Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:29
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
This. Parents can be so unreasonable. With young students, she should have put her soda out of reach of the kids. No excuse for kicking a kid. Although I’m guessing she put her leg out to stop the kid and kicked him accidentally but even that is inexcusable. You need to stop kid with your hands not with your feet
This was an elementary school classroom. Soda was probably prohibited in the cafeteria, much less the classrooms themselves. Having soda out in class was obviously going to be a trigger for behaviors.
This was terrible judgement on the paraeducator's part. The kick (which I also suspect was more of a blocking move rather than a kick) was a split-second decision. Yes, an awful mistake, but I'm more inclined to be forgiving of the split-second mistake here than the conscious decision to introduce an unnecessary trigger into the classroom.
A split second decision that was done with enough force that caused a vulnerable child to fall to the ground. The woman yelled no for crying out loud. She had time to think through this. Would you be so forgiving if this happened to your child?
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:29
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:This is an MCPS training issue. Clearly their staff haven’t been trained on crisis intervention.
Paraeducators receive very limited training. This is particularly problematic given the high turnover in the "critical staffing" paraeducator positions that don't receive benefits.
This particular case was probably the result of a poor safety culture combined with insufficient staffing.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:25
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:This is an MCPS training issue. Clearly their staff haven’t been trained on crisis intervention.
This 100%
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:22
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
This is an MCPS training issue. Clearly their staff haven’t been trained on crisis intervention.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:16
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
This. Parents can be so unreasonable. With young students, she should have put her soda out of reach of the kids. No excuse for kicking a kid. Although I’m guessing she put her leg out to stop the kid and kicked him accidentally but even that is inexcusable. You need to stop kid with your hands not with your feet
This was an elementary school classroom. Soda was probably prohibited in the cafeteria, much less the classrooms themselves. Having soda out in class was obviously going to be a trigger for behaviors.
This was terrible judgement on the paraeducator's part. The kick (which I also suspect was more of a blocking move rather than a kick) was a split-second decision. Yes, an awful mistake, but I'm more inclined to be forgiving of the split-second mistake here than the conscious decision to introduce an unnecessary trigger into the classroom.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:15
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
No, it really isn't. Even if there isn't an explicit rule against it, it demonstrates terrible judgment. Like teachers having cell phones out in class.
The 1920s are calling you.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 11:07
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
And alcohol.
Students can have the same and eat a full meal in class.
No, they can't. At least, not at the grade level in this case.
Having soda in the classroom was a terrible move, particularly given the nature of this class.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 10:08
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
This. Parents can be so unreasonable. With young students, she should have put her soda out of reach of the kids. No excuse for kicking a kid. Although I’m guessing she put her leg out to stop the kid and kicked him accidentally but even that is inexcusable. You need to stop kid with your hands not with your feet
Directly from the Baltimore Sun article:
“Investigators say that on April 9, at Candlewood Elementary, Hoffman took out a snack “that interested the kids in the class,” causing them to gather around her. One child ran over and “took a sip of her soda,” police said.
“No!” Hoffman yelled and kicked the student in the chest, causing him to fall, according to charging documents.”
This does not seem accidental, but you are right, it is absolutely inexcusable.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 09:33
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
This. Parents can be so unreasonable. With young students, she should have put her soda out of reach of the kids. No excuse for kicking a kid. Although I’m guessing she put her leg out to stop the kid and kicked him accidentally but even that is inexcusable. You need to stop kid with your hands not with your feet
Anonymous
08/24/2025 09:21
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
And alcohol.
Students can have the same and eat a full meal in class.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 09:12
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
I also know Paras who are not getting their contractual breaks and are also not able to leave the classroom, particularly in the CAPP program. Does not justify her actions.
Anonymous
08/24/2025 07:49
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
DP. Soda isn’t poison.
Unfortunately, paras are regularly denied their contractual breaks during the day. Her problem was drinking and eating unhealthy snacks in the same room
As kids. It’s kicking a child.
This is what I was going to say, too.
Anonymous
08/23/2025 21:28
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
No, it really isn't. Even if there isn't an explicit rule against it, it demonstrates terrible judgment. Like teachers having cell phones out in class.
Anonymous
08/23/2025 21:01
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wow that sounds pretty bad.
When first seeing the title, I was willing to get the paraeducator the benefit of the doubt. Where something might've been incidental contact and blown out of proportion. And not to offend anyone but being identified as Special Ed can be a very wide spectrum and for a variety of reasons.
But to be actually be able to kick a kid in the chest seems to be pretty deliberate.
No injury reported.
My guess is the para was sitting in a chair and she pushed the kid away with her foot when he grabbed her drink (which she absolutely should not have had in the classroom).
This is why you shouldn't bring in minimum wage untrained people off the street to care for disabled students.
Why not?
It was soda.
Are teachers prohibited from having soda?
No, but they obviously shouldn't have it in the classroom in front of students. Come on.
That isn’t reasonable.
Teachers can have soda in front of students. Some teachers have coffee or tea. Even energy drinks. This is ok.
No, it really isn't. Even if there isn't an explicit rule against it, it demonstrates terrible judgment. Like teachers having cell phones out in class.
Anonymous
08/23/2025 20:56
Subject: Mcps Rara educator KICKED AUTISTIC elementary student
Yeah, if my students had known challenges, I wouldn’t bring certain items in the classroom. A soda shouldn’t be so important that I risk my whole livelihood.