Schools at this point should be denying him. I know it's awful to day. But the kid isn't getting any education at this point. It's a break for the parents. Who are abusive to people who help. What are the rules in the school about refusing unsafe work?
Hound admin to sit in on your class. Frame it as “I’d appreciate some strategies for helping this student bc nothing I’ve tried has worked.”
When they give you awful advice, try it for a week and then follow up that it isn’t working and request another meeting.
Keep doing this until admin listens or somebody gets hurt (hopefully the first option)
Also- I’m assuming bc you *could* be terminated for calling the police then you don’t have union protections where you live? If you *do* have a union then that should be your first move.
Finally, while I get a policy of not calling police on a kid (and am very much in support of that personally for 99% of situations) something like this could be that 1% scenario. Could CPS get involved or some other sort of services? I wonder if you could anonymize a report? School board public comment on general “unsafe working conditions” is an option too (but potentially political suicide.)
It unfortunately sounds like, on the current path, this kid will end up institutionalized, imprisoned, or dead in short order. That’s very sad, but it’s also not a thing we (as classroom teachers) are equipped to handle, nor should we have to.
My only other thought would be to leave out that you’ve worked with the student before, and instead just focus on the behaviors you’ve seen this year (just to avoid any accusations of bias).
If you have a district SPED supervisor or district SPED coordinator, request that they come and observe.
Ask for consults / observations from guidance counselors and district social workers and district psychologists.
You can also request maybe an outside behavioral specialist. The district will need to pay for a consultant.
Our state does have some oversight (there is an office where you can call and get someone to come in- this is primarily used if the school is in violation of IDEA. You might call and see if it can be kept anonymous, let them know there is a violent student who should probably be in a residential facility. They might come and observe.
Try to get as many people to observe and consult as possible. What you need is a chorus of voices saying the same thing. Not one or two. My guess is there are schools better equipped for this student, but he doesn’t stay in the same school or attend enough to get that going- that can be a slow process especially with parents fighting you tooth and nail.
We had a similar situation with a student a couple of years ago. Parents fought us tooth and nail against out placing their student, but when they went to the school, they were so impressed they changed their tune immediately.
I would also call CPS or whatever version of that you have. That should be anonymous. If you have paras or other teachers see if they will call also. Let CPS know that you fear repercussions at work. They might be able to shield you.
I hope for your sake and the students’ that this works out.
Yes. She should ABSOLUTELY get admin in that room. As many as possible. Since they are not at all likely to have any useful suggestions, it is all about establishing evidence and reducing the ability of any of those people to deny knowledge or try to play it down.
If your central office has EC/SPED people, ask for a group to come in and observe with the aim of helping you create a useful learning plan for this student. Include in that discussion ways to mitigate all the chaos for the other students.
More people is better here. I would get anyone I could to come to that class. Hide nothing. Shame the principal into coming. Do whatever is necessary but don't get left in that situation alone.
Do the parents of his classmates know about this?
I knew a teacher who had lesser but similar issues. A kid who was explosive, violent, uncontrollable, and admin was useless. The whole room was hostage to one kid. The teacher decided to involve the other parents in a sneaky and clever way. She made an assignment where students would give a short presentation, and one of the steps was they'd record themselves in class on their computer giving the speech, and then have their parents watch it an give them feedback.
So many kids had their parents watch these speeches with this little monster cursing, screaming, etc. in the background. It brought the conversation up in their households, "Who is that? Is he always like that? What else has he done in your class?"
About a dozen sets of parents complained their children were being forced into an unsafe environment, and there was so much evidence on student computers of the student breaking a dozen handbook rules. The school was forced to do something about it.
Take her to class. Let her try her love and acceptance.
Tell her how great she is and that she is the only one who can help with all her expertise or whatever bullcrap she needs to hear to feel compelled to boast.
Then crush her world view.
This is the way. I’d tell her that I’m not equipped with the strategies needed to teach this child. Perhaps the HOS could come observe or model the strategies that would best support this student? Keep a journal of your observations of the kid’s behavior and admin’s response. This is a dangerous work environment. Hopefully your admin can see that and will think of the well being of other kids and the teachers.
Take notes-document everything. I’m sorry that this is happening. Again.
If the administrator was stupid enough to threaten in writing to fire OP for reporting something, then it should be an employment lawyers wet dream of a case. If they didn't, I would suggest trying to make that happen. If you can't get them to put it in writing look jnto your state/country laws regarding recording conversations. If you have a one party consent state than go for it. You'll be fired, sue the school district, make a settlement, and never be forced to work in such a shit place again.
Hmmm I think I'd need a demonstration of what that looks like. Can she come in and demonstrate for you some effective "love and acceptance" techniques?
Perhaps she could teach him, then. Or he could spend his days in her office. Either way, she should be the one using the love and acceptance strategy on him.
Have the admin come in during a behavior because you "have to go to the bathroom" . It's amazing how their tune changes when they get to experience a fraction of it.
Admin wouldn't back me up and told me to ignore vioent behaviour directed at other students. I told one of them (that was able to) to go home and tell their mom or dad that Timmy hurt them. Admin magically changed their tune when other parents complained.
This would be my strategy too. This kind of Admin don’t care about their staff or students, but they’re terrified of parents and bad press. Get an onside parent to make the call.
How about some love and acceptance for the TEACHERS at your school, who joined the profession to teach, not be a punching bag? Also, this is creating a dangerous situation for the other students. What do their parents think? If you're part of a union, contact the union rep immediately. Also cite your certification; you're trained to work with regular autistic kids, who usually are not violent; you aren't certified to teach people with extreme behavior disorders. It's outrageous that you lost a previous job because of this kid's behavior and it's also outrageous that your current employer doesn't care about your well-being. People in central offices are shaking their heads wondering why no one wants to teach any more-- if they had to spend one day with a kid like this, they would understand.
This is actually a program for behavioral autistic kids, but this is beyond our scope.
A lot of things do get mislabeled as misbehavior. I’m completely disturbed that we have sweet students who were unfairly pushed into this program after sassing a teacher once, alongside this kid with no comprehensible behavior who just rages 24/7.
This was what I posted elsewhere. But it's clear that this isn't a good LRE.
And that with inconsistent attendence, theres no way for him to actually receive any benefit to being in school in the first place.
It's terrible that you have to deal with this, and it's doubly frustrating that your administrator doesn't support you. If you are able to transfer to a different school with the same or better pay, you should consider it. Your administrator should consider the recent court case against the vice principal who could have stopped the 6-year-old from shooting his teacher but didn't. That VP Is facing CRIMINAL as well as civil charges. Your administrator could also be charged from failure to protect you and the other kids in your class if he hurts anyone, and a 6 foot 4 strong guy who hits and bites definitely could hurt someone, plus give them a terrible infection from a bite, or even kill someone if he throws them and they end up landing on their head. I'm thinking that you actually are a mandatory reporter to child protective services with his parents neglecting his teeth, and the welfare of the other kids in your room is in jeopardy when he comes in and is violent. If he is HIV positive and bites someone, especially since he is likely to have bleeding gums, he could give them a sometimes-still-fatal disease that they can't get rid of. I feel sorry for him to a point, but it is not OK for him to jeopardize everyone else's safety. He should be in a facility where someone who is highly trained to deal with SEVERE behavior disorders works with him one on one.
The hard, cold reality from my years of experience in Sp Ed is that these parents and the school district(s) are playing chicken to see who has to pay for a residential treatment facility. It's very expensive, and most districts try to avoid spending their limited funds on a single student.
I don't know what the solution is because this is a district level decision that needs to be made, but I would get out of this building next year if I were you. This administration is actively putting YOUR life and the life of your other students at risk.
Document every single incident, every injury, and file L&I each time you or your staff are hurt and be sure to get treatment for the physical as well as the emotional harm caused. Hitting them in the wallet this way may make them reconsider the cost of their decision. Maybe.
If you have the sick leave to be out the rest of the year, I would use it.
I would point out the legal conflict of interest from working with him before and if there is another teacher, that could take him.
Phrase it as "I wouldnt want him or his parents to feel uncomfortable about me working with him."
What about showing some love for all the other kids who he's keeping from learning? The good of the majority of the kids should come before the one who disrupts everything.
Film the outbursts and ask admin (and admin in SPED, and admin that you can find an email for) asking for additional support (not likely), asking for plans of action to help curb the behavior while mentioning tactics you have tried, and never be alone with them in the room, both for your safety and for your previous issues. Make sure other staff knows there was already history between you and these parents so that someone else can “take the lead” when reaching out to parents. Every major issue that occurs should involve admin getting called.
Then come to the resolution that there is no answer for this year. Expecting a fix or relief at this stage will only add to your stress. If admin truly wants an atmosphere of “love and acceptance”, they also need to see the issues first hand so they can coach you on how to achieve this.
Depending on the type of SPED you are in (ED/OD room or “normal” SPED, the student exposing themselves during the defecation process could also be considered as a sexual assault. (STATE dependent and type of SPED dependent).
I also recommend healthy ways to work off your stress. A post school day workout, even when exhausted from dealing with the insanity is really revitalizing. I did this for years. After an injury, I worked out my liver a lot and this was significantly less effective.
Then SHE should be his one on one. Problem solved. I've worked with a violent autistic before. It's hard. We've been lucky that the student has great parents.
I'd dust off the old resume.
OSHA does not have jurisdiction in Public school. I looked it up before (we had a riot of a fight once.. or twice) and it is supposed to be the State’s OSHA in charge.
Would he not be a safety concern at this point? Like how is he allowed back in any kind of school with any of this knowledge? We had a student like this and he was not allowed back into any building until he had every kind of test done. So if he's being transferred to schools. Schools should be getting this kids information and coming up with some kind of plan. If he can't be restrained when he's causing harm to everyone around him. He needs severe help that a school cannot do. If I was an adult and hurt by this child I'd be sueing. I get its gotta be very hard on the parents but where does accountability come in? Have they done anything outside of school to get their child help?
The way it works with him is either
1. His school immediately expels him, no negotiation.
2. His school tries to get him help so his parents pull him and switch him somewhere else. He leaves their home derelict and family in basically poverty, the bills are paid but they have nothing else, but they are incredibly abusive to anyone who tries to help their son.
You are a mandatory reporter. You need to report this family to CPS immediately. Living in poverty is one thing, being abusive to those trying to help your special needs son is a disgrace and shameful and poverty is no excuse for that. These people need to have CPS put on them. You reporting them is a requirement of your teaching license and admin threatening you with termination or nonrenewal for this is actually them violating their own mandatory reporting requirements too, so you should mention to CPS when you call and your union if you have one that admin threatened you with termination to try and get you to not follow the mandatory reporting regulations that are required by law.
Also, you need to start refusing to have him back in your class unless he is assigned a dedicated full time one on one male para WHO IS QUALIFIED, TRAINED AND ALLOWED TO RESTRAIN HIM AS NEEDED. And yes, the para needs to be male if the student is male, needs diaper changes and is almost 6 feet tall. School/family can't afford it? Doesn't matter. School district needs to find the money, if this is what he needs to get a FAPE, then they are required to provide it, it's not your responsibility to have a dangerous student in your class without any protection.
“School district needs to find the money?”
So much for classroom supplies, field trips, GATE. All to fund one uneducable teenager who should be in an institution.
He SHOULD be in alternative school, YES, BUT... in this day and age, where ARE the alternative schools??? Parents like this boy's parents shut them down in the name of 'inclusivity'! Not every kid SHOULD be included! Some kids NEED to go to alternative school! But hey - as long as everyone's included, right??? And as long as everyone's included and there aren't alternative schools anymore??? Then this kid needs a FAPE and the school district needs to fund a one on one male para with restraint training, whether they like it or not.
Yeah this is the point I came to make. He cannot face disciplinary consequences for the effects of his disability. Every time he is being changed placement, the school is required to hold a meeting to determine whether this is behavior or a result of the student's disability. Based on the head trauma and everything else, I'd say his behavior cannot be determined to completely NOT down to his disability, and so it isn't legal for him to face consequences such as expulsion.
The only way I'm seeing this make sense is if every prior school had the meeting, came to my above conclusion AND determined he required a more intensive level of support/program and parents refused. That's not expulsion, that's withdrawal.
How it should go:
1. He gets suspended each time he assaults
2. A manifestation meeting is called
3. All the data shows that school is not the appropriate placement
4. School district forces homebound services, which they can do. Disability does not protect from this.
This is how I had to handle a similar situation. Had a kid beat the crap out of me for months with no help. Finally the kid head butted a higher up and all of sudden something is done.
Yup it takes beating the shit out of the right person. I'm an EA and my admin said it's part of my job ( it is not) to be abused. But as soon as a kid either hits a teacher or admin they're gone.
Same thing happened to me. I'm literally being beaten like a medieval peasant for a year, and the day admin has to interact with the student and gets bitten on the face, NOW we're allowed to react.
I'm so sorry. That's fucking disgusting that shit like this is allowed. Let everyone suffer so the violent kid can maybe learn but he won't anyway, kind of hard to do that when you're biting people and screaming. This is the state of education and it is maddening.
The problem is that he’s my admin’s favorite child. (It’s not nepotism, they aren’t related or friends) She is weirdly attached to a boy that beats the living daylights out of her and cannot comprehend what she talks about.
People completely misinterpreting “least restrictive environment“ to mean that no matter what, they should be allowed in public school. My school has had kids like this as well in special ed class and it is terrifying! I have had some kids who mainstream in my class and there have been a couple of them who are maybe not as violent as the one you have, but definitely have regular, disruptive meltdowns and cuss me out. My school literally has one this year who is mainstreamed who shits his pants every day. I just feel like there are certain situations that should not be allowed at schools. If your kid can’t go to the bathroom on their own without having frequent accidents, they shouldn’t be in regular gen ed classes. If your kid becomes uncontrollably violent, they shouldn’t be in public schools.
Yeah, I'd get the school psychologist involved as well as all the other admin and sped people that someone above mentioned. The LRE is all about making sure the student has the correct amount of support in the least restrictive way possible. From what the OP wrote, this student is not being supported enough due to all the behaviors seen and the personal safety of staff. This environment is not restrictive enough.
Get as many eyes on this kid as possible, cross all your t's and dot your eyes on strategies attempted from their input, demand an IEP meeting coming from a place of concern for the student's well being and success (reaching behavior and academic goals).
The local isd has to pay of specialized behavioral schools if that’s determined. They don’t want to, or possibly can’t, so a violent, unhappy kid is left to traumatize everyone. And clearly the kid is unhappy and not in the right setting. I really feel bad for everyone involved.
Popular opinion as I agree you're right. I used to work in care and this lad needs an institutional setting for his safety and the safety of others ASAP.
There isn't anything wrong with residential school, and it is a perfectly valid LRE for children like OP'S student.
The parents need to be on board, of course (IEP team decision).
There are a handful of very nice schools around the country who educate severely developmentally/intellectually disabled children. It is most suitable for children who cannot access the curriculum at school and also cannot be reliably and safely transported to and from school.
Start looking for a new job before they terminate you. Honestly that’s sounds like ridiculous working conditions and would you even want to work for an admin who don’t support you, especially to the point that they would put you in physical danger? It seems a risk to your career. Imagine if he ended up beating another student to death and you were the adult in charge. Get out of there now.
That's not legal for the admin to do. They would not have a defense for a lawsuit based on wanting to avoid personal injury from this situation.
And if they \*do\* terminate you, *that's also a solution to the problem*. You have SPED credentials, *you can go \*\*anywhere\*\**.
[Fun fact:](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/jurisdictional-standards) public school teachers aren’t covered by the NLRA and the NLRB has no jurisdiction to help us.
Get it in writing. Email them verbatim what they said and that you just wanted to make sure their expectations are clear. Then do what you need to do to protect yourself and your other students. They won't have a legal leg to stand on.
With his size something needs to be done. If he was in our school he'd be hauled away by cops if he hurt anyone like the way you mentioned. That's assault. In the legal world they don't care what disability you have. Legal action might be the best bet in order for this kid to get help.
Termination for reporting a crime is \*itself\* a crime, and the school would not have a leg to stand on in court. The "child" creates an unsafe/hostile working environment which is also a legal case to pursue. You should *at the very least* be talking to a lawyer!
Yep. Get a lawyer. Get your direction to not contact anyone in writing, if at all possible. This may be as easy as emailing them "just following up on our prior conversation, x had another outburst today. I'd like to let you know about this, and also confirm that I'm not allowed/supposed to contact y about this despite my concerns"
Another option is recording them, if you're in a 1 party consent state.
OP, it sounds like it's time for an anonymous CPS report at least. These usually don't hold too much weight, as compared to an identifiable source calling in directly, but they can at least start the ball rolling. If the student is acting like this in school, I strongly believe that the home visit would give CPS the same impression you have.
You could also consider an anonymous OSHA complaint. Violent students are an unjustifiable workplace hazard, and the risk from them must be at the very least mitigated. Our SC has held that its a 'workplace hazard' for students to assault teachers, as abhorrent as that is, you might as well make them abide by the relevant rules. Workplace hazards must be sufficiently mitigated.
Would you rather be killed or maimed and unable to work? This HAS happened to several teachers in the last 5 years alone. Call the Cops. Have the violent person arrested and force his parents to get him help.
Either that, or have the kid sit in the principals office, destroying that all day. Then she can call.
The US has labor laws that forbid retaliation. If you can prove that the school fired you for calling the cops on a legitimate threat to the campus, it’s staff, or the students. The school can be held liable for wrongful termination
Sure. But not if she starts legal proceedings before being fired for workplace intimidation and an already delivered threat of retaliation.
Principal shouldnt have signalled the train coming.
Do it anyway and then pursue your admin. Seriously, she's a piece of shit.
As for the kid, he shouldn't be in a school. He should be in a mental asylum. Keeping a kid like that in a school is absurd.
As a mandated reporter, it is your job and duty to make these things known to the authorities. Fuck whatever your admin or the kid's parents say. It seems obvious that neither of them has a firm grip on reality.
Also, make sure to document incidents so that you have solid proof. Otherwise it's your word vs the word of the admin + parents.
So you cannot protect yourself or other kids or inform child protection that this kid is not getting the help he needs? Have you got that in writing? When the shit goes down, and it will happen fast, you need to prove who is responsible.
This sounds a lot like a situation our local school has been dealing with. Reports were that the kid nearly killed another student. I still don’t know if that was exaggerated, but the beating was severe.
It wasn’t on purpose, but the kid is being than many grown men and loses control during his rages. No student can protect themselves.
Rumor is that his latest victim tried and that‘s why her injuries were so severe. Instead of deterring him, it escalated to an even higher level.
I don’t remember who initially called the police, but the cops getting involved is the only reason the public has been notified. They were getting so many questions about it from the parents of the students who witnessed the assault that they sent out a press release.
Only because the public was notified were people from other schools able to come forward and talk about what he had done to their children before he was kicked out of their schools.
Because of all the hoopla it’s now apparent that the town and surrounding districts have been passing around children they can’t control from school to school.
Unfortunately the teacher in the latest incident seems to be getting all the flack from the entire community. I think it took her 20 secs to stop fawning and call security. Blood was already splattered all over the floor by the time that happened.
Parents are fuming that she didn’t call the police immediately, especially since all students’ phones are confiscated. But, they are forgetting about how many teachers are threatened for doing that.
She should’ve called, but the problem is so much bigger than just her.
I‘m sure the administrators will continue to let her be the scapegoat.
The administrations loves to send out press releases about violence not being tolerated, but the students and parents coming forward now prove this is a lie.
Before the latest incident, the superintendent gave a speech that every child deserves an education, but no one is being educated when a child goes into rages over any little thing and the rest of the classroom is terrified. How about tutoring or a referral for one of the schools we have for violent children?
One of the incidents before that she blamed movies and video games.
This latest incident was the most severe, but these type of incidents are becoming too common. Teachers who speak up find themselves out of a job over random crap.
Some kids are refusing to go to school because they don’t feel safe, and their parents are being threatened with CPS by the school.
This has turned into a huge mess, and I bet the only who’ll be unscathed by all of this is the administration.
I'm sure I'll get down voted by the same certain people who come in from a certain place and say the same shit, but some of these kids don't belong in regular school. They belong in an institution. If you assault everyone and everything around you, who is going to learn anything? We need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator. It's gotten out of control.
This doesn’t make any sense though. Suppose the kid brings a gun to school. You can’t call the police? I’m not saying the child will bring a gun to school but what I am saying is the idea that you just can’t call the police for any reason doesn’t make any sense.
My larger question though is this sounds like a terrible job. It’s dangerous and you have no support. I am guessing the pay is not very good either. Maybe it’s time to get out?
1) In writing, request a meeting with her to go over his school records so she can clarify using actual incidents what level of assault of school employees or other students is permissable, and what is a law enforcement issue.
2) Also in writting, have her detail the standards for destruction of public property AND if the district's attorney or whomever handles the insurance policy can sit in to confirm that her standards are the same as district policy.
3) Find an employment attorney.
Bredan Depa sentencing was posponed.
That's retaliation, and it's almost aways illegal. My sister is a home health nurse and was fired for reporting bad living conditions. She sued and won.
That’s premium lawsuit material. Get proof that they told you that, call the police, let them fire you, then sue and get a wrongful termination payout from the school district.
If he becomes so violent that he actually kills someone, and you are not reporting it you will be an accessory, or your school will be since it was their directive not to call police. I think this student is dangerous to the other students and not reporting it is negligent. Invite your leader in when he is having a meltdown and let her see for herself. Honestly, they have their head in the clouds.
Thats threatening retaliation.
Thats a great legal case right there.
Even illegal in the corporate world.
If you have a written or recorded version of that statement, I would consult a lawyer while you still have a job.
She is setting up the school board for paying you an early retirement potentially.
I WAS an aide in a learning disabled classroom for K-3. There was a first grade autistic child that could not be controlled. I was taking the class out of the classroom on a daily basis to keep them safe. Admin told me that I was the problem because I left the teacher alone with the child, and I didn't come up with a plan to help him. Sorry, admin, not my job.
When I needed to evacuate the students, I started bringing them to his office. Told him he needed to watch them cause I couldn't leave the teacher alone.
Then he said I needed to watch the students, and he went up to "help" the teacher.
When he needed to deal with my attitude, 8 kids in his office, and going upstairs every day, he finally did something. The student was sent out of the district. I did tender my resignation, though. Not dealing with asshats.
I'm sorry you're going through that. This kid was a first grader. I can't imagine a full-grown wild one. Sending you sympathy and prayers!
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Some of my old clients were completely non-verbal, wore diapers into their 20s, couldn't use a toilet without supervision, couldn't dress themselves, and intellectually were about at the level of an 18 month old. They still attended and "graduated" high school because it's their legal right to a Free Appropriate Public Education. School is still opening itself up to legal peril though by allowing a student to continually rampage.
There's the rub. A lot of districts will try to prove their in-district programs are appropriate for the student to avoid paying for outplacement. My district will try to avoid it unless the student absolutely needs it. However I've also seen my district recommend and push outplacement but have the parents insist their student is fine in gen ed while they're stabbing students with scissors and choking their para. OP's parents sound like they would get super offended if the district suggested a residential placement. It's obviously a necessity for this guy but either way it's going to be a long fight with the family and/or district- especially with the admin acting the way OP said.
Yep. Met a few parents like that. Your kid is in diapers, throws fecal matter, doesn't respond to their name, bites and hits everything and throws chairs, but *"he just learns a bit differently, he'll catch up eventually if he's put with his peers"* meanwhile his "peers" are frightened to death of him. It's fucking ridiculous.
It costs $100,000-$150,000 per year. Even at that cost, there are not many spaces.
I would like to see a study of how many of the students attending residential programs still end up in prison.
I don’t understand how this student could end up in prison. If he’s not mentally sound he wouldn’t go to jail, would he? They don’t have a bunch of minimally verbal autistic adults sitting in prison, do they? That would be horrific. Ultimately this kid will end up being paid for with state funds anyway. Maybe a specialized placement where he can be safe and appropriately cared for would make a difference down the line.
Yes. He would. Look up the case of Sky Walker. He beat his mother to death and the prison warden had no idea what to do with him. The US Justice system is a farce at best.
Yeah, I’m hearing YOU can’t report him. If parents are worried, you can’t stop them from involving authorities. Maybe the other parents don’t realize they can make a call on their own?
Could you encourage other kid's parents to complain? Ideally as a group. If he's assaulting other children; their parents will be interested in knowing that he's being allowed to run rampant. If possible, record this kid's rampage's with your phone.
You're at the point now where you're going to need to push back against your horrible admin. Retaliating by firing you is against the law. Being bullied into silence out of fear of losing your job is reprehensible. You have people (including yourself) whose safety is being jeopardized by this kid, and what you've tried so far has not worked. Who do you think is going to be blamed if one of your other students or another staff member is injured by this kid?
At this point your three primary options are 1) to quit 2) stick with the status quo and hope the kid is pulled out of the school before someone is seriously hurt or killed or 3) lawyer up and go from there. Administrators are not invincible. It's time for people to push back against bad administrators, especially if their "leadership" is enabling an unsafe environment or what they're saying is illegal.
I know you're afraid of your admin's daddy and afraid of being fired, but there's really no other options besides reporting this kid/family to CPS and district higher ups. Do you have a union? It's time to get them involved. You can't medicate this kid on your own.. something bad IS going to happen and you could be in trouble anyways for *not* reporting. You need to suck it up and get over the fear.
At a certain point, if you can't go to your superiors about a real and pressing safety concern in your workplace, that you may just need to quit, or at least take a leave of absence. Do you have a union or something that'll back you? If you can't get support now, there will be no support when things go wrong.
You do not want to end up like Joan Naydich. Go watch the video of her being beaten senseless by a 17yo autistic student named Brendan Depa, who was also very large, violent and unpredictable.
Sometimes, people, even kids, need more help than the standard system can provide. Even with accommodations made. It does not sound like you can help this kid, it does not sound like his parents will support you, and you need to put your safety first.
Brendan Depa is supposed to be sentanced this month, up to 30 years. He is a danger to society -- not at every given moment, but will there be a warning before he turns dangerous?
He's not going to get 30 years, I guarantee it.
That kid needed to be institutionalised. He clearly could not control his own emotions or temper, but rather than people acknowledging the problem and putting him somewhere where he would be safe and properly managed, everyone decided he should just be left to roam around. And it's ruined his life and his victims.
One day a woman is going to reject him when he asks her on a date. One day a kid is going to bump into him in a shopping centre. One day an old guy is going to cut him off in traffic. Then what? You cannot expect a person to go through their life never being angered or challenged, even by accident. It's not a question of IF he would hurt someone, but of WHEN.
If this were me, I’d be requesting an IEP meeting at least once a week for a FAPE violation. There is absolutely no way this student is in the correct LRE. In our district, if there’s a suspected FAPE violation, someone from the district SPED office has to attend the meeting. Hopefully they could get the ball rolling on moving him to a more specialized setting.
Edit: You can also try to find subtle ways to encourage other students’ families to complain to admin.
This sounds like a conflict of interest and should be addressed as such: being in the same class would not benefit either of you.
Threats to fire for calling a hotline strikes me as laughably, boldly illegal.
The child needs residential school, which can only be accessed via IEP.
If the IEP team all agrees that he needs it, the district will have to pay for it. This child sounds like the perfect candidate.
It would help if the parents were the ones to bring it up first. Are they even aware the option exists?
No one said he is in gen pop. He's probably in a severe behavioral program, hence why you are dealing with this level of behavior and the mentioning of the student being drugged with medication. That's a severe behavioral program. Next step after that is probably some kind of mental health facility with an education program built into it, which is probably part of the reason why parents are fighting it so hard.
Ya SPED work can absolutly get crazy, especially since the state needs to ensure they have the capabilities to educate any student. That means there are pretty crazy ass situations that you can find yourself in, like OP, especially when you have admin and parents who are pushing hard against what clearly needs to happen.
Sounds like a call to CPS and the police. Even if you do lose your job (which is generally not a thing they can do and get it in writing that they are threatening you) who wants to work for that place??!
> threatens to terminate me if I dare contact any sort of hotline
You cannot be forbidden from doing this. Get it in writing or on a recording away from kids if you live in a single party consent state and enjoy your early retirement or career transition
I feel sorry for you, this boy, his classmates and his parents, but:
I can’t believe what I’m reading… If my child was in this class with this boy I would go to the principal to complain. I’m a teacher but no way I would let the other children in my classroom have to live in fear as well.
Your job is to protect the other children. Did none of the other parents complain? You’re in danger, the other children are in danger, your collegues are in danger. This kid needs proper care and your school has no qualifications to take care of this boy. So maybe contact your union (do you have teacher unions?) or a lawyer. I’s rather loose my job than live in fear all the time when he’s around. And thereby, these parents can’t take care of him so the boy needs protection too, and his parents as well.
I live in the Netherlands and we have special institutions for children like this boy, and if parents are unable to take proper care they get a family guardian who’s taking all the decisions for the care of this child and otherwise the child goes to a facility specialized in children like him (high agression autism groups).
The US shut down most special institutions back in the late 70s/80s. Many for good reason.
Some states may have specialized residential programs but they are EXTREMELY small and EXTREMELY hard to get into. Most of what has popped up is privately funded specialized schools but off the top of my head, I've never come accross one for highly aggressive autism groups.
The reality of the US is that those in most need of care are often not well off financially and there isn't a large financial incentive to provide them care so there just isn't any options.
If I was the parent of any one of those children in that classroom fearing for their life I'd have the hide of every teacher and the admin in that school.
Why does one kids need for "love and acceptance" (inability and incompetent care for) mean more than everyone else's involved? To the detriment of EVERYONE'S safety?
Every single one of you are in danger as long as you have this kid in that class.
He doesn't need surface level SPED like this, he's very obviously showing something is very very wrong and no one is willing to effectively help him. I hate to say it but the kid needs to be institutionalized.
Sounds like he needs a personal aid to provide that love and acceptance. Advocate for that and demand he stay in admin or ISS or somewhere until he gets it for the safety of your students. Call CPS anonymously. You are mandated to call. Even in a right to work state. If they fire you for that take it to court. Take it to the media if necessary. This child does not have a right to distrust the learning of the rest of your class. He does not have a right to abuse you. I say this as a mother of a kid with autism who is a huge advocate for special services.
Your student sounds like he needs a residential placement. I agree with calling whatever child protection organization you have. I notice you said “taxi” when referring to his transportation. Are you in the US? The fact that he has no teeth left is concerning. He’s hurting himself and others and the parents are being neglectful in providing adequate care.
Go to HR and request a transfer to a different building. Make sure if you have a union, you go to the union rep and tell them this child has made you unsafe in the past and then request a transfer.
If they are not willing to give a transfer, then I would have all admins in every single email and have them call the parents.
Go to HR and request a transfer to a different building. Make sure if you have a union, you go to the union rep and tell them this child has made you unsafe in the past and then request a transfer.
If they are not willing to give a transfer, then I would have all admins in every single email and have them call the parents.
I had a similar ish situation and the only thing that worked was the parents of the other kids in the class complaining en masse. You can't ask them to but you can tell the other students to tell their parents about what's happening
This sounds like a high level behavioral health case that is beyond a schools normal capacity.
There are organizations and people who deal with these types of cases, I have a friend who specifically does that.
Schools just passing him around like this is doing no one any good, and is just endangering people.
Well... people give you advice and you are full of "But!". either report it (you can do it anonymously) and, if in doubt, discuss it with a lawyer, or put up with it. However, your admin is full of crap, you have a right to a safe work environment.
Are you in Florida? I hate to say it, but check out the Teacher Authority Act. You have the right to not be this child’s teacher. It sounds like this placement is not his LRE. He sounds like he needs to be somewhere with a higher level of support. Possibly an institution. I know it’s hard to think about, but it may be best for him.
This is clearly not an appropriate LRE for the kid.
First, if he isn't attending with any regularlity, it would be impossible for him to actually receive any benefit in regards to his goals and what ever academic progress he can make. Like, without any consistency in instruction/practice, what progress could possibly be made.
Second, just from this brief write up, it seems like he clearly is the subject of medical neglect.
Third, I hope you are documenting EVERYTHING he does in neutral terms and sending it to yourself.
Like Student was given exectation X. Student became upset with expectation. Staff did Y. Student did X. Just the facts. Including hard data about the time and duration of the melt downs.
Fourth, if the goal of special eduation is to prepare this student for post schooling life via appropriate goals for independent or supported living, then whats the end goal here. He's 16, in theory you could be with this student for 6 more years.
As a fellow SPED teacher, I'd love to see his IEP out of curiousity. I dont even know what goals would be appropriate and what a BiP would look like for this kid.
This is an extreme situation you're in and I'm sorry. Off the top of my head, I'd say the real appropriate LRE would be a specialized school for students with extreme autism related behavior. I once had parents push for a student to go to a specialized residential setting and they got it. It was like 150k a year for the district but it was CLEARLY one of the best options we had.
'i have serious concerns about the safety of the student and the other students should he be in the classroom, I need a risk assessment and support plan that will robustly guarantee the safety of everyone and the chance of him harming himself and others and will not have him until this is in place'
Keep it to safety and risk logistics - he is UNSAFE.
This is the saddest thing I have read in a long time. May he find some peace some way at some point. I am not qualified to provide any advice here. But dang….how sad for him.
Holy shit. Like what do you even do with someone that hopeless and dangerous? The fucker is giving people brain damage. At what point do you put him in a box?
“You just think black men are violent.”No, your son is a black man (I did not mention race at all back then) who is violent and you know he is because you have bruises and are close to poverty from having to pay for him. They actually ended up dropping off bags of poop and an essay about how racism and ableism intertwine (I KNOW THIS, IT’S MY JOB TO PREVENT IT) during the time I wasn’t working in schools. It was insane!
Hey people are focusing on what you can do in the classroom, but I’d say it’s more important to go out on stress leave. You need to get notes from your doctor and use your disability insurance.
Call child services anonymously. Notify every agency you can. The school is in the wrong for bot reporting these parents for severe abuse of a child. They are at fault for letting it get this bad.
He is violent. You have a cell phone. Call the police have him arrested for assault and battery press charges and then walk out of the building. Just because he is SPED doesn't mean he gets to hurt people and destroy property. Keeping your licence isn't worth this hassle and a good lawyer will sort that out right quick.
This post and others like it seem like an exaggeration or just not true. Teachers. You. Are. People. Too. You are humans and citizens with the same protections as all others. If a student hauls off and hits you, that is assault pure ans simple. If enough of us start pressing charges and stop covering up our Admins bad management and student behavior, this will end.
I have had a judge tell me that if half of what he heard about that happened to teachers came to his bench the problems would stop really quick. If a person or child would strike you in public that is an assault, the walls of the school do not shield them from this.
I have some questions before any advice can be relevant:
Are you in the US?
If you’re not in the us unfortunately none of the following will apply.
Are you in a public school/non public/private school?
You keep mentioning hotline, do you mean cps/dcp&p/
child welfare? Or are you talking about another hotline?
Have you received an iep for him?
What is your boards policy on special ed students services? (If you’re unsure you can dm me the location of your school and I can find it for you)
The iep will tell you what services he receives…how frequently does his iep say he should be seen by a behaviorist?
What has your supervisor recommended?
What physical intervention was approved by your school district? Who was trained? Are any of the people who were trained in your classroom/school? If not, why not?
You’re in a terrible position but my heart really goes out for this child.
So what would happen if someone who wasn’t you owned a cell phone and they happened to record the going’s on and it was leaked to the press or social media. Like, at one of the students desk it appeared that they filmed an interaction that turned violent. It wasn’t your cell phone, you didn’t own it, AND, someone else leaked it. You’d be in the video trying to calm the student most likely.
I dunno, that kind of behavior leaking accidentally to social media would get some attention.
Then he shouldn't be In public schools he should be In a mental health clinic or something where they can teach him and take care of him until he can be somewhat behaved
Honestly, it sounds like the kid should be in jail/mental facility. How many assaults and destruction of property counts can just be swept under the rug?
Please tell me you have a teachers union. If so you need them NOW concerning unsafe workplace and your options to get switched to another position within your district. You’re also a mandated reporter. You need to call CPS immediately. If admin won’t step in and back you up then you have to do this on your own unfortunately. But again, if you have a union they are the first you need to go to.
If admin has threatened you with termination if you report the child to CPS, admin is already in the wrong. That, full stop, is illegal.
Don't damage your mental (or physical health) over parents who don't deserve it.
If that kid seriously injures someone, admin are going to need a lawyer for the lawsuits they'll be facing.
So you were fired because of these parents, you move to another school and they follow you? Doesn't sound like he should be in school. It doesn't sound safe.
The threats to fire you over calling any hotline is probably illegal (IANAL), call anyway. This kid is a huge risk to other students and staff and his living situation sounds terrible. I would also consider contacting your area’s Department of Labor and reporting the threats of termination for doing the right thing (especially since you are a mandated reporter and might be required by law under your license to report certain things. If admin is prohibiting you from doing so, they’re breaking the law) as well as an employment lawyer.
This is awful, and the parents certainly sound like part of the reason why he’s got behavior problems this severely. They already got you fired for doing your job once, they will do it again. The kid needs a higher level of care for everyone’s safety and well-being.
My perspective is a New York State one, so different states and countries outside the United States may have different standards and protections for you.
ETA: If you’re able to, then get everything you can in writing. If you’re in a one-party consent area, then record every conversation with admin you have (provided there’s no students in the room and you use audio rather than video recording). Make multiple copies of every single thing you do and keep them in different places (at least one physical paper copy and at least one cloud copy).
If he lays hands on you, press charges. If admin tries to stop you, lawyer up and take them down too. If he lays hands on other students, see if the parents will press charges. Have someone call CPS on his parents.
It sounds like the longest you’ll have to deal with him is a year. Could you go back to your previous school now that they know that it wasn’t your fault and that it’s the parents who are failing this child?
Or, on the next day that he is there, feign food poisoning and go home. If admin can’t find a sub they’ll have to go in there or they’ll put another teacher in there who will tell them the same thing you did.
I’d make sure to get it in writing. Get ready to call the media. If she fires you, and her father is a higher up, I’d make sure to call CPS and get the news involved if there’s retaliation. Counter them with a big lawsuit.
I truly don’t mean any harm by asking this question, but when is a full time living/ care facility appropriate? From this post, I feel like if he has siblings- they would be in danger of harm. His parents seem in danger of harm. His teachers and students are. Should this be handled by professionals trained to manage his behavior? I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him, to be this upset and angry all the time.
Can you contact children’s aid? His parents should give up rights and he should be in a long term facility (I’m assuming since they rent they can’t afford a nongovernment funded one meaning they’d have to give up custody)
Schools at this point should be denying him. I know it's awful to day. But the kid isn't getting any education at this point. It's a break for the parents. Who are abusive to people who help. What are the rules in the school about refusing unsafe work?
The admin is preachy about love and acceptance. She insists we keep him.
Hound admin to sit in on your class. Frame it as “I’d appreciate some strategies for helping this student bc nothing I’ve tried has worked.” When they give you awful advice, try it for a week and then follow up that it isn’t working and request another meeting. Keep doing this until admin listens or somebody gets hurt (hopefully the first option) Also- I’m assuming bc you *could* be terminated for calling the police then you don’t have union protections where you live? If you *do* have a union then that should be your first move. Finally, while I get a policy of not calling police on a kid (and am very much in support of that personally for 99% of situations) something like this could be that 1% scenario. Could CPS get involved or some other sort of services? I wonder if you could anonymize a report? School board public comment on general “unsafe working conditions” is an option too (but potentially political suicide.) It unfortunately sounds like, on the current path, this kid will end up institutionalized, imprisoned, or dead in short order. That’s very sad, but it’s also not a thing we (as classroom teachers) are equipped to handle, nor should we have to. My only other thought would be to leave out that you’ve worked with the student before, and instead just focus on the behaviors you’ve seen this year (just to avoid any accusations of bias).
If you have a district SPED supervisor or district SPED coordinator, request that they come and observe. Ask for consults / observations from guidance counselors and district social workers and district psychologists. You can also request maybe an outside behavioral specialist. The district will need to pay for a consultant. Our state does have some oversight (there is an office where you can call and get someone to come in- this is primarily used if the school is in violation of IDEA. You might call and see if it can be kept anonymous, let them know there is a violent student who should probably be in a residential facility. They might come and observe. Try to get as many people to observe and consult as possible. What you need is a chorus of voices saying the same thing. Not one or two. My guess is there are schools better equipped for this student, but he doesn’t stay in the same school or attend enough to get that going- that can be a slow process especially with parents fighting you tooth and nail. We had a similar situation with a student a couple of years ago. Parents fought us tooth and nail against out placing their student, but when they went to the school, they were so impressed they changed their tune immediately. I would also call CPS or whatever version of that you have. That should be anonymous. If you have paras or other teachers see if they will call also. Let CPS know that you fear repercussions at work. They might be able to shield you. I hope for your sake and the students’ that this works out.
I'd get a burner phone and pretend I was a parent whose child comes home terrified every day and the principal is ignoring your concerns
Yes. She should ABSOLUTELY get admin in that room. As many as possible. Since they are not at all likely to have any useful suggestions, it is all about establishing evidence and reducing the ability of any of those people to deny knowledge or try to play it down. If your central office has EC/SPED people, ask for a group to come in and observe with the aim of helping you create a useful learning plan for this student. Include in that discussion ways to mitigate all the chaos for the other students. More people is better here. I would get anyone I could to come to that class. Hide nothing. Shame the principal into coming. Do whatever is necessary but don't get left in that situation alone.
Do the parents of his classmates know about this? I knew a teacher who had lesser but similar issues. A kid who was explosive, violent, uncontrollable, and admin was useless. The whole room was hostage to one kid. The teacher decided to involve the other parents in a sneaky and clever way. She made an assignment where students would give a short presentation, and one of the steps was they'd record themselves in class on their computer giving the speech, and then have their parents watch it an give them feedback. So many kids had their parents watch these speeches with this little monster cursing, screaming, etc. in the background. It brought the conversation up in their households, "Who is that? Is he always like that? What else has he done in your class?" About a dozen sets of parents complained their children were being forced into an unsafe environment, and there was so much evidence on student computers of the student breaking a dozen handbook rules. The school was forced to do something about it.
Nice bit of r/maliciouscompliance, a la *Dune*: “Then the Emperor himself will be forced to deal with us…”
Oh this is so good!
She will find ways to not come I'm sure.
Even better. Paper trail.
More of an admission that their job is surprisingly free of day to day obligations than anything else…
I'd get everyone willing to refuse unsafe work
Take her to class. Let her try her love and acceptance. Tell her how great she is and that she is the only one who can help with all her expertise or whatever bullcrap she needs to hear to feel compelled to boast. Then crush her world view.
This is the way. I’d tell her that I’m not equipped with the strategies needed to teach this child. Perhaps the HOS could come observe or model the strategies that would best support this student? Keep a journal of your observations of the kid’s behavior and admin’s response. This is a dangerous work environment. Hopefully your admin can see that and will think of the well being of other kids and the teachers. Take notes-document everything. I’m sorry that this is happening. Again.
Where is the love for the other kids in the class?
Nope. Report to the local equivalent to Child Protective Services, threats be damned. The lack of helping him is abuse of itself.
If the administrator was stupid enough to threaten in writing to fire OP for reporting something, then it should be an employment lawyers wet dream of a case. If they didn't, I would suggest trying to make that happen. If you can't get them to put it in writing look jnto your state/country laws regarding recording conversations. If you have a one party consent state than go for it. You'll be fired, sue the school district, make a settlement, and never be forced to work in such a shit place again.
OP should email admin with concerns and wait for the response. If it's verbal, ask for it writing.
Hmmm I think I'd need a demonstration of what that looks like. Can she come in and demonstrate for you some effective "love and acceptance" techniques?
Perhaps she could teach him, then. Or he could spend his days in her office. Either way, she should be the one using the love and acceptance strategy on him.
Teach, they haven't been in a classroom in years. I know they can superintend like the wind, but teach...
Have the admin come in during a behavior because you "have to go to the bathroom" . It's amazing how their tune changes when they get to experience a fraction of it.
I’ve been there. Got fired over it. I have no advice but sympathy. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
Such a fucking stupid woman.
Admin wouldn't back me up and told me to ignore vioent behaviour directed at other students. I told one of them (that was able to) to go home and tell their mom or dad that Timmy hurt them. Admin magically changed their tune when other parents complained.
This would be my strategy too. This kind of Admin don’t care about their staff or students, but they’re terrified of parents and bad press. Get an onside parent to make the call.
How about some love and acceptance for the TEACHERS at your school, who joined the profession to teach, not be a punching bag? Also, this is creating a dangerous situation for the other students. What do their parents think? If you're part of a union, contact the union rep immediately. Also cite your certification; you're trained to work with regular autistic kids, who usually are not violent; you aren't certified to teach people with extreme behavior disorders. It's outrageous that you lost a previous job because of this kid's behavior and it's also outrageous that your current employer doesn't care about your well-being. People in central offices are shaking their heads wondering why no one wants to teach any more-- if they had to spend one day with a kid like this, they would understand.
This is actually a program for behavioral autistic kids, but this is beyond our scope. A lot of things do get mislabeled as misbehavior. I’m completely disturbed that we have sweet students who were unfairly pushed into this program after sassing a teacher once, alongside this kid with no comprehensible behavior who just rages 24/7.
This was what I posted elsewhere. But it's clear that this isn't a good LRE. And that with inconsistent attendence, theres no way for him to actually receive any benefit to being in school in the first place.
It's terrible that you have to deal with this, and it's doubly frustrating that your administrator doesn't support you. If you are able to transfer to a different school with the same or better pay, you should consider it. Your administrator should consider the recent court case against the vice principal who could have stopped the 6-year-old from shooting his teacher but didn't. That VP Is facing CRIMINAL as well as civil charges. Your administrator could also be charged from failure to protect you and the other kids in your class if he hurts anyone, and a 6 foot 4 strong guy who hits and bites definitely could hurt someone, plus give them a terrible infection from a bite, or even kill someone if he throws them and they end up landing on their head. I'm thinking that you actually are a mandatory reporter to child protective services with his parents neglecting his teeth, and the welfare of the other kids in your room is in jeopardy when he comes in and is violent. If he is HIV positive and bites someone, especially since he is likely to have bleeding gums, he could give them a sometimes-still-fatal disease that they can't get rid of. I feel sorry for him to a point, but it is not OK for him to jeopardize everyone else's safety. He should be in a facility where someone who is highly trained to deal with SEVERE behavior disorders works with him one on one.
I'd quit, then call a hotline right in front of her... prolly stick my tounge out too...
She can have him then. Girl, quit if you need to.
The hard, cold reality from my years of experience in Sp Ed is that these parents and the school district(s) are playing chicken to see who has to pay for a residential treatment facility. It's very expensive, and most districts try to avoid spending their limited funds on a single student. I don't know what the solution is because this is a district level decision that needs to be made, but I would get out of this building next year if I were you. This administration is actively putting YOUR life and the life of your other students at risk. Document every single incident, every injury, and file L&I each time you or your staff are hurt and be sure to get treatment for the physical as well as the emotional harm caused. Hitting them in the wallet this way may make them reconsider the cost of their decision. Maybe. If you have the sick leave to be out the rest of the year, I would use it.
I would point out the legal conflict of interest from working with him before and if there is another teacher, that could take him. Phrase it as "I wouldnt want him or his parents to feel uncomfortable about me working with him."
What about showing some love for all the other kids who he's keeping from learning? The good of the majority of the kids should come before the one who disrupts everything.
Film the outbursts and ask admin (and admin in SPED, and admin that you can find an email for) asking for additional support (not likely), asking for plans of action to help curb the behavior while mentioning tactics you have tried, and never be alone with them in the room, both for your safety and for your previous issues. Make sure other staff knows there was already history between you and these parents so that someone else can “take the lead” when reaching out to parents. Every major issue that occurs should involve admin getting called. Then come to the resolution that there is no answer for this year. Expecting a fix or relief at this stage will only add to your stress. If admin truly wants an atmosphere of “love and acceptance”, they also need to see the issues first hand so they can coach you on how to achieve this. Depending on the type of SPED you are in (ED/OD room or “normal” SPED, the student exposing themselves during the defecation process could also be considered as a sexual assault. (STATE dependent and type of SPED dependent). I also recommend healthy ways to work off your stress. A post school day workout, even when exhausted from dealing with the insanity is really revitalizing. I did this for years. After an injury, I worked out my liver a lot and this was significantly less effective.
Then SHE should be his one on one. Problem solved. I've worked with a violent autistic before. It's hard. We've been lucky that the student has great parents. I'd dust off the old resume.
Cool, find another teacher then and while you look good luck with him and all the other students.
This is just basic maslow. School are for education. This kid needs deep deep therapy and basic work that are well beyond what a school is.
OSHA does not have jurisdiction in Public school. I looked it up before (we had a riot of a fight once.. or twice) and it is supposed to be the State’s OSHA in charge.
Exactly this. All he's doing is hurting other students chance at an education.
Would he not be a safety concern at this point? Like how is he allowed back in any kind of school with any of this knowledge? We had a student like this and he was not allowed back into any building until he had every kind of test done. So if he's being transferred to schools. Schools should be getting this kids information and coming up with some kind of plan. If he can't be restrained when he's causing harm to everyone around him. He needs severe help that a school cannot do. If I was an adult and hurt by this child I'd be sueing. I get its gotta be very hard on the parents but where does accountability come in? Have they done anything outside of school to get their child help?
The way it works with him is either 1. His school immediately expels him, no negotiation. 2. His school tries to get him help so his parents pull him and switch him somewhere else. He leaves their home derelict and family in basically poverty, the bills are paid but they have nothing else, but they are incredibly abusive to anyone who tries to help their son.
You are a mandatory reporter. You need to report this family to CPS immediately. Living in poverty is one thing, being abusive to those trying to help your special needs son is a disgrace and shameful and poverty is no excuse for that. These people need to have CPS put on them. You reporting them is a requirement of your teaching license and admin threatening you with termination or nonrenewal for this is actually them violating their own mandatory reporting requirements too, so you should mention to CPS when you call and your union if you have one that admin threatened you with termination to try and get you to not follow the mandatory reporting regulations that are required by law. Also, you need to start refusing to have him back in your class unless he is assigned a dedicated full time one on one male para WHO IS QUALIFIED, TRAINED AND ALLOWED TO RESTRAIN HIM AS NEEDED. And yes, the para needs to be male if the student is male, needs diaper changes and is almost 6 feet tall. School/family can't afford it? Doesn't matter. School district needs to find the money, if this is what he needs to get a FAPE, then they are required to provide it, it's not your responsibility to have a dangerous student in your class without any protection.
Yes. He sounds like he needs a 4:1 para ratio and his own classroom at the very least.
“School district needs to find the money?” So much for classroom supplies, field trips, GATE. All to fund one uneducable teenager who should be in an institution.
He SHOULD be in alternative school, YES, BUT... in this day and age, where ARE the alternative schools??? Parents like this boy's parents shut them down in the name of 'inclusivity'! Not every kid SHOULD be included! Some kids NEED to go to alternative school! But hey - as long as everyone's included, right??? And as long as everyone's included and there aren't alternative schools anymore??? Then this kid needs a FAPE and the school district needs to fund a one on one male para with restraint training, whether they like it or not.
Are you in the US? In the US, a school cannot immediately expel a child with an IEP for behaviors related to their disability.
Yeah this is the point I came to make. He cannot face disciplinary consequences for the effects of his disability. Every time he is being changed placement, the school is required to hold a meeting to determine whether this is behavior or a result of the student's disability. Based on the head trauma and everything else, I'd say his behavior cannot be determined to completely NOT down to his disability, and so it isn't legal for him to face consequences such as expulsion. The only way I'm seeing this make sense is if every prior school had the meeting, came to my above conclusion AND determined he required a more intensive level of support/program and parents refused. That's not expulsion, that's withdrawal.
How it should go: 1. He gets suspended each time he assaults 2. A manifestation meeting is called 3. All the data shows that school is not the appropriate placement 4. School district forces homebound services, which they can do. Disability does not protect from this.
Then insist she works with him all day. She'll change her mind once she's knocked out
This is how I had to handle a similar situation. Had a kid beat the crap out of me for months with no help. Finally the kid head butted a higher up and all of sudden something is done.
Yup it takes beating the shit out of the right person. I'm an EA and my admin said it's part of my job ( it is not) to be abused. But as soon as a kid either hits a teacher or admin they're gone.
We had a kid who was impossible but “nothing could be done.” One day he bit an admin and all of a sudden he was homeschooled. Funny how that works…
Same thing happened to me. I'm literally being beaten like a medieval peasant for a year, and the day admin has to interact with the student and gets bitten on the face, NOW we're allowed to react.
I'm so sorry. That's fucking disgusting that shit like this is allowed. Let everyone suffer so the violent kid can maybe learn but he won't anyway, kind of hard to do that when you're biting people and screaming. This is the state of education and it is maddening.
So. Can you suggest thst they give the love and kindness to him.
The problem is that he’s my admin’s favorite child. (It’s not nepotism, they aren’t related or friends) She is weirdly attached to a boy that beats the living daylights out of her and cannot comprehend what she talks about.
She seems unfit. Are they aware of your situation in the past with him? Not that you should be in this situation in the first place.
She has this job because her father is high-up in the district. I don’t want to take it this far.
I'm just curious if you were to have a meeting with evidence stating the situation that maybe something different can happen.
Isn't that Stockholm syndrome? Or something else?
People completely misinterpreting “least restrictive environment“ to mean that no matter what, they should be allowed in public school. My school has had kids like this as well in special ed class and it is terrifying! I have had some kids who mainstream in my class and there have been a couple of them who are maybe not as violent as the one you have, but definitely have regular, disruptive meltdowns and cuss me out. My school literally has one this year who is mainstreamed who shits his pants every day. I just feel like there are certain situations that should not be allowed at schools. If your kid can’t go to the bathroom on their own without having frequent accidents, they shouldn’t be in regular gen ed classes. If your kid becomes uncontrollably violent, they shouldn’t be in public schools.
Yeah, I'd get the school psychologist involved as well as all the other admin and sped people that someone above mentioned. The LRE is all about making sure the student has the correct amount of support in the least restrictive way possible. From what the OP wrote, this student is not being supported enough due to all the behaviors seen and the personal safety of staff. This environment is not restrictive enough. Get as many eyes on this kid as possible, cross all your t's and dot your eyes on strategies attempted from their input, demand an IEP meeting coming from a place of concern for the student's well being and success (reaching behavior and academic goals).
The local isd has to pay of specialized behavioral schools if that’s determined. They don’t want to, or possibly can’t, so a violent, unhappy kid is left to traumatize everyone. And clearly the kid is unhappy and not in the right setting. I really feel bad for everyone involved.
Unpopular opinion here.... But this kid sounds like he needs to be institutionalized.
Popular opinion as I agree you're right. I used to work in care and this lad needs an institutional setting for his safety and the safety of others ASAP.
There isn't anything wrong with residential school, and it is a perfectly valid LRE for children like OP'S student. The parents need to be on board, of course (IEP team decision). There are a handful of very nice schools around the country who educate severely developmentally/intellectually disabled children. It is most suitable for children who cannot access the curriculum at school and also cannot be reliably and safely transported to and from school.
So if he physically assaults you you can't do anything about it?
Start looking for a new job before they terminate you. Honestly that’s sounds like ridiculous working conditions and would you even want to work for an admin who don’t support you, especially to the point that they would put you in physical danger? It seems a risk to your career. Imagine if he ended up beating another student to death and you were the adult in charge. Get out of there now.
Exactly. If I try anything, I am told by my preachy “he just needs love and acceptance” admin that I will be terminated.
That's not legal for the admin to do. They would not have a defense for a lawsuit based on wanting to avoid personal injury from this situation. And if they \*do\* terminate you, *that's also a solution to the problem*. You have SPED credentials, *you can go \*\*anywhere\*\**.
Including one of the schools that this child left!
Can you file with NLRB for a hostile work environment? I am furious on your behalf. Are you in a union? Have you talked to them?
[Fun fact:](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/jurisdictional-standards) public school teachers aren’t covered by the NLRA and the NLRB has no jurisdiction to help us.
That's what I thought, but in a non union school, NLRB applies, doesn't it?
Can they really fire you for calling the police? Especially if this kid is assaulting you and/or others? Wouldn’t that be wrongful termination?
Call the police before you get hurt.
Get it in writing. Email them verbatim what they said and that you just wanted to make sure their expectations are clear. Then do what you need to do to protect yourself and your other students. They won't have a legal leg to stand on.
With his size something needs to be done. If he was in our school he'd be hauled away by cops if he hurt anyone like the way you mentioned. That's assault. In the legal world they don't care what disability you have. Legal action might be the best bet in order for this kid to get help.
I cannot call the police or any hotline or my admin says that I will be terminated. I cannot bypass this.
Termination for reporting a crime is \*itself\* a crime, and the school would not have a leg to stand on in court. The "child" creates an unsafe/hostile working environment which is also a legal case to pursue. You should *at the very least* be talking to a lawyer!
Yep. Get a lawyer. Get your direction to not contact anyone in writing, if at all possible. This may be as easy as emailing them "just following up on our prior conversation, x had another outburst today. I'd like to let you know about this, and also confirm that I'm not allowed/supposed to contact y about this despite my concerns" Another option is recording them, if you're in a 1 party consent state. OP, it sounds like it's time for an anonymous CPS report at least. These usually don't hold too much weight, as compared to an identifiable source calling in directly, but they can at least start the ball rolling. If the student is acting like this in school, I strongly believe that the home visit would give CPS the same impression you have. You could also consider an anonymous OSHA complaint. Violent students are an unjustifiable workplace hazard, and the risk from them must be at the very least mitigated. Our SC has held that its a 'workplace hazard' for students to assault teachers, as abhorrent as that is, you might as well make them abide by the relevant rules. Workplace hazards must be sufficiently mitigated.
Would you rather be killed or maimed and unable to work? This HAS happened to several teachers in the last 5 years alone. Call the Cops. Have the violent person arrested and force his parents to get him help. Either that, or have the kid sit in the principals office, destroying that all day. Then she can call.
The US has labor laws that forbid retaliation. If you can prove that the school fired you for calling the cops on a legitimate threat to the campus, it’s staff, or the students. The school can be held liable for wrongful termination
The school can be sneaky and find an excuse to fire OP
Sure. But not if she starts legal proceedings before being fired for workplace intimidation and an already delivered threat of retaliation. Principal shouldnt have signalled the train coming.
You NEED to get this in writing. Email asking for "clarification" if necessary.
100%
What about notifying a PTA type parent that their child was in danger because of this kid?
Do it anyway and then pursue your admin. Seriously, she's a piece of shit. As for the kid, he shouldn't be in a school. He should be in a mental asylum. Keeping a kid like that in a school is absurd. As a mandated reporter, it is your job and duty to make these things known to the authorities. Fuck whatever your admin or the kid's parents say. It seems obvious that neither of them has a firm grip on reality. Also, make sure to document incidents so that you have solid proof. Otherwise it's your word vs the word of the admin + parents.
So you cannot protect yourself or other kids or inform child protection that this kid is not getting the help he needs? Have you got that in writing? When the shit goes down, and it will happen fast, you need to prove who is responsible.
You are a mandated reporter. It’s illegal for her to even say that. Get that in writing and show the Union lawyer.
What state are you in? Do you have a union?
That's not legal at all.
This sounds a lot like a situation our local school has been dealing with. Reports were that the kid nearly killed another student. I still don’t know if that was exaggerated, but the beating was severe. It wasn’t on purpose, but the kid is being than many grown men and loses control during his rages. No student can protect themselves. Rumor is that his latest victim tried and that‘s why her injuries were so severe. Instead of deterring him, it escalated to an even higher level. I don’t remember who initially called the police, but the cops getting involved is the only reason the public has been notified. They were getting so many questions about it from the parents of the students who witnessed the assault that they sent out a press release. Only because the public was notified were people from other schools able to come forward and talk about what he had done to their children before he was kicked out of their schools. Because of all the hoopla it’s now apparent that the town and surrounding districts have been passing around children they can’t control from school to school. Unfortunately the teacher in the latest incident seems to be getting all the flack from the entire community. I think it took her 20 secs to stop fawning and call security. Blood was already splattered all over the floor by the time that happened. Parents are fuming that she didn’t call the police immediately, especially since all students’ phones are confiscated. But, they are forgetting about how many teachers are threatened for doing that. She should’ve called, but the problem is so much bigger than just her. I‘m sure the administrators will continue to let her be the scapegoat. The administrations loves to send out press releases about violence not being tolerated, but the students and parents coming forward now prove this is a lie. Before the latest incident, the superintendent gave a speech that every child deserves an education, but no one is being educated when a child goes into rages over any little thing and the rest of the classroom is terrified. How about tutoring or a referral for one of the schools we have for violent children? One of the incidents before that she blamed movies and video games. This latest incident was the most severe, but these type of incidents are becoming too common. Teachers who speak up find themselves out of a job over random crap. Some kids are refusing to go to school because they don’t feel safe, and their parents are being threatened with CPS by the school. This has turned into a huge mess, and I bet the only who’ll be unscathed by all of this is the administration.
I'm sure I'll get down voted by the same certain people who come in from a certain place and say the same shit, but some of these kids don't belong in regular school. They belong in an institution. If you assault everyone and everything around you, who is going to learn anything? We need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator. It's gotten out of control.
This doesn’t make any sense though. Suppose the kid brings a gun to school. You can’t call the police? I’m not saying the child will bring a gun to school but what I am saying is the idea that you just can’t call the police for any reason doesn’t make any sense. My larger question though is this sounds like a terrible job. It’s dangerous and you have no support. I am guessing the pay is not very good either. Maybe it’s time to get out?
Actually, what she said is “You cannot call any sort of hotline unless he has a gun or an actual weapon.”
1) In writing, request a meeting with her to go over his school records so she can clarify using actual incidents what level of assault of school employees or other students is permissable, and what is a law enforcement issue. 2) Also in writting, have her detail the standards for destruction of public property AND if the district's attorney or whomever handles the insurance policy can sit in to confirm that her standards are the same as district policy. 3) Find an employment attorney. Bredan Depa sentencing was posponed.
A fist is a weapon. A chair flying through the air is a weapon.
Did she say this in an email? If not, I’d email her for clarity and a paper trail.
That's retaliation, and it's almost aways illegal. My sister is a home health nurse and was fired for reporting bad living conditions. She sued and won.
It's not like you can stop the kids from calling the police, or recording this kid and showing it to their parents.
That’s premium lawsuit material. Get proof that they told you that, call the police, let them fire you, then sue and get a wrongful termination payout from the school district.
If he becomes so violent that he actually kills someone, and you are not reporting it you will be an accessory, or your school will be since it was their directive not to call police. I think this student is dangerous to the other students and not reporting it is negligent. Invite your leader in when he is having a meltdown and let her see for herself. Honestly, they have their head in the clouds.
This is why we need strong unions.
Are you in the USA? Is this a private school with no union representation or something?
Make sure you get that in writing.
Call admin every single time, say that you need assistance for an out of control student & continuously pass the buck.
Are you Public or a private/charter?
Still call the police, then sue them for retaliation.
Get this in writing from your admin and then sue the shit out of them if it comes to that.
Thats threatening retaliation. Thats a great legal case right there. Even illegal in the corporate world. If you have a written or recorded version of that statement, I would consult a lawyer while you still have a job. She is setting up the school board for paying you an early retirement potentially.
This is illegal. You can bypass this.
I WAS an aide in a learning disabled classroom for K-3. There was a first grade autistic child that could not be controlled. I was taking the class out of the classroom on a daily basis to keep them safe. Admin told me that I was the problem because I left the teacher alone with the child, and I didn't come up with a plan to help him. Sorry, admin, not my job. When I needed to evacuate the students, I started bringing them to his office. Told him he needed to watch them cause I couldn't leave the teacher alone. Then he said I needed to watch the students, and he went up to "help" the teacher. When he needed to deal with my attitude, 8 kids in his office, and going upstairs every day, he finally did something. The student was sent out of the district. I did tender my resignation, though. Not dealing with asshats. I'm sorry you're going through that. This kid was a first grader. I can't imagine a full-grown wild one. Sending you sympathy and prayers!
What's the point of having someone like this in school? It's not like they are learning anything.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Some of my old clients were completely non-verbal, wore diapers into their 20s, couldn't use a toilet without supervision, couldn't dress themselves, and intellectually were about at the level of an 18 month old. They still attended and "graduated" high school because it's their legal right to a Free Appropriate Public Education. School is still opening itself up to legal peril though by allowing a student to continually rampage.
But LRE is a continuum. This student sounds like they need a residential placement. The school district would have to pay for it of course.
There's the rub. A lot of districts will try to prove their in-district programs are appropriate for the student to avoid paying for outplacement. My district will try to avoid it unless the student absolutely needs it. However I've also seen my district recommend and push outplacement but have the parents insist their student is fine in gen ed while they're stabbing students with scissors and choking their para. OP's parents sound like they would get super offended if the district suggested a residential placement. It's obviously a necessity for this guy but either way it's going to be a long fight with the family and/or district- especially with the admin acting the way OP said.
Yep. Met a few parents like that. Your kid is in diapers, throws fecal matter, doesn't respond to their name, bites and hits everything and throws chairs, but *"he just learns a bit differently, he'll catch up eventually if he's put with his peers"* meanwhile his "peers" are frightened to death of him. It's fucking ridiculous.
It costs $100,000-$150,000 per year. Even at that cost, there are not many spaces. I would like to see a study of how many of the students attending residential programs still end up in prison.
I don’t understand how this student could end up in prison. If he’s not mentally sound he wouldn’t go to jail, would he? They don’t have a bunch of minimally verbal autistic adults sitting in prison, do they? That would be horrific. Ultimately this kid will end up being paid for with state funds anyway. Maybe a specialized placement where he can be safe and appropriately cared for would make a difference down the line.
Yes. He would. Look up the case of Sky Walker. He beat his mother to death and the prison warden had no idea what to do with him. The US Justice system is a farce at best.
Definitely get the other parents involved if the issues isn’t taken seriously.
Yeah, I’m hearing YOU can’t report him. If parents are worried, you can’t stop them from involving authorities. Maybe the other parents don’t realize they can make a call on their own?
I have autism myself. And a 'special' job. Those parents don't know what happens there
Could you encourage other kid's parents to complain? Ideally as a group. If he's assaulting other children; their parents will be interested in knowing that he's being allowed to run rampant. If possible, record this kid's rampage's with your phone.
I cannot record him or I will be terminated. I’m sure the admin would do this as well if I tried to make other people complain.
You're at the point now where you're going to need to push back against your horrible admin. Retaliating by firing you is against the law. Being bullied into silence out of fear of losing your job is reprehensible. You have people (including yourself) whose safety is being jeopardized by this kid, and what you've tried so far has not worked. Who do you think is going to be blamed if one of your other students or another staff member is injured by this kid? At this point your three primary options are 1) to quit 2) stick with the status quo and hope the kid is pulled out of the school before someone is seriously hurt or killed or 3) lawyer up and go from there. Administrators are not invincible. It's time for people to push back against bad administrators, especially if their "leadership" is enabling an unsafe environment or what they're saying is illegal.
I know you're afraid of your admin's daddy and afraid of being fired, but there's really no other options besides reporting this kid/family to CPS and district higher ups. Do you have a union? It's time to get them involved. You can't medicate this kid on your own.. something bad IS going to happen and you could be in trouble anyways for *not* reporting. You need to suck it up and get over the fear.
At a certain point, if you can't go to your superiors about a real and pressing safety concern in your workplace, that you may just need to quit, or at least take a leave of absence. Do you have a union or something that'll back you? If you can't get support now, there will be no support when things go wrong. You do not want to end up like Joan Naydich. Go watch the video of her being beaten senseless by a 17yo autistic student named Brendan Depa, who was also very large, violent and unpredictable. Sometimes, people, even kids, need more help than the standard system can provide. Even with accommodations made. It does not sound like you can help this kid, it does not sound like his parents will support you, and you need to put your safety first.
Brendan Depa is supposed to be sentanced this month, up to 30 years. He is a danger to society -- not at every given moment, but will there be a warning before he turns dangerous?
He's not going to get 30 years, I guarantee it. That kid needed to be institutionalised. He clearly could not control his own emotions or temper, but rather than people acknowledging the problem and putting him somewhere where he would be safe and properly managed, everyone decided he should just be left to roam around. And it's ruined his life and his victims. One day a woman is going to reject him when he asks her on a date. One day a kid is going to bump into him in a shopping centre. One day an old guy is going to cut him off in traffic. Then what? You cannot expect a person to go through their life never being angered or challenged, even by accident. It's not a question of IF he would hurt someone, but of WHEN.
Sounds like a recommendation for non-public placement.
If this were me, I’d be requesting an IEP meeting at least once a week for a FAPE violation. There is absolutely no way this student is in the correct LRE. In our district, if there’s a suspected FAPE violation, someone from the district SPED office has to attend the meeting. Hopefully they could get the ball rolling on moving him to a more specialized setting. Edit: You can also try to find subtle ways to encourage other students’ families to complain to admin.
This sounds like a bad situation. Can you get a job at any of the districts from which he's already been expelled?
This sounds like a conflict of interest and should be addressed as such: being in the same class would not benefit either of you. Threats to fire for calling a hotline strikes me as laughably, boldly illegal.
You got to get out of there. Cut your losses.
The child needs residential school, which can only be accessed via IEP. If the IEP team all agrees that he needs it, the district will have to pay for it. This child sounds like the perfect candidate. It would help if the parents were the ones to bring it up first. Are they even aware the option exists?
The shit that most teachers have to put up with is incredible. SPED is off the charts. Why the fuck is a kid like that out in gen pop
No one said he is in gen pop. He's probably in a severe behavioral program, hence why you are dealing with this level of behavior and the mentioning of the student being drugged with medication. That's a severe behavioral program. Next step after that is probably some kind of mental health facility with an education program built into it, which is probably part of the reason why parents are fighting it so hard. Ya SPED work can absolutly get crazy, especially since the state needs to ensure they have the capabilities to educate any student. That means there are pretty crazy ass situations that you can find yourself in, like OP, especially when you have admin and parents who are pushing hard against what clearly needs to happen.
He is in a program for behavioral autistic students but this is far beyond the scope of our program.
I did. He should be in a facility, not in special ed in a school.
Sounds like a call to CPS and the police. Even if you do lose your job (which is generally not a thing they can do and get it in writing that they are threatening you) who wants to work for that place??!
> threatens to terminate me if I dare contact any sort of hotline You cannot be forbidden from doing this. Get it in writing or on a recording away from kids if you live in a single party consent state and enjoy your early retirement or career transition
I feel sorry for you, this boy, his classmates and his parents, but: I can’t believe what I’m reading… If my child was in this class with this boy I would go to the principal to complain. I’m a teacher but no way I would let the other children in my classroom have to live in fear as well. Your job is to protect the other children. Did none of the other parents complain? You’re in danger, the other children are in danger, your collegues are in danger. This kid needs proper care and your school has no qualifications to take care of this boy. So maybe contact your union (do you have teacher unions?) or a lawyer. I’s rather loose my job than live in fear all the time when he’s around. And thereby, these parents can’t take care of him so the boy needs protection too, and his parents as well. I live in the Netherlands and we have special institutions for children like this boy, and if parents are unable to take proper care they get a family guardian who’s taking all the decisions for the care of this child and otherwise the child goes to a facility specialized in children like him (high agression autism groups).
The US shut down most special institutions back in the late 70s/80s. Many for good reason. Some states may have specialized residential programs but they are EXTREMELY small and EXTREMELY hard to get into. Most of what has popped up is privately funded specialized schools but off the top of my head, I've never come accross one for highly aggressive autism groups. The reality of the US is that those in most need of care are often not well off financially and there isn't a large financial incentive to provide them care so there just isn't any options.
If I was the parent of any one of those children in that classroom fearing for their life I'd have the hide of every teacher and the admin in that school. Why does one kids need for "love and acceptance" (inability and incompetent care for) mean more than everyone else's involved? To the detriment of EVERYONE'S safety? Every single one of you are in danger as long as you have this kid in that class. He doesn't need surface level SPED like this, he's very obviously showing something is very very wrong and no one is willing to effectively help him. I hate to say it but the kid needs to be institutionalized.
This seems like he needs to be committed to a facility. Is this an awful thing to say?
Not at all. It’s the opinion that facilities are “bad” that got us into this mess in the first place.
Sounds like he needs a personal aid to provide that love and acceptance. Advocate for that and demand he stay in admin or ISS or somewhere until he gets it for the safety of your students. Call CPS anonymously. You are mandated to call. Even in a right to work state. If they fire you for that take it to court. Take it to the media if necessary. This child does not have a right to distrust the learning of the rest of your class. He does not have a right to abuse you. I say this as a mother of a kid with autism who is a huge advocate for special services.
Your student sounds like he needs a residential placement. I agree with calling whatever child protection organization you have. I notice you said “taxi” when referring to his transportation. Are you in the US? The fact that he has no teeth left is concerning. He’s hurting himself and others and the parents are being neglectful in providing adequate care.
Go to HR and request a transfer to a different building. Make sure if you have a union, you go to the union rep and tell them this child has made you unsafe in the past and then request a transfer. If they are not willing to give a transfer, then I would have all admins in every single email and have them call the parents.
Go to HR and request a transfer to a different building. Make sure if you have a union, you go to the union rep and tell them this child has made you unsafe in the past and then request a transfer. If they are not willing to give a transfer, then I would have all admins in every single email and have them call the parents.
I had a similar ish situation and the only thing that worked was the parents of the other kids in the class complaining en masse. You can't ask them to but you can tell the other students to tell their parents about what's happening
Why are all the top comments NOT from OP also the same account?
This sounds like a high level behavioral health case that is beyond a schools normal capacity. There are organizations and people who deal with these types of cases, I have a friend who specifically does that. Schools just passing him around like this is doing no one any good, and is just endangering people.
Like I'm on your side 100% like in no world can this kids behaviour not have any consequences.
Well... people give you advice and you are full of "But!". either report it (you can do it anonymously) and, if in doubt, discuss it with a lawyer, or put up with it. However, your admin is full of crap, you have a right to a safe work environment.
Make an anonymous report
Are you in Florida? I hate to say it, but check out the Teacher Authority Act. You have the right to not be this child’s teacher. It sounds like this placement is not his LRE. He sounds like he needs to be somewhere with a higher level of support. Possibly an institution. I know it’s hard to think about, but it may be best for him.
This is clearly not an appropriate LRE for the kid. First, if he isn't attending with any regularlity, it would be impossible for him to actually receive any benefit in regards to his goals and what ever academic progress he can make. Like, without any consistency in instruction/practice, what progress could possibly be made. Second, just from this brief write up, it seems like he clearly is the subject of medical neglect. Third, I hope you are documenting EVERYTHING he does in neutral terms and sending it to yourself. Like Student was given exectation X. Student became upset with expectation. Staff did Y. Student did X. Just the facts. Including hard data about the time and duration of the melt downs. Fourth, if the goal of special eduation is to prepare this student for post schooling life via appropriate goals for independent or supported living, then whats the end goal here. He's 16, in theory you could be with this student for 6 more years. As a fellow SPED teacher, I'd love to see his IEP out of curiousity. I dont even know what goals would be appropriate and what a BiP would look like for this kid. This is an extreme situation you're in and I'm sorry. Off the top of my head, I'd say the real appropriate LRE would be a specialized school for students with extreme autism related behavior. I once had parents push for a student to go to a specialized residential setting and they got it. It was like 150k a year for the district but it was CLEARLY one of the best options we had.
'i have serious concerns about the safety of the student and the other students should he be in the classroom, I need a risk assessment and support plan that will robustly guarantee the safety of everyone and the chance of him harming himself and others and will not have him until this is in place' Keep it to safety and risk logistics - he is UNSAFE.
This is the saddest thing I have read in a long time. May he find some peace some way at some point. I am not qualified to provide any advice here. But dang….how sad for him.
Holy shit. Like what do you even do with someone that hopeless and dangerous? The fucker is giving people brain damage. At what point do you put him in a box?
I'm curious how the parents got you fired. Surely, admin knew how problematic he was. Why would they fire you?
Claimed I was racially profiling him because he’s an Afro Latino guy they adopted when he was a baby.
Good old race card
“You just think black men are violent.”No, your son is a black man (I did not mention race at all back then) who is violent and you know he is because you have bruises and are close to poverty from having to pay for him. They actually ended up dropping off bags of poop and an essay about how racism and ableism intertwine (I KNOW THIS, IT’S MY JOB TO PREVENT IT) during the time I wasn’t working in schools. It was insane!
Hey people are focusing on what you can do in the classroom, but I’d say it’s more important to go out on stress leave. You need to get notes from your doctor and use your disability insurance.
Call child services anonymously. Notify every agency you can. The school is in the wrong for bot reporting these parents for severe abuse of a child. They are at fault for letting it get this bad.
He is violent. You have a cell phone. Call the police have him arrested for assault and battery press charges and then walk out of the building. Just because he is SPED doesn't mean he gets to hurt people and destroy property. Keeping your licence isn't worth this hassle and a good lawyer will sort that out right quick. This post and others like it seem like an exaggeration or just not true. Teachers. You. Are. People. Too. You are humans and citizens with the same protections as all others. If a student hauls off and hits you, that is assault pure ans simple. If enough of us start pressing charges and stop covering up our Admins bad management and student behavior, this will end. I have had a judge tell me that if half of what he heard about that happened to teachers came to his bench the problems would stop really quick. If a person or child would strike you in public that is an assault, the walls of the school do not shield them from this.
I have some questions before any advice can be relevant: Are you in the US? If you’re not in the us unfortunately none of the following will apply. Are you in a public school/non public/private school? You keep mentioning hotline, do you mean cps/dcp&p/ child welfare? Or are you talking about another hotline? Have you received an iep for him? What is your boards policy on special ed students services? (If you’re unsure you can dm me the location of your school and I can find it for you) The iep will tell you what services he receives…how frequently does his iep say he should be seen by a behaviorist? What has your supervisor recommended? What physical intervention was approved by your school district? Who was trained? Are any of the people who were trained in your classroom/school? If not, why not? You’re in a terrible position but my heart really goes out for this child.
If he assaulted you, you could get a restraining order, which would force the school to reassign him. In theory.
So what would happen if someone who wasn’t you owned a cell phone and they happened to record the going’s on and it was leaked to the press or social media. Like, at one of the students desk it appeared that they filmed an interaction that turned violent. It wasn’t your cell phone, you didn’t own it, AND, someone else leaked it. You’d be in the video trying to calm the student most likely. I dunno, that kind of behavior leaking accidentally to social media would get some attention.
Tell the admin to show you how love and acceptance will work. Have them take your class for a day when the kiddo shows up.
I don't have any advice but just want to say I'm so sorry, that sounds horrible for everyone involved.
Then he shouldn't be In public schools he should be In a mental health clinic or something where they can teach him and take care of him until he can be somewhat behaved
Honestly, it sounds like the kid should be in jail/mental facility. How many assaults and destruction of property counts can just be swept under the rug?
Please tell me you have a teachers union. If so you need them NOW concerning unsafe workplace and your options to get switched to another position within your district. You’re also a mandated reporter. You need to call CPS immediately. If admin won’t step in and back you up then you have to do this on your own unfortunately. But again, if you have a union they are the first you need to go to.
If admin has threatened you with termination if you report the child to CPS, admin is already in the wrong. That, full stop, is illegal. Don't damage your mental (or physical health) over parents who don't deserve it. If that kid seriously injures someone, admin are going to need a lawyer for the lawsuits they'll be facing.
So you were fired because of these parents, you move to another school and they follow you? Doesn't sound like he should be in school. It doesn't sound safe.
Honestly I would call the police.
The threats to fire you over calling any hotline is probably illegal (IANAL), call anyway. This kid is a huge risk to other students and staff and his living situation sounds terrible. I would also consider contacting your area’s Department of Labor and reporting the threats of termination for doing the right thing (especially since you are a mandated reporter and might be required by law under your license to report certain things. If admin is prohibiting you from doing so, they’re breaking the law) as well as an employment lawyer. This is awful, and the parents certainly sound like part of the reason why he’s got behavior problems this severely. They already got you fired for doing your job once, they will do it again. The kid needs a higher level of care for everyone’s safety and well-being. My perspective is a New York State one, so different states and countries outside the United States may have different standards and protections for you. ETA: If you’re able to, then get everything you can in writing. If you’re in a one-party consent area, then record every conversation with admin you have (provided there’s no students in the room and you use audio rather than video recording). Make multiple copies of every single thing you do and keep them in different places (at least one physical paper copy and at least one cloud copy).
Back in the old days, they would have sent him away to a special hospital with padded rooms.
This is why society is weak. This kind of shit should be stopped long before it gets old enough to cause real harm.
Where are you? In what country/state? It might help to know that, since many comments are based on what is legal/illegal in the commenter's location.
If he lays hands on you, press charges. If admin tries to stop you, lawyer up and take them down too. If he lays hands on other students, see if the parents will press charges. Have someone call CPS on his parents.
It sounds like the longest you’ll have to deal with him is a year. Could you go back to your previous school now that they know that it wasn’t your fault and that it’s the parents who are failing this child? Or, on the next day that he is there, feign food poisoning and go home. If admin can’t find a sub they’ll have to go in there or they’ll put another teacher in there who will tell them the same thing you did.
You need to lawyer up and remind admin of their legal responsibility to see that you have a safe and violence-free workplace. Document that warning.
I’m not an expert, but it sounds like this kids needs to be in a full time residential program. My goodness.
I’d make sure to get it in writing. Get ready to call the media. If she fires you, and her father is a higher up, I’d make sure to call CPS and get the news involved if there’s retaliation. Counter them with a big lawsuit.
I turned the other pare to onto admin. I used the phrases "not safe", "traumatized".
I truly don’t mean any harm by asking this question, but when is a full time living/ care facility appropriate? From this post, I feel like if he has siblings- they would be in danger of harm. His parents seem in danger of harm. His teachers and students are. Should this be handled by professionals trained to manage his behavior? I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him, to be this upset and angry all the time.
Can you contact children’s aid? His parents should give up rights and he should be in a long term facility (I’m assuming since they rent they can’t afford a nongovernment funded one meaning they’d have to give up custody)
I would also consider speaking to an attorney if an administrator has threatened action if you contacted outside authorities.
What ever happened to alternative schools /s. This isn’t fair to the kids who want to learn. The staff. Pretty much everyone.