with a physical disability or severe cases of ADHD. OP's child is in the process of being diagnosed so he does not have a 1-on-1. In my over 10 years' of teaching at MCPS, I have not had any classroom teacher sacrifice prep. time to stay with the classroom during specials. There is more to this story.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 11:11     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:WTF is wrong with some of you? You think it is "old fashioned" and "ok" for a teacher to grab a student's face when he interrupts her? That is behavior normal people wouldn't allow in a 2 year old.

OP you are perfectly justified in calling CPS.


You should learn to read better. None of us said these actions were OK. What the teacher did was shocking in this day and age, and she deserves to be appropriately disciplined. If OP wants to call CPS, she can do so too. However, there are degrees of impropriety and unless there are other instances of physicality discovered in the investigation,this one incident should not be a reason for the teacher to never teach again. I say this as a parent of a child with special needs who was in this situation.

OP needs to go over the facts with a cool head. I'm sure she is up to the task.


If you think it's wrong then you are disgustingly complicit. And it's not "one incident", it's the one incident that another teacher observed and reported.


We don't know if it's a one off or not. As PP said, that will be determined by the investigation. Teachers have civil service and union protections. The school has to follow it's own protocols, which usually spell out what's a firing situation or not. And whatever they do may be challenged, so discipline situations need to be handled carefully.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 11:02     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:WTF is wrong with some of you? You think it is "old fashioned" and "ok" for a teacher to grab a student's face when he interrupts her? That is behavior normal people wouldn't allow in a 2 year old.

OP you are perfectly justified in calling CPS.


You should learn to read better. None of us said these actions were OK. What the teacher did was shocking in this day and age, and she deserves to be appropriately disciplined. If OP wants to call CPS, she can do so too. However, there are degrees of impropriety and unless there are other instances of physicality discovered in the investigation,this one incident should not be a reason for the teacher to never teach again. I say this as a parent of a child with special needs who was in this situation.

OP needs to go over the facts with a cool head. I'm sure she is up to the task.


If you think it's wrong then you are disgustingly complicit. And it's not "one incident", it's the one incident that another teacher observed and reported.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 10:40     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:Received a surprising call from the principal today. My son's (6yo, ADHD, IEP in progress, MCPS) homeroom teacher witnessed another teacher put her hands on my son out of anger. Apparently, my son was interrupting this teacher and she squeezed my son's chin/cheeks between her middle finger and thumb to stop his mouth from being able to move. This happened in front of his classmates. He was not hurt, but embarrassed. Homeroom teacher intervened. Principal had him checked out by the nurse (all was fine) and called me, saying very little other than the facts of what happened and that there was protocol in place for situations like this and that the school would follow it. Prior to today, this is a teacher DS really liked and a special that he very much looked forward to each week. I'm so grateful for his amazing homeroom teacher, but absolutely shocked that this happened. How would you proceed in my shoes?


I would ask for a meeting with the principal and ask for full details on the protocol and whether it includes a (mandated) report to CPS. Give them the benefit of the doubt - the fact that the homeroom teacher handled it well and the principal called you shows, I think, that they are committed to doing the right thing. But I would demand transparency around the process. It may be that this special teacher is really great and had a weak moment, but they have to deal with the consequences before this person spirals out of control.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 10:37     Subject: Re:Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
I would be grateful to the homeroom teacher and the principal. I would ask the principal for details about the school procedure for handling such an issue. I would be careful to specify to the principal that I was not asking about what actions the school was pursuing with the teacher (since that would probably be considered a private employment matter) but what the documented procedure was. If I was satisfied with the procedure (probably), I would let the issue go. If I was not satisfied with the documented procedure, I would pursue that with the school board or report the incident to CPS with the caveat that I was not satisfied with the school's procedures for handling such issues.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 10:27     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
PP here and it was also a specials teacher that did this to our child. I hope it's not the same one because I'm feeling horrible thinking it's possible the teacher does this to other SN kids and I could have prevented this. I don't want to get into specifics but what she did was very close to what happened with your child which was touching him in a manner that might have been considered okay when she was growing up but would raise a lot of alarm bells today.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 10:24     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
OP, It sounds like the school is on top of it and is going to discipline the teacher even if it's only a verbal warning. I would be grateful they told you and move on.

This type of thing happened to my child a few years ago and the school ended up disciplining my SN child in K with speech delays for having a meltdown and running out of the room because she touched him. They didn't tell me that part. They just said he was not listening to directions and then had a meltdown. By the time he was able to tell us what happened and why he reacted so strongly (it was not like him to do that kind of thing) a week had passed and we didn't think it would be helpful to revisit the incident. We should have documented the issue and made sure it was addressed. I have to give your school a lot of points for telling you about this and taking it seriously.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:51     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:OP again, I'm glad that the school/county has procedural guidelines in place, but this could have been a great learning experience for everyone involved. It's disappointing that hasn't yet come to fruition. And I worry about what that means for my SN kid and his education at this school. My kids social emotional health and learning is by far the most important thing for us. This incident has made me feel like my kid is little more than a student ID number.

And no, we aren't out for this teachers job and won't be filing a cps report as we don't feel it's warranted.


Well then it will probably be handled as a personnel matter, in which case they won't tell you what the outcome was. Most likely the teacher will receive a reprimand that goes in her personnel file. A lot of a times that's enough to prevent a repeat.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:12     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:OP again, I'm glad that the school/county has procedural guidelines in place, but this could have been a great learning experience for everyone involved. It's disappointing that hasn't yet come to fruition. And I worry about what that means for my SN kid and his education at this school. My kids social emotional health and learning is by far the most important thing for us. This incident has made me feel like my kid is little more than a student ID number.

And no, we aren't out for this teachers job and won't be filing a cps report as we don't feel it's warranted.


I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the school doesn't care about your child. Many school policies, once invoked, are not the best for students, especially their social emotional health. Schools can be very inflexible in certain situations, to the detriment of students and teachers. Once this issue is resolved, in whatever transparent or opaque fashion, then you can better judge the school based on the ordinary day-to-day.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:11     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:They need to report it to CPS because they are mandated reporters. It is doubtful your child is the first child she has touched. I would call CPS and report it too. That teacher can absolutely not be allowed to ever teach. Your child will most likely get interviewed by a social worker.


This. Thank goodness they told you and thank goodness you have the right to inform CPS. School should report, too.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:11     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They need to report it to CPS because they are mandated reporters. It is doubtful your child is the first child she has touched. I would call CPS and report it too. That teacher can absolutely not be allowed to ever teach. Your child will most likely get interviewed by a social worker.


This.

Both teachers can and should be investigated in this case. One for putting her hands on the child. The other for not reporting the first.
0
—MCPS teacher.


Why investigate the homeroom teacher? She intervened and reported it to the principal who promised to follow protocol. If this needs to be reported to CPS, it should be in the protocol.


She’s actually supposed to report to CPS, then the principal in MD.
No good deed should go unpunished I guess.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:07     Subject: Re:Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You want to call CPS and ruin someone’s career over this? Unbelievable.


This person should not be teaching children. It absolutely should be reported. There shouldn’t be any question or argument about this.


DC immediately fired a teacher recently who put her hands on a child and it was reported to the police immediately.
Immediately. In DC.

Putting your hands on anyone is assault, plain and simple.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wtop.com/dc/2017/11/police-dc-teacher-charged-assaulting-student-slapping-pushing/amp/


Really because my kid has a teacher who insists on a hug from my child with autism. I told her we are fine with a high five and she said by the end of the year she expects a hug. Uh no. Boundaries lady. if my kid doesn't want to hug you, it's his right. He MUST greet you with a "hello." A hug is about YOUR needs not his. Is this a reportable offense. Hell no. It's just a lady who has creepy or at least very out dated ideas about what is appropriate behavior.his body. His choice. Call CPS? No way. Not every thing is worthy of ruining someone's career.

In OPs case, how old was the teacher? I ask because decades ago what was considered OK in the classroom was different.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:06     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:OP again, I'm glad that the school/county has procedural guidelines in place, but this could have been a great learning experience for everyone involved. It's disappointing that hasn't yet come to fruition. And I worry about what that means for my SN kid and his education at this school. My kids social emotional health and learning is by far the most important thing for us. This incident has made me feel like my kid is little more than a student ID number.

And no, we aren't out for this teachers job and won't be filing a cps report as we don't feel it's warranted.


It's quite possible that the teacher does want to reach out and is terribly embarrassed. However, as you can see the number of posts here screaming for her head, it's hard to engage in what should be a normal interaction. She should apologize to you and your son. She should explain how she might mitigate this in the future, i.e., realizing when she might need a couple of minutes of deep breathing or a time out. It could be that she's been advised not to contact you for legal reasons.

I wouldn't call CPS either. I wouldn't want CPS anywhere near my family, especially in Mont. Co! But, I would explain exactly what you said in your post to the school.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:02     Subject: Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:OP again, I'm glad that the school/county has procedural guidelines in place, but this could have been a great learning experience for everyone involved. It's disappointing that hasn't yet come to fruition. And I worry about what that means for my SN kid and his education at this school. My kids social emotional health and learning is by far the most important thing for us. This incident has made me feel like my kid is little more than a student ID number.

And no, we aren't out for this teachers job and won't be filing a cps report as we don't feel it's warranted.


File a police report. Now. MCPS could care less about the SPED kids and that has to change.
Anonymous
Post 11/30/2017 09:00     Subject: Re:Teacher put hands on my child in anger.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You want to call CPS and ruin someone’s career over this? Unbelievable.


This person should not be teaching children. It absolutely should be reported. There shouldn’t be any question or argument about this.


DC immediately fired a teacher recently who put her hands on a child and it was reported to the police immediately.
Immediately. In DC.

Putting your hands on anyone is assault, plain and simple.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wtop.com/dc/2017/11/police-dc-teacher-charged-assaulting-student-slapping-pushing/amp/