Was wondering if you could possibly look into the fact that the county schools aren't properly disciplining children to keep stats low. I know of one teacher at a Salisbury Elementary school who was bitten by a child, that broke the skin and left a mark and nothing was done to the child at all. Teachers are struggling because the kids know they won't face any real discipline no matter how bad they act up. We really need to expose this to help the teachers out who by the way have not received a raise in 3 years now, have received HUGE budget cuts in materials and staffing, along with dealing with parents who see them as daycare providers and not mentors for their children. This practice needs to stop, and kids must be disciplined if anything to keep the good teachers we have from leaving teaching all together. This is a travesty, and shouldn't come as a surprise when you look at the other antics going on at the board lately.
Thanks for all you do in keeping us locals in the know. Keep up the great work.
A concerned citizen of Salisbury.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
56 comments:
Teachers and kids who behave will continue to be subjected to the violent and disrespectful acts of those who see school as a place to find victims. Until lawsuits are filed against the Board for knowingly maintaining an unsafe environment and for deliberately putting children and teachers at risk, this lunacy will continue. Lawsuits should be easily won since the Board can't deny the history of most of the aggressors. As long as there are no consequences for "lenient" policies, there will be no change.
We go from on extreme to the other. A couple of years ago, a teacher was terminated because of "lack of appropriate documenyation of testing" when she really physically abused a child. However, numerous reports of "neglect" have been reported against some teachers and nithing happenes because "she has a good heart". In the same line of thought, some children are able to do whatever they want and nothing happens. Yet some get put out at the drop of a hat. Being on the "inside", I have seen it all.
Feds need to come walk through the halls of our schools, unannounced. Most schools would be SHUT DOWN.
The biggest problem in Wicomico County public schools is the Superintendent. The appointed BOE members are going to renew his contract because they are afraid of him and to lazy to do another search.
I'm on the inside as well. We send a kid to the office, they send them right back
they don't want the public to know exactly what is going on or how bad it really is. But someone ought to file under the foia and find out just how truly bad it is. I have seen it all and trust me it's not pretty. bottom line was I always let them know I would be suing and more if needed! And the more you can figure out for yourself. sometimes the threat of a lawsuit doesn't work, so lets just say there needs to be more incentive put on the table to get some people to do what's right!
We need charter schools.
Last year I sent a student to the office because he was throwing class room furniture and putting other students at risk. This student had a well documented history of violence in and out of school. Several minutes later I got a call from the office asking "what did you do to make him mad?" !!
Feds walk the halls? Are you KIDDING??!?! I can see Eric Holder now selling AK47 rifles on the playground. Keep the Feds out until Washington is cleaned out.
Having O'Malley walk the halls might be more effective. He could enact a visiting the Principal's Office tax. I think that's one he hasn't enacted already (but I could be wrong).
Amen, Some of these Wicomico County Schools need leadership which they are lacking very bad. Some principals and vice principals are there for a paycheck. Never see them out of the office unless a student is going off and then call parent send them home for the day and right back the next day. Wake up people the games being played must come to a halt.
My children told me that the bad kids get pizza parties if they behave but the good kids get neglected for being good. perhaps the BOE is well meaning but it just doesn't work. The reward for good behavior is in the common good not for a party or a bicycle.
They don't want too many referrals to the office as the state keeps track and will label the school as a dangerous school. Then it will be in the papers that the school has been labeled a dangerous school. If a child is special ed, such as emotionally disturbed, they can't do anything to the student for biting. Even if the local BOE wanted to do something the state and feds won't allow it. Of course don't even think about sending any African American kids to the office.
What about the teachers union you pay all that money and they do nothing. What would happen if you all stoped paying your dues until they started doing there job?
I have been exposed to Hepatis B, AIDS and spit at. Cursed on a daily basis and at least 3 adults told me they would come and get me. I don't work for the BOE and these are not kids! Why are the teachers any better and need more help than the rest of the State employees? Why do they need more money than any OTHER working person? Start pressing charges against the parent of any child that threatens a teacher. Make the law iron clad and make it stick! I feel sorry for what the teachers have to go through.
12:28 So, the superintendent will be reappointed? I have heard the same thing, but you know how rumors spread. Why would the BOE be afraid of the Dr? I find it very sad that at least three of the board members know about the "crap" going on in this county and choose to do nothing. The same thing happens across the board. You report wrong and nothing happens. We, as a community, MUST speak out. The next BOARD meeting is February 14. Please speak up.
If a teacher is assaulted by a student and follows school guidelines and the office staff does nothing about it, the next move is to document the the event and then call the police. That might just wake somebody up.
We deserve this because we created this mess when prayers and paddles were taken out of schools and replaced with the liberal way of life. Teachers, our worse peddlers of the liberal socialist agenda, deserve every hit, bite and punch that is thrown their way. Remember this, it's the teachers that tell our children to call the police or DSS is they don't like the correction style of their parents. So maybe when it gets bad enough, we'll come to our senses and realize that the great social experiment of the last forty or so years hasn't worked so well and perhaps a more common sense conservative approach to education will once again thrive. Shame on us all, so suck it up teachers since we're all responsible for generations that have no sense of responsibility, courtesy, honor and respect.
A substitute at one elementary school sent a violent child to the office for throwing desks. Within five minutes the vp returned the child to the classroom with the statement, "You deal with him. We're too busy doing other things." Call the cops.
3:49 PM
I hope people will speak out. Maybe they can convince four of the Board members who's responsible for the manipulation, deception and abuses of power running rampant throughout the system. It's disappointing to know what they overlook or excuse so they don't have to admit a change is needed.
I went to a board meeting to talk about consistant attire. Kids and teachers might not be safe in the schools but theres a deputy at each board meeting protecting them. That was just started this year from what I was told. Cut a deputy from a school but pay overtime to one to sit at a board meeting with about twenty parents there. Do they just not get it.
If a schools suspension rate is up then the county will lose money from the state! Plain and Simple. This is why there is no discipline in school.
My daughter attends East Salisbury. Walk in the school and see how student behavior controls the office and the school. Then I wounder why she doesn't want to go to school. I picked her up for an appointment Friday afternoon and it was crazy in the office. I had to wait 5 minutes before they realized I was at the window. Kids kicking doors and upsetting the office and nothing being done.
5:11 PM
Suspension rate is only one of the criteria. Just because it's up does not automatically mean a loss of funding.
Imagine what goes on in the classroom and how much time is wasted while the teacher tries to control the ones who absolutely refuse to listen or stop making noises. Some won't even sit down. No child is left behind because they're all left behind, everybody's at the mercy of the ones who have no idea why they're in school. Millions wasted in school spending and on public assistance for the rest of their lives.
5:11
The fact that suspension rate is a criteria is wrong. The kids have no discipline because they know they will not get in trouble.
5:24
If the suspension rate goes up, the attendance rate goes down and that is one of the criteria. I thought that's what 5:11 meant.
2:31 PM
Right you are about the endless incentives. If they worked, kids wouldn't still need incentives in high school. Thirteen years of being rewarded for showing up and trying a little bit is not great preparation for the world of work, assuming some even intend to work.
3:49 it's not a rumor and Feb 14th is when the BOE will reappoint Freddy!!
5:47
Much can be revealed between now and the 14th.
so then, a suspension should count as an excused absence and does not count towards attendance
I have 3 kids in primary school. I pop in every know and again to observe their classes (unannounced). From what I see the problem students need to be removed from the class and taught separately. It is so evident that the other children can not learn with all the disruption. I brought this up to the admins at the school. There response..."can you imagine the poor teacher that would have to deal with the problem prone children?"
Instead they put a child into ISS for a day and send them back the next.
It is terrible even in the primary schools.
There needs to be admins who follow that student/parent handbook they send out each year or ZERO tolerance.
6:28 PM
Parents of kids who are learning nothing should speak during public comments at Board meetings. Tell the powers that be you're tired of your kids being sacrificed so the problem prone won't be together. The policy now is that it's better to ruin all classes at a grade level than one class. Guess what. The ones running wild aren't learning anything anyway. How would their education be worse if they were grouped together?
Then you would have mostly African American kids in those problem groups and they can't have that. I worked at one time in a mostly African American school and the Board was giving the Principal a hard time about the number of AA kids getting suspended. When 80% of your kids are AA, of course there are going to be more AA kids suspended. But they couldn't understand why so many AA kids were being suspended.
Parents need to call school administration and demand problem students be taken out of their child's classroom. Don't call once. Call again and again and again
My child hates going to school. My child tells me she learns nothing because of the crazy behaviors of others. She was a straight A student and now struggles because she is unable to focus or even hear the teacher in her middle school. These behavior need to be dealt with and the feds/state needs to understand less suspension means more trouble. We need safe schools get rid of these kids no matter their sex it race. They are infringing upon the rights of others to learn. There is a thing called FAPE. Which gives everyone a free education, these wild behaviors are preventing others from learning. We the community members must change the BOE and their thinking.
I've read a lot of suggestions for teachers, admin, super., etc. to do, but I have yet to see one where PARENTS should step up to the plate and correct their kids.
Here's another suggestion, if the kids won't listen and respond to discipline, try it on the parents.
Start fining them or something for their kids actions. Threaten to take their money and/or welfare and see it that helps.
For God's sake, don't give them a diploma just to get rid of them. I don't care if they are 30 years old in 7th grade, Make them earn it. Take a bus trip to the county jail and show them this is their next school.
Trouble is, I don't think that would even bother them. They would see family and friends they haven't seen in awhile.
I don't think it is just a AA problem. There are a ton of white middle class pita's out there too. Like others have said, they have learned that they won't get into trouble for these behaviors.
As far as grouping, with AA being a majority, have you seen the pre-k classes? They have no problem grouping AA together.
Anonymous said...
My child hates going to school. My child tells me she learns nothing because of the crazy behaviors of others. She was a straight A student and now struggles because she is unable to focus or even hear the teacher in her middle school. These behavior need to be dealt with and the feds/state needs to understand less suspension means more trouble. We need safe schools get rid of these kids no matter their sex it race. They are infringing upon the rights of others to learn. There is a thing called FAPE. Which gives everyone a free education, these wild behaviors are preventing others from learning. We the community members must change the BOE and their thinking.
January 29, 2012 10:14 PM
If it's that bad then you need to address it at the BOE meetings over and over again. If it is that bad then you need to form a group like Parents In Action who successfully petitioned for a new BMS. By the way a new BMS isn't going to change behaviors.
Of course AA kids are together in preK since they are the vast majority of the kids who meet the guidelines for the program.
Our country pays the least independent adults to have the most children. My boss doesn't give me more take home pay if I get pregnant. I have to make do with the same amount divided among more kids. If I can't afford more kids of my own, I shouldn't be paying somebody else to make babies.
8:16
Well said!!!
4:15 - A minor but major correction to your comment----
If a teacher is assaulted by a student and follows school guidelines and the office staff does nothing about it, the next move is to call the police......BEFORE THE SCHOOL CALLS THE COPS ON THE TEACHER!! Then you can document.
Teachers in this county are sitting ducks. WCBOE will take them out as fast as they can if they feel they may be exposed.
The problem is as much the parents as anyone's. They are the ones that didn't want their precious in a 'special' classroom, whether their problem be emotional or academic. They are the ones that wanted them in the 'regular' classroom. That, in my opinion, is where a lot of this mess started. A child with special needs, whether they be emotional or academic is not going to function in a regular classroom. They need so much more, individual, attention. When they don't get that, they act up. When the parents realize that their child isn't on the same reading/math levels as the rest of the class, or they come to school after having had to dress/feed theirself and/or siblings, ( basically do their parents jobs because they are out doing 'other things') and they agree to having their child in an environment that can deal with their needs, then maybe the regular classroom can get back to 'normal'.
And the violent children fit right into this category, too. They are violent because they have been/are being neglected/abused and they, too need special attention. That is the parent's fault, not the childs.
This whole thing has done such a downward spiral between how society deals with these problems and how the school deals with them, it'll probably take another half a century to undo this mess.
These are the problems you will continue to have with appointed BOE, thier only job is stats, budget cuts and to make Wicomico County officials look good by keeping secrets, a elected school board is for the kids. the sooner Wicomico County changes the better of we will be. Get politics out of the schools.
Maybe a class action suit by parents who are tired of their children getting no education so the teacher can spend outrageous amounts of time with those who demand constant monitoring would turn this country around. Is a free public education a right or not?
The writer of this letter is correct. We have officers in our schools, they don't do anything but break up a fight. All kids that are fighting should arrested, fined, and get them. The kids know that no matter what they do, the punishment is nothing. We need a detension center for these kids, and where their behavor is ajusted as in prison. Many of these kid will end up in prison anyway, See their names in the paper. The BOE does not want the public to know the truth, or no one would want new schools,or increase school funds.
I do not have children in the school system anymore. Very thankful for that. I did hear Dr. F. is getting re-appointed. This is laziness on the Board . It takes lots of time to search for another "Super". If everyone who comments on this post showed up at Board meetings with the media maybe, just maybe something could get done. That is the problem. The same old same old people show up. The Board thinks there is NO problem and are only fed what Freddy tells them.
Some on the Board know the truth but making excuses is easier than making changes.
If Dr F is not brought back then you all will be complaining about the money spent to search for and hire a new leader. A national would be conducted and a consulting firm hired to find the next Dr Freddy. Then after all that, you all still won't be happy because your miserable with your own lives.
I say the parents should inundate the Central Office with calls and letters continually. Someone has to answer your questions about why the discipline is not being handled by the principals of the schools, and if you get no answers there, write the state superintendant. Keep copies of all of your letters you write and receive and any responses (if you receive any) by phone. Someone has go to listen if enough of you bombard them! Keep it going for your childs' sake.
For any of you that can make the February 14th meeting, I say PLEASE GO and show your presence! I believe they are open to the public and may even have a public comment section at the conclusion of these meetings. If you have to sign up to speak, then sign up and do what's right for your children. The county as a whole should protect those that WANT education, not interuptions from those that don't care.
Exactly why BOE needs to be elected....politics are chosen over the kids. Some of them definitely know what is going on, but they do NOTHING! Show's how much they care, doesn't it?
It is just a Budget work session that evening. The real Board meeting happens behind closed doors earlier in the day.
Local public can sign in BEFORE the meeting begins to talk to the board. However, if you want to be on the agenda you must seek permission from the board president, Ron Willey.
What a crock! Even most of the City Council meetings are public!
I have two children in the a wicomico public school. One of my children has PDD-NOS and he does very well with the other children. so for people to stated that children with disablities should not be in the same classroom with "regular" children are wrong. My other child is having trouble with other children putting their hands on him and this has happened since he started kindergraden. I get a note from the teacher yeasteday thata child choked my son with a sock that is used to clean their dry earse boards. My first responds was why was the child out of his sit. The teacher staated that the child will not stay in his set and that the office staff would be handling this problem.Today when picking my children up I went in the office to see if this has been handled and they had no clue on what i was talking about. I don't send my children to school to be hit by other children they are there to learn. Thed teachers that my children have had have been wonderful including the aids that help them. It is not far to the children or teachers that have to deal with the behaviors of children that have no home training.
There are a lot of students on the higher end of the spectrum that are mainstreamed and do very well. A lot of times they can be more well behaved than the "regular" kids.
My elementary child has come home many times with stories of kids beating up others on the playground and cafeteria. Yes, it is the parents job to raise their kids to act right, but just because they choose not to does not automatically make it a school issue. The BOE should put a much MUCH stricter discipline flowchart than the 2000 step chart that teachers have to use before they can even think to send a kid to the office.
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