(Jam 26 - More info on this post of yesterday. I am not sure the proper way to add this in, but I had reason to find this article the day after my original post of Jan 25 below. What should be of interest and concern to all is the timeline of the below articles.- June, 2001
Hillsborough: Principal keeps job despite upset parents)
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Orignial post:
This is an old story, therefore there is no need for anyone to defend it. By now these kids and their parents have moved on and there is little liability to the District at this point. These kids and their parents are probably known as troublemakers. The employees at their new schools have probably been told to be careful with them.
Kingswood is near to my heart because that is where my troubles first started in 1990. My son had left the safe haven of Willis Peters school because he was far advanced over the other deaf/blind kids. Little did I know what I was getting into. I will always remember the Principal making sure I understood that my son would be paddled just like everyone else if he misbehaved. I will always remember the day the teacher told me that the reason the dittos were of poor visual quality was because they didn't have any ink for the copier. I left the school and went and purchased two cartridges and brought them back to her, because my son's vision was impaired and he needed every break he could get. That was way back in the day before I knew I was a malcontent and that those things were isolated events and that I had a broad brush to attack with.
That year there were countless meetings, to no avail. I was a slow learner. Actually, I trusted too much.
Hillsborough: Parents denounce teacher's behavior: May, 2001
"Sometimes the Kingswood Elementary preschool teacher would put misbehaving children in the bathroom, shut the door and keep it closed with her foot as a form of time out. Sometimes, according to two aides, teacher Heidi Clarizio would turn out the light, which would cause the children to scream and cry.
But it wasn't until she tossed a chair across the room in February, barely missing a child's head, that the aides took their concerns to administrators."
"Dalton, the aide, said Clarizio had been locking children in the bathroom, yelling at them and picking them up by their arms since August. The aides said they decided to report it in February because Clarizio's temper was escalating.
District officials said the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office investigated but decided no criminal charges should be filed."
and here:
Hillsborough: Sheriff will reopen case of teacher's classroom actions May 2001
"Maxwell said the parents could have been told in February that there were accusations, but the details would have had to remain confidential. When the case was closed and turned over to the state in April, he said, a full accounting could have been given to parents.
"I don't know where the breakdown came in there," he said."
Telling the parents in August would have been way too early. Let the kids develop some real aversions to school first so that they would be certifiably nut cases along with their parents, I say with dripping sarcasim.
Can you imagine how much influence there was on the aides to hold all of that information in from August to February. What they must have gone through being afraid to speak out until the chair was thrown. How scared or intimidated those aides must have been to go to school for fear of what they might see happen to those brave kids. How those aides must have cursed those parents for not training those kids before sending them off to be in a special education program at the local public education agency. Those aides probably don't have a job now.
I don't mean to be so hateful and ugly, but some of the public comments found below over on The Gradebook found hereA weekend interview with ... were full of misinformation, anger and ugliness and it had an effect on me:
".....Maybe your kid is psycho and that's why he was stuck in the hall. I doubt your kid became psycho because he was in the hall. Oh, yeah, I'm sure the teacher picked a kid at random and said, "Let's isolate this kid so he goes bananas."
Posted by: Cart before the horse | January 24, 2009 at 05:22 PM
Wow, this woman is a complete moron.
Posted by: | January 24, 2009 at 06:02 PM
It is clear that this mom has never been at the other end. What else are you suppose to do when a child is flipping out, throwing chairs, and endangering the safety of other students. I am sure the parents of other children who get hurt because of these type of children are grateful for this type of procedure.
Posted by: | January 24, 2009 at 06:42 PM "
and here
"....Maybe the bruises, etc. are caused by the child. You would never think of that, though, because most of you are a bunch of whiners who want to take advantage of the fact that you have a child with special needs to find a reason to sue someone. When you find that reason, you can get up on your soapbox, look like a hero, and have a fat bank account. Please, do us all a favor and get a life. I don't doubt it's difficult raising a special needs child, but to get paid barely enough to scrape by to listen to several of them scream at you all day long is SURELY no picnic. So, why don't each of you spend an entire year in charge of an autistic class of children. Then and only then can you criticize someone who cares enough to put up with your kids all day. Ever heard of catching more flies with honey than with vinegar? Your poor attitude and overly aggressive way of approaching problems with school personnel do not win you any favors. Teachers are humans too and if I want my child to be treated with respect by other adults, I should respect those adults and not treat them in a subhuman manner. To sum it up, you all look like a bunch of psychos with your crazy rants about your children. Get it together and you might have better results!
Posted by: open your eyes! | January 25, 2009 at 04:19 PM
Posts
6 comments:
I couldn't even watch the entire Nancy Grace video, it disturbed me so much.
My heart breaks for the helpless students, and aches for the parents who try to do the very best that they can for their special needs children. The ignorance of some who have never had to walk a mile in their shoes is appalling.
Another way to look at it is that heart doctors don't have to have a heart attack to know how to help a heart attack victim.
How many heart attack victims have to bring in best practice material to give to their doctor?
Am I missing something? This was 7 years ago.
Yes, Thomas, you are missing something.
I use this space as an emotional catharsis for some of the emotions I have about my past dealings with some of the people and the system of HCPS.
You would have to read all of my posts to get a better idea of why I write the way I write. An isolated post by itself does not a picture make. This particular post was generated by the post and the public comments that I quoted from The Gradebook, which I wrote about after the headline grabbing links.
I have had similar discussions with others that work for the system when they personalize what I say about the system. If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.
I have repeatedly hackneyed (can I be more reduntantly repetitive) my feelings about the arrogance and ignorance of the system when it comes to special education issues.
There are many people who work within the system who do not understand nor believe that "bad things" happen within the system, and they denouce bad stories as "isolated incidents" and blame parents in various ways for spreading "misinformation, anger and ugliness".
I had heard about this story back when it happened but had forgotten it. I just found this story because someone flagged it for me, unknown to them.
If you read my posts carefully and piece them together, like dots to make a picture, you will see that generally there is a connection, which is why I write it.
One of the many things I write about is the hypcrosy of the system, which in itself is not a difficult task as life is full of it. The art comes in making the connections.
One selfish reason I chose this article was to have one more piece of evidence to bash the system. Plus the fact that I personalized some of the public comments that I quoted from The Gradebook link.
A more noble reason for choosing this article was to draw attention to the timeline of the story and the timeline of Mr. Kemp.
The timeline and dispostion of this particular case is something I am used to. Most of these cases that I am familar with follow a similar pattern. The parent knows nothing of the incident until way later, if ever. The District dismisses the concern for a myriad of different reasons. The law enforcement agency finds no evidence. The case is basically shielded from the public and kept isolated as possible unless or until the parents go wild and raise it to the level of media attention, an act that all know is seen as suspect by avid supporters of the District. The fact that a parent goes nuts when they start getting an idea that bad things happened and were kept secret seems to be abnormal behavior, for some reason.
I have posted many of these types of cases since I started blogging. Back to my point. Compare the sequence of events of Mr. Kemp and how his case took a more aggressive action by the District.
The law enforcement originally assessed there was no cause for further action. Somehow this "normal" course of events changed. Why? Why him? I have said before, Mr. Kemp's situation does not fit the usual template.
I am sensitive to the fact that those who work for the system are sensitive to criticism of the system. I tried to bring attention to the fact that this was "old news" in the opening statement of my original post when I said - "This is an old story, therefore there is no need for anyone to defend it."
I even tried to help ease the tension that I was "digging up bones" by saying that there was probably little liability to the District and how the District probably has minimized the kids and parents. All of this is said with sarcasm and mocking of the system.
I spent many years with good faith thinking I could help the system help themselves. I spent a lot of my time and money because I thought I was helping kids, parents, teachers and administrators. I know I did in some ways, but I also learned that as far as the real intents and purposes of "the system", I was irrelevant. I was made clear to me in many different ways.
I have read many of your comments and I think you understand what you are up against. I'm not up against anything, because, again, I am irrelevant.
But it makes me feel better to connect the dots.
Ouch- I apologize for the previous misspellings.
I hate when that happens.
BTW, I just learned a new phrase for "knee jerk reaction":
"mimetic isomorphism"
Sherman Dorn
I just have 1 question. Was Thomas Vaughan an ass his whole life or just the past few years?
What is this guys problem?
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