http://www.eagletimes.com/news/2012-03-13/Front_Page/Parents_speak_up_on_school_conduct_rules.html
Parents speak up on school conduct rules
2012-03-13 / Front Page
Misuse of seclusion rooms for disciplinary action questioned
By IAN LORD
Staff Writer Eagle Times
The Springfield School Board last night addressed much more troubling problems than the failed school district budget, as parents voiced concerns over misuse of seclusion rooms in the town’s two elementary schools.
With allegations that children were being wrongfully placed in padded, secure rooms at the Elm Hill Primary School and the Union Street School, parents question the district’s discipline policies and how the rooms are supposed to be used.
A student’s grandparent said her grandson — who she said has ADHD — was placed in seclusion for tapping his pencil in class. Another parent said her 2nd-grader was put in the room for acting out, but the school never contacted her about the disciplinary action. She said she found out because her child brought it up, but she was concerned that other children may not be telling their parents about being sent to the seclusion rooms.
“How many children went there that did not have the type of family communication that we have?” the parent asked. “We need to change the way we discipline in the schools. It’s barbaric. It doesn’t work and it’s not a positive way to change behavior.”
Superintendent Frank Perotti said there are policies in place and any violation of those policies have been dealt with through disciplinary action with staff members. He recommended that the school board charge the policy committee with opening up a dialogue and looking at how to change existing policies regarding the rooms.
In the meantime, the board passed a motion to put a moratorium on the rooms to be used for disciplinary purposes. The motion also requires the schools to remove the doors, and reinforces a zero-tolerance policy for staff who don’t notify parents about extreme forms of discipline.
Concerns about the seclusion rooms were one example of problems voters had when rejecting the proposed budget, one resident said. Ethan McNaughton — a self-proclaimed “concerned” parent and resident — said the proposed $27.05 million budget wasn’t rejected because of its effect on the tax rate, but because of the voters’ lack of faith in Springfield’s school system.
“For the most part, nobody’s talking about dollars and cents,” McNaughton said. “It’s not about the money.”
As the board and the budget advisory committee reconvene throughout the next few weeks to work the budget down to get approved, McNaughton argued that the same budget should be presented. He said the district can’t afford any more cuts, and that more support needs to be attracted to passing an already slim budget.
Tammy Farmer agreed. As a member of the budget advisory committee, Farmer said the committee and the school board poured over the budget line by line, but in the end it was rejected because of a lack of trust.
“Another reason I think this budget has not passed is trust,” she said. “You have got to earn the trust of this town.”
Puggy Lamphere, chair of the budget advisory committee, said the budget — which failed by only 31 votes — needs to be trimmed based on the town’s decision. While he couldn’t believe that both the committee and the board’s hard work to develop a slim budget was rejected, Lamphere said it’s important to show residents that their voices have been heard.
“We’ll still give you what we feel the people can absorb,” he said. “We got to go back and do it again.”
“For the most part, nobody’s talking about dollars and cents,” McNaughton said. “It’s not about the money.”
ReplyDeleteThank you Mork from Ork.
What planet does this guy live on?
Show us the taxes, Springfield! Show us the TAXES!
Ethan was right, they weren't talking about dollars and cents. Several of the protesters last night said that they didn't vote against the budget because of the taxes, and several indicated they would be willing to pay more taxes. They were upset at the administration on other issues. If you were at the meeting, I didn't hear you protesting the spending.
DeleteApparently Anonymous didn't read the article before he/she posted the comment. Oh well, guess he was busy watching old Robin Williams reruns instead.
DeleteJust as a correction to the article. I did not say that the voters have lost faith or that I have lost faith in our schools. I support our schools. I believe that many voters voted based on specific events or incidents or a dislike for certain personnel, not for budgetary reasons.
DeleteI encourage everyone to bring those issues to the Board. Voters attending the meeting, were heard and the board took action. We should not be cutting positions and programs because people have
concerns regarding specific policies or administrators. We should be addressing those concerns AND supporting our school budget.
Why the article did not talk about an increased tax rate or persons who are voting down a budget for financial reasons is the voters were not raising that as the issue during the meeting.
It sounds to me like Springfield needs to have a therapy training center where people can get degrees in various types of therapy and get hands on experience working with our goodly crop of children who are apparently in need of various forms of therapy. It would also probably help get the administration up to speed on the various legitimate approaches to getting children under control -- if in fact they really need to be gotten up to speed and weren't just patiently taking a beating last night unable to divulge details of disciplinary proceedings.
DeleteHm? You might have a point. I was having a little trouble sorting out what that one woman was trying to say at the meeting last night, but it sort of sounded like Elm Hill for a period of time was being terrorized by students who were out of control. Kind of hard to tell though, as the Special Ed Director kept interjecting about kids wanting to play raquetball in the cloud rooms. All so confusing, does taking the doors off the room interfere with budding athletes developing raquetball techniques?
DeleteAethelred, this is a serious issue. What has happened is that schools have in essence been mandated to become a social services agency. Which I guess may be necessary since we have a fair number of dysfunctional families, or families where the parents are having to work so many jobs to survive financially that they cannot function as parents as well. But we also have to keep the schools safe from the situation where a kid goes nuts and endangers him or herself, classmates, staff, etc. Teachers don't normally expect to function in war zones and come home with cuts and bruises. So we as a community need to zero in on this problem and get it solved, and its not going to get solved by punishing all the kids in the District by defeating school budgets.
DeleteThey don't want to punish all the kids in the District they just want to punish Perotti. Haven't you ever heard of the concept of a whipping boy? I mean Mark Twain wrote about it in the Prince and the Pauper -- did you sleep through that or something. We use Perotti as a whipping boy and once he is driven out of the District all of our problems with kids who probably should be institutionalized disappear. Its just that simple its all his fault.
DeleteAlpin, yeah right and cutting taxes creates jobs, and slashing school budgets improves schools. You know Aethelred that kind of kool aid is illegal outside of GOP debates.
DeleteYou're just one of those screaming liberals who think that problems can be solved. Haven't you been reading this blog. We take the kids and send them home and let the gravity of the situation fall outside the school. Not exactly sure what that means but it sound very profound, sort of libertarianist or something.
DeleteQuit yer yalpin, Alpin. Gee, I didn't even read about any "protestors" at last night's meeting. Leave it to you "supporters" to try and sensationalize the matter! And the colonists didn't rebel against King George III because of dollars and cents, either! You folks are just incapable of facing reality. In your fantasy (and obviously comfy) world, everyone wants to pay more taxes and the streets of Springfield are paved with gold and lined with lollipop trees.
ReplyDeleteThere's a large core of taxpayers who are fed up with "the administration" of the town and its schools and its inability to operate either in an affordable manner. We're tired of tax increases year after year after year while receiving mediocre to poor quality from our municipal government and schools. We're sick of both elements thinking that annual budget increases are their "entitlements" because they are illustrious civil servants.
So before you presume to become the spokesman for all 1,020 NO VOTERS why don't you get your head out of the clouds and listen to more of them (rather than tune them out, as you've proven you're prone to do)!
I will add to support your post."Us" taxpayers are tired of hearing it is for the kids when a month before budget "your fine school board" voted in raises, retroactively I might add, for all the administrative staff. So AGAIN I will pose the question-What other job do you get a raise when you are not showing improvement or positive results?
DeleteThis is exactly the problem with this town...everyone votes for their friends instead of looking at the "business" operations. Im sorry those raises were not deserved no matter how big or small. New bleachers...really? That is ensuring the kids can add and subtract and read. Seriously pull your head out of the clouds is an understatement! Clouds wouldn't be the word I would use!
Uhm, the parents were protesting the use of the "cloud" rooms which is what the title of this article refers to. For those who didn't listen to the meeting, or haven't been paying attention, but assume budgets get voted down to improve school district performance. The parents were complaining about the innappropriate use of so-called seclusion rooms and most of the meeting was devoted to discussion on a motion to remove the doors from these rooms and to cease their use. Several of the parents said they voted against the budget to draw attention to these rooms. Several of the other persons at the meeting indicated that they voted against the budget for reasons other than the spending. Ethan McNaughton is exactly correct in his statement that the budget went down because of these issues rather than the money. I understand of course, as was stated at the meeting, that some people are going to vote against the budget no matter how much is cut.
DeleteAlpin, why are you bothering to try and explain what was said at the meeting. Don't you understand that the beatings must go on until morale improves?
DeleteRead this article. We pay way too much for failing schools.
Deletehttp://www.7dvt.com/2010vermont-superintendent-salaries
And the idiots at the meeting allowed the proverbial distraction to occur - via the old bait and switch. A meeting to discuss the school budget gets hijacked and, to the delight of the board and budget committee, gets turned into an extensive discussion of exactly which doors should be removed from their hinges while the searing budgetary issues are completely ignored. This is SO TOTALLY CLASSIC SPRINGFIELD BEHAVIOR! It's exactly why serious minded folks avoid the school board meetings, as many other posters have so acurately pointed out in these posts over time.
DeleteThis might be evidence of an ADHD contagion running rampant in Springfield. It's spread from the Gateway program to the parents and the board, preventing any clarity of thought or focus on the budget from occurring ever again -- meaning of course that they'll just have to present the budget again, as is, for another vote in hopes that they'll sneak it by the taxpayers' goalie this time!
What an utter embarrassment!
Here's a thought. Put Perotti,the Board, and the budget committee in an exclusion room and keep them there until they can come out with an affordable budget that doesn't screw the taxpayers with higher taxes for low performance yet again!
I didn't get the impression that the Board or the Budget Committee or anyone else for that matter was particularly delighted with the subject matter last night. But I believe the public venting was probably a good thing.
DeleteI wonder if the real moral to this story is that you don't put up a school budget for a vote when the Republicans are trying to decide which lunatic to nominate for President...just wondering...
DeleteAre you two, Alpin and Aethelred, nuts or something? The school system owns one empty building, and, if I understood some of the comments correctly, there are people demanding that they empty another large building. And yet they are renting part of the Catholic Church to house Gateway. And you are wondering where they would put such a place?
DeleteWhat a pompous name. Didn't you here them read the referendum about closing Park Street as a school? Closed schools are expected to be abandoned and slowly crumble into dust kind of like what the Romans did with the Coliseum -- the code word for that is sell them. Referendum, although completely non-binding, are sacred and must be upheld throughout all eternity, lest someone accuse you of switch and bait...or worse flip flopping... You would deny Springfield its very own set of academic ruins? Why the master European landscape artists would not dream of painting a landscape without a ruin in it somewhere. Course in America they substituted Native Americans instead in their paintings... but really.
DeleteAin't rite cleer on wa you mans er talkin bout all I kno is that ifn Park skool not a skool a skool and not a park nether, then can I smoke ther?
DeleteAlpin, Aethelred, anonynous above.
DeleteYour all the same person.
You write well.
And.. The above anon joke is very funny.
Who are you? Please tell those of us who dropped out of school and don't recognize you?
I don't hava SAPA TV at home. Due to work schedules, I would not attend the meeting.
ReplyDeleteHow about this BLOGSPOT post a written form of this and future meeting(s) comments and concerns?
That was a pretty long meeting to post online, and there were some errors in the article.
DeleteThe meeting went on for 3 hours. I hate to think how many hours it would take one person to transcribe all that was spoken. Only way it could be done quickly and easily would be if the video was split into 90 two-minute clips with one going to each of 90 high school students to type every word heard into computers.
DeleteThere are 18 minutes of the video online now. The two clips feature the great Goldie May, Ethan McNaughton, Puggy Lamphere and Trish Laplante (grandmother of the now famous pencil tapper). Nothing of the School Board members or school administrators, however. But you have to be a member of Facebook to view the video. Click on the headline of this comment to go there.
You can also purchase a copy of this School Board meeting on DVD from SAPA-TV for $15.00. Your purchase will help with expenses of this non-profit community television service.
Where on Facebook?
DeleteYou have to log in to Facebook before the link will work.
Deletehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/SAPA-TV/231363633590434
Well, I don't trust the current administration, have tried over and over again to be involved and they just do lip service and window dressing to members of the community who try to be involved in the schools. And for that they think they deserve a raise? That should be cut regardless of whether the budget failure was due to lack of trust OR whether it's because the taxpayers think it's too high.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't like that, maybe they'll go find a better paing job, and we'll get someone who can actually turn things around in this town!
Hm, wonder why we have so many of these Anonymous posts and so few people running for school board? Just wondering...you would think if there was this level of distrust that there would be a flood of candidates for school board instead of just two for two seats and one write in candidate...
DeleteAlpin you dork, we are talking about people who like to sit back and throw pies. Do you really think they want to be a pie recipient? I tell you the way to solve the school budget is to have pie throwing contests and sell popcorn in the back.
DeleteStacey-Lin TuftsMar 13, 2012 05:54 PM
ReplyDeleteI'm the mother of the child that was tapping the pencil. First I'd like to tell you a little about my son Devin. He is six years old in first grade and was five years old in kindergarten when this incident took place. I was at work at the time, I received a phone call from the office staff saying I needed to come get Devin because he was climbing in the window sills and being unsafe. I found this information very confusing since this is not normal behavior from my son. From there I had called my mother to go get him since I was so far away and could not. Once she got there she asked the staff to explain what had happened. Devin had been disrupting his class by tapping his pencil repeatedly on his desk. From there he was removed to the "Cares Room" (which I agree if he's being distracting he needs to be removed until he's ready to focus and listen), once in the "Cares Room", he was sat in a chair facing the wall and told to set still and be quiet!! A 5 year old with ADHD!! Not once did they try to talk to him about the choices he made and the way he should of handled it, which is what we do at home and is all Devin usually needs to get him back on track. Instead they put him in a chair facing a wall and tell him he needs to sit still and be quiet?!! Well Devin continued fidgeting and tapping his foot against the wall. The woman that was in the room at the time then put her hands on the side of my sons head and walked him to the padded room with a curtain over the window and locked him in the dark room. That's when Devin became unsafe. Devin like most children, is extremely afraid of the dark and hates being in any room with the door shut. He then became very distraught took off his shoes and started throwing them against the door, he then climbed up in the window sill and started banging on the window trying to get out, screaming, and crying. The woman then opened the door and Devin threw his shoe at her and ran out tripped over a bean bag and hit his head. He then repeatedly hit his head saying he was stupid. Please tell me how putting him in seclusion without any form of de-escualtion helped this situation?! Devin was NEVER a danger to himself or others until he was traumatized by being locked in a small dark room!! For the next few weeks it was very difficult to get Devin to go to school. How do you reassure you're 5 yr old son that he is safe at school and nothing like that will ever happen again?! This was over a year ago and FINALLY the doors are coming off and changes are being made. I was told last year the doors were coming off and these changes were being made... now a year later the administration is acting like this is a new issue and they are just learning of it?! Im sick of the lies and excuses!! This should not still be an issue it should of been dealt with last year when I was told it was being dealt with.
The key here is to reduce spending in the schools and eliminate more staff. This should improve the schools and eliminate this problem completely.
DeleteTo Stacey and the other parent- I took the Liberty of forwarding your complaints to the Commissioner of Education for the State of Vermont. He very much would like to hear from you both and any other staff member or individual who has information about children being locked in these rooms. Please email him details and your contact information to:
DeleteArmando.Vilaseca@state.vt.us
This is good, let's swamp the staff with investigations while we reduce their number with budget defeats that should improve things immensely.
DeleteSo excuse me if I have a hard time trusting that now things are going to change. I've been a Springfield resident my whole life and my family has been here for many many generations. I remember before my son started school his father wanted him to go to Weathersfield but I insisted he go to Springfield instead. Now I feel I have made the wrong choice and I am strongly considering moving to another school district next year. Devin was diagnosed with ADHD w/ OCD before he entered kindergarten. I have tried since then to get my son on a 504 so he would have the care and attention he needs to get the most out of his education and so he is not distracting other students and putting more stress on his teacher. I have been told severval times that there is not enough money in the budget and I have been given several excuses as to why I need to wait. Thankfully, Devin's teacher Christina Perkins has done an amazing job, even with the lack of support she has had through the school system. I strongly believe if it was not for Christina Perkins my son would never want to go to school. He has had a very hard time since this incident. Devin is a very happy, caring, intelligent, creative child and it breaks my heart what this incident has done to my little boy. I have worked with children with special needs for the past 14 years and have had extensive training in ABA (Behavioral Intervention). Last year I asked why techniques such as de-esculation were not being used and they assured me that normally they are and that their staff are trained for such situations. I have yet again been lied to. As parents we feel the need to protect our children and will do whatever it takes. A parent shouldn't have to worry about their child being abused and/or traumatized at school! It amazes me that this has gone this far with little change. The issues with the "time-out" room is not something new that started jan/feb of this year, this is an issue that has been ongoing for atleast a year!! Never have I thought such things would happen here, but sadly I have been proven wrong. As for the letter sent home today from Dr. Frank Perotti, yes maybe the most recent incident was investigated, but I was told last summer Devin's incident was being investigated and have yet to hear anything about it! I'm done with the excuses and I'm done with the lies!! I believe it is time to take the next step. I will do whatever it takes to make sure this does not happen again to my child or anyone elses. It is time for us as a community to become aware of these issues and make sure the administration follows through with what they say this time!! No more lies and no more excuses! These are our children and our future, they deserve the very best education we can give them, in a SAFE, NON-THREATENING Environment!! If anyone would like to help form or be part of a Concerned Parents Group, Please contact me at (802)591-0885 or via email at StaceyT_3@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Stacey-Lin Tufts
ReplyDeleteHi Stacey,
DeleteI am the other parent that was at the meeting and I spoke about my son. We are not the family that was interviewed by DCF either. DCF never contacted us. I was shocked about the letter also, because it makes it sound like there was one case and that case was unfounded.
I called DCF and spoke with the lead investigator, Linda Stone, and she said the school never put my son's name on their intake sheet.
Don't be disheartened, things will change. I am submitting a letter to the VT Department of Education tomorrow.
I would have been fine with the first half of the letter. It is the second half that alludes it was one case and it turned out unfounded that bothers me.
We were also never notified that he had been placed in seclusion and we were never sent a letter from the planning room. My son does not have a history of behavior, but even if he did, it is not okay to isolate a child in a seclusion room as punishment.
Keep your chin up, things will change.
If we could slash some more money out of the school budget, and reduce the number of paras and teachers that should help the situation immensely. We might also want to consider dismantling Gateway and moving some of the more violent kids back into the elementary schools, that would distract the staff from kids tapping their pencils.
DeleteGateway is moving back to the general population of our schools! Another great plan by our administration to save money.
DeleteWhile we are at it we should probably stop serving breakfast and lunch Aethelered don't ya think? I am with you and just don't grasp what these people on here are missing. Elm is a good place. I'm sorry for those who had a negative experience there but it is important to point out there are 50+ staff there who have NOTHING to do with the padded room and who still need support to help teach our children.
DeleteWood it be posseble to use that cloudy room to smoke? Skool keps callin me from work to pick up me cheld. I teel them to just smack him a copple times like my boyfriend dos and hell straighten rite up. But oh no they hafta call me outta work to come git him. Nerves are startin to get stretched and its playin havoc with my DTs. So cause there not usen them cloudy rooms anymore can I smoke ther?
DeleteAnonymous did your Johnny kill that raccoon in Comtu Park?
Deleteno siree...but he saw it that coon was just sittin ther looking at that big brown bildun and he sade it just keeled ore ded I wus opset with hem for jus leavin it ther thogh Them coons cook up real tastee and i been needen sum mor proteen in me diet since i tryed that aspirin betwiin the legs thing and it jus didna work and honesty I tryed to vote for Saintorim but they said they didna hav any Tee Partee balluts and actuuly i was a bit uncleer in the hed from tha kool aid I drank at the rally the nite befor but we say our prayers every nite and ask we be protected from the man in the white house with the big ears and funny name and from doc perottee. did vote no on everything lik you say though
DeleteTo Stacey and the other parent- I took the Liberty of forwarding your complaints to the Commissioner of Education for the State of Vermont. He very much would like to hear from you both and any other staff member or individual who has information about children being locked in these rooms. Please email him details and your contact information to:
DeleteArmando.Vilaseca@state.vt.us
Staff can't notify the commissioner, they all had to sign a statement that they couldn't talk about the incidents or be fired. Why doesn't the DOE come down themselves and do an independent investigation and protect these teachers and staff? It's clear that the district is not giving the state agencies the names of the children involved. That was clear when the public finds out only one name was presented to the DCF investigators by the administration. How about contacting the ACLU to represent this children as their rights have been violated more than once.
DeleteAnonymous you have champagne tastes. The aspirin is supposed to go between your knees. Next time ask for a Republican ballot. I will see what I can do about getting Mr. Yesman to open Comtu Park to hunting, or at least get you a volunteer position to remove all the roadkill in town. You see we try to take care of your needs. I don't think they can allow you to smoke in the "cloud rooms" as they no longer have any doors on them.
DeleteStaff can notifiy the commissioner regardless of any signed statement. I believe, and you could ask the state this, but you would be covered under federal law from retaliation from the district if you were reporting abuse or abuse like conditions that exist within the school as long as you are staff and you are reporting it to a state or federal agency in good faith.
DeletePamela Young: Stacey you are so correct. Frank loves to pay lip service and never follows through with anything. Then when something happens he loves to point the finger at someone else or play dumb and has never heard of it before. My son and his 5th grade class at Union Street was bullied by Jack Oleary the whole school year. My son came home and reported he was not going to go back to school because his teacher told the class he was going to cut their heads off and ripe their hearts out. I contacted both the Principle and Frank. We had a meeting which Frank did not know why he was there for. At the meeting Mr. Oleary admitted that he did say that. I asked Frank what would you do with a child that said that to a student, he said they would be suspended. Well what will you do to Mr. Oleary? It will be taken care of. It was not he was allowed to continue with this type of behavior for 3 more years until he mysteriously was gone. Why? He was inapropriately touching girls. Why was Ms. Robbins allowed to come back and retire after she was on leave for video taping the girls in the locker room at Riverside. Now she is teaching Drivers ed at the High School. Parents have called and want to know why. He said because we did an investigation and nothing was proven. Do we feel safe letting our Daughters alone with her in a car? Did you also know that Frank was asked to step down a super in Ludlow. I had a gentlemen come up to me at work and tell me to get him out before he ruins your schools like he did ours. And did you know that Ludlow is now talking of closing their schools because they can not clean up the mess he made and sending them to Chester or Cavendish. I am very worried about the direction our schools are going. They have been going down hill since he took over. He needs to go and we need to get someone who will run our schools like a business and get us back on track, for our kids sake.
Delete@ Anon and Boss Hogg
DeleteDo either of you know where the Raccoon's Gideon's Bible went? it is believed to have been stolen.
Inside it was a petition with 800 signatures to DOUBLE THE SCHOOL BUDGET
Doesn't Comtu Park have a lost and found?
DeleteI'm very proud that you showed up Stacey. I hate politics. I felt the need to be at this meeting, to make sure the problems were brought up. We all need to continue to show and apply pressure. If we can invite more people to go to the next meeting, it will send a huge message. It is time to get this district back on track. This administration needs to be rebuilt.
ReplyDeleteNate Dana Parker
And don't forget to defeat the school budget, this problem is clearly tied to overspending on staff and administration.
DeleteIf it was my kid, I might be ashamed enough to keep my name out of public view.
DeleteThat is part of the problem when we automatically blame the parents, it does take courage to show up at the meetings and state your name. We should not berate people for airing their grievances, even if we question the efficacy of voting down the school budget as a remedy. Once they are satisfied that their voices have been heard and their concerns acted upon, then we should expect them to be part of the solution and vote for the budget, instead of being part of the problem and voting against the budget.
DeleteUh, Anonymous you ARE keeping your name out of public view.
DeleteJack, I think a lot of parents and concerned citizens have tried to get their voices heard by the board in the last few years, but rarely do they succeed. The "protocol" for being heard by the board is to "contact district offices and have your concern placed on the agenda at a future meeting" - that is what they are told when they appear without notice at a board meeting. If you review the agendas from school board meetings you will see there is usually a heading for "citizen comments" - this was absent from Monday night's agenda, but the group was large enough, angry enough and loud enough to finally make themselves heard. Do I think they were satisfied by the results of having their complaints heard? No, I do not. Several times it was suggested that the board hold an open forum for parents and citizens to discuss issues, but not once did that suggestion actually get results in the form of a date, time and place for such forum. The meeting would most likely have been much shorter and the voices silenced if they had felt they would be heard and respected at another time in the NEAR future, but that was not provided. In fact, the request for an open forum was NEVER addressed. Someone pointed out that the five people at the table were representing the community and they could make decisions based on information from the community, but if the board only gets "filtered" information and is constantly "guided" by "trained professionals" how can the average community member expect to ever see change? I agree that voting down the budget as a way to be heard is not appropriate, but it did get the attention of both the board and the schools - and, hopefully, the community that votes. As was pointed out, it was definitely time for "the pink elephant in the room" to be taken out and examined. Do I think the board made a concrete decision in the matter? No - I think they offered a band aide fix to give the impression they were taking the complaints seriously. It's not that I don't believe the board members genuinely want the best for the kids - I just think they've decided to humor the wrong people for the sake of peace. The parents do need to make more of a visible front if they hope to see change - and change DOES need to happen or the kids will suffer in the long run. More people would probably support the budget if they felt the funds were used appropriately, but that is not the general feeling when you talk and listen to the voters - they are concerned about fiscal responsibility and they are concerned that too many people at the top of the chain of command get paid too much for the ineffectual work they do. They are concerned about lies and hidden agendas and they are concerned about the children who are held captive in this environment. Some parents are not able to be as active in the schools as they'd like to be, due to simply keeping a roof over their heads and feeding their family - this does not mean they are not good parents. Some people must work two or three jobs just to keep ahead of the bills, so they are not able to attend meetings or drop in to inspect the schools. All parents deserve to believe their children will be safe when they send them to an educational facility - too many are finding out this isn't always the case in Springfield schools....D
ReplyDeleteThe appropriate time to have the open forum on the "cloud rooms" is when the policy committee comes back with their report. But the parents also need to understand that the administrators and the board are most likely under some legal constraints about discussing displinary proceedings -- so to a certain extent the parents may be publicly flogging people who cannot respond. In addition, because of regulations, the administrators, board and teachers are not in a position to explain some of the difficulties that maybe arising as a result of a couple students who are out of control. So the parents should bear in mind, that the open forum is likely to be somewhat one-sided and the administration's response somewhat vague due to legal constraints. It is unfortunate, however, that the public sometimes automatically assumes that there is a parentage problem when in some cases that is not the problem -- of course, in some cases it is the problem.
Deletewood that be the time to make inquiree about usin the cloud rooms as smokin parlors..they dont want us smokin the parks no mor and its a long walk to that skool now that they took my drivers license...honest how was I suppose to know that was the high school track it had lots of white lines to steer by...I was jus tryin to find Johnny he was deliverin bags for those nice salesmen down on union street
DeleteI wonder how Alpin Jack would respond if it was his child that was put in one of those rooms. Maybe he would have different point of view then. Do you have children Alpin or are just one of those close minded people. Maybe you should go to the schools and observe what is going on. I bet you will not like what you see. Yes there are some students that have issues and they need to be delt with accordingly. But locking a child in a closet is not the answer. Parents and teachers and special ed need to come up with a plan. We need to productive not counter productive.
DeleteMs. Young, are you insinuating that people who do not have children are "close minded people"?
DeleteYour statement: "Do you have children Alpin or are you just one of those close minded people."
I too, dislike those close minded people that don't have children because they are ruining our schools. Us baby mama's need to stick together!
What makes you think I do not have children? Is that because I know when the appropriate time to bring up a subject is, or perhaps because I am aware of the potential legal gag rules that the Administration and the board may be working under? Maybe because I believe voting down school budgets is not the way you go about improving schools. No, I bet its because I am aware that we have a couple children terrorizing Elm Hill to the point that the teachers are slightly frantic and we had a building administrator there that made some truly bad judgment calls -- and now the administration is probably running around trying to respond to investigations some of which have merit and some of which have none. But of course I must be close minded.
DeleteOh Alpin don't get your undies in a bundle. Your umpteen zillion kids probably would have escaped from that room slicker than hair on a frog. Then they probably would have hacked the school computer system and done who knows what. Admit it, you would probably have said, "hm, that's interesting" and then asked the administration how well it worked out for them. Right...huh...admit it.
DeleteIF I WERE IN CHARGE
ReplyDeleteTHE CLOUD ROOM WOULD BE THE TEACHERS LOUNGE
AND IT WOULD MEAN SOMETHING DIFFERENT :)
A place to rest relax and rise above the clouds life brings
I have seen these rooms, when I looked at the Elm Hill school for my son. First I would understand if a child was being locked in, THERE ARE NO LOCKES. Using the phrase locked in is NOT an accurate statement. I would have a field day with the school if I got a phone call that one of your children threw a chair and injured my child. What then? Would you say the school should have done something? Removed your child because they saw unsafe behavior? Yes then that takes all the responceability off you. Abuse is when a child is in an unsafe situation. The school district does everything it can to protect kids,it is not a job I would want today.I think if the busy bodys that know everything in this town would stick to fact not miss guided truth people would not get worked up over things that are not founded.I respect and admire what the employees of this school district do for our children and THANK YOU.Read rule 4500 as sent home in the letter this week.
ReplyDeleteShut your child in a padded room and see how fast DCF is called on you. If I dont use these practices at home neither should the school! If the school has an issue where they can not control the children the appropriate authorities should be notified along with the parents.
DeleteCan't use these practices at home? Oops. Could we just have the town establish a permanent holding cell at each of the schools until the children are old enough to the facility up on the hill?
DeleteSo nobody in our society has never shut their kids in their bedrooms. Anonymous you stated "Shut your child in a padded room and see how fast DCF is called". I am sure that someone may call but I am pretty sure that DCF will not do anything unless you actually put a lock on the door. Last I knew holding the door was not a lock. Maybe you should contact DCF and ask them that question.
DeleteStaff were holding the door shut with the child inside! That is close enough to being locked into to me. Either way some children have been "placed", in that room against their will and the door has been "held", shut. It is not the entire staff, I agree but those that did it need to be permantly removed and the Administration need to stop denying it happened...That only leaves room for more misuse of the room!! Not once, Not twice but multiple times this has occurred!! Even the letter sent home tried to minimize the situation. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT! IT MAY NOT BE COMMON PRACTIVE BUT THAT FACT STILL REMAINS....THIS ROOM HAS BE MISUSED!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, they took the doors off it. I wonder if they could tear down the walls to the room. How do you get rid of a room. I bet Harry Potter would know how to get rid of a room...why didn't I think to write his name on the ballot?
DeleteI have read a lot of post about Elm Hill. Everyone should just take a minute and think about things a different way for a min. Be open minded and really think about this. Our kids go to school for 6 hours a day. Some go to leap before we go to work and get picked up after we get out. That is an 8.5-9 hour day. They come home do homework, eat, shower pick up their room and go to bed. Ten hours. Children get frustrated they can’t just go for a walk or go home if they are having a bad day. They disrupt others that’s what being a kid is about. Sometimes they don’t know what to do or what they need. As adults it is our job to pay attention to what they are saying to us not with just word but actions too. They are saying I need to go somewhere that is not here. The CARES room is place for them to go and have that time that they need. We need to listen to that. No child is put there without the opportunity to make a different choice. But sometimes they just need time, time to talk or fidget and not disrupt the others who are able to at that moment focus on the task at hand. This is not because the child is bad they are just being a kid. I think people are more comfortable thinking this is an ugly act because they don’t understand. What do you do when you’re frustrated? Walk away? Take a bath? Call in sick? Complain? I put myself in time out weekly. Kids can’t do any of that and they need a soft safe space to vent. Sometimes to just chill and regroup. Most of the time this will correct itself. I am unsure why something so common for us as adults to do is so wrong for schools to have for children. Sometimes thing are not so cut and dry I understand that. These few times should not be only times that matter. If my math is correct there are 3 main incidences that are being brought up again and again and that is over three years. Think about how long of a day our kids have and what you think they should do with no options or way to express with words what they need.
ReplyDeleteIt's always been my understanding that children in the lower grade levels are given recess periods - blocks of time when they can run, play and let off all this oppressed energy they are expected to control in the classroom, so why is it also necessary to give them a "room" where they can decompress? I know that sounds like I expect a lot from small children, but everyone needs to learn at some point to control themselves. I don't think children in elementary grades are expected to sit still for a 9-hour day. Besides, the real issue with these rooms is not their use as a place to decompress or control excess energy - the real issue is children being placed in the rooms and doors being held closed as a form of discipline or punishment for minimal classroom infractions - and then parents not being notified of these staff actions.
DeleteWe are trying to preserve small minds here, its a difficult task to preserve a small mind so we need to keep focused on that.
DeleteThe first incident we know happened during last years school year. The other two have happened as recently as the past couple months. These are the ones that we know about. I know for a fact children have been in ,The Room in question, without notifying parents. This stems from unsupervised staff that have abused the room. So many wonderful people work at Elm Hill and there are amazing things going on there. It is sad that this is over shadowing those things, however, down playing or minimizing those few "isolated" incidents will not change what happened. These children have been terrorized and Dr. Perotti was aware of this misuse and still allowed the door to be put back on. Then lied about it existing. I have personal experience dealing with Dr. Perotti. His way of dealing with situations is to ignore them and in his own words, "Let things die down". That will not work this time!! It's time for some real Leadership and Supervision so we can come back together as a community and the wonderful staff at Elm can get the recognition they so deserve.
ReplyDeleteI believe the children in Syria might argue with your definition of the word terrorized.
DeleteMr. Perotti was the acting principal for 3 months at the school everyday, so he didn't know this was going on? Right!!! Why do you think he was interviewing all the staff? It's called CYA!!! He is now attempting hide the fact that these incidents did happen. The staff in this room are not even teachers. Now we have an Assistant Principal at the school who has no license (she applied for a provisional license according to the VTDOE)or experience. She hasn't even completed her schooling to become an administrator, but we Springfield taxpayers are now paying her good money because the school board gave her a contract. It's time the board gets their heads out of the sand.
DeleteI thought there weren't any staff in the room, now there are staff in the room?
DeleteReply to Pamela Young,
ReplyDeleteI was startled to read your comments about Jack O'Leary, since my four children all thrived in his classes. He was totally focused on challenging his students to think creatively and work in groups to solve problems, teaching goals which have been abandoned under the present administration, which is focused on passing standardized tests.
While I was amused by my son who was enraged he did not get all the credit when he solved a "group" problem, I was frustrated by my daughter's determination to form a committee whenever she was assigned chores.
Jack O'eary battled diabetes most of his life, and despite his excellent control of blood sugar and constant exercise, suffered a heart attack in his fifties. Ocular degeneration then required him to leave the teaching profession. Accusations of moral misconduct, unless supporting evidence is available to you, can get you in deep legal trouble.
I hope your son did well despite fearing his head was going to be cut off and his heart ripped out! That was indeed inappropriate!
A Non Imus
Well, what do you expect them to focus on. First we beat them up for lousy standardized test scores, and then we criticize them for focusing on passing standardized tests. Kids fear what they are taught to fear at home and then project it onto the teaching staff. Pretty normal stuff I would say. Am sure a few of my teachers would have locked me in a room if it had occurred to them...oh wait...I think I picked that lock.
DeleteHas anyone ever wondered about those "words" that are on the prove you aren't a robot questions they ask before you are allowed to post. If those are "words", then the people posting on this blog have really good spelling.
ReplyDelete