FC/OT: Anyone with kids in Bucks Co. schools?

[Midnighter]

My lovely, kind, smart, high-achieving, and adorable nieces all attend Bucks Co. schools (they're in 6th and 4th grades). They live in a wonderful area but I hear nothing but horror stories about the superintendent and his reluctance to punish kids who misbehave. For example, the other day three older boys were acting up on the bus and the bus driver turned the bus around and returned to the school. From there she was greeted by a parent who wanted to retrieve their kid but was told no, and that the school had to account for all kids before releasing them (to protect the driver). So, I'm told the driver was punished for bringing them back, but nothing happened to the boys. I also hear about 'group punishments' (like no recess, etc.) for the class when one kid misbehaves. What is the f'n deal? These are the sweetest kids and they hate going to school because of this.

This isn't the guy who resigned last year with an $800,000.00 severance package either....

Central Bucks School District board approves superintendent's $700K severance package

Dr. Abram Lucabaugh, who resigned as superintendent of the Central Bucks School District, will receive a $700,000 severance package after the school board voted to approve it on Tuesday night.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Obliviax]

I do not but if you polled the reason why people send their kids to private schools this would be #1. Public schools have a lot of liability in terms of answering to every parent of every child in their districts. As such, they avoid conflict like the plague. Every teacher I know, love or hate their jobs, complains about how their hands are tied when kids act out or misbehave.

Private schools tell you to reign in your kid or you are out. They'd rather lose the revenue from one kid than the five that leave as a result of that kid's awful behavior.

The downside is, of course, the cost but probably more importantly, the lack of learned skills on how to deal with these kinds of problems from classmates or co-workers.

 

[PSU Mike]

Were you engaged with the thread, probably in December, that went down the path of how it’s wrong to say anything to a child that is not your own? The reason I’m asking is I had a stance that was counter to most. And in your post there seems to be some weird signals and incentives in place. I personally feel we as a society need to be more self-policing. The group punishment seems to go there, but imposing it on kids when many of their parents likely exhibit bad behavior creates a weird dynamic.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

I deal with kids everyday. It’s not that hard.

 

[LionJim]

I deal with kids everyday. It’s not that hard.

I admire you for what you do and for your saying this, but there's a weird power dynamic in schools that becomes toxic with alarming frequency and intensity. I thank God every day that my kids are >28.

 

[step.eng69]

I admire you for what you do and for your saying this, but there's a weird power dynamic in schools that becomes toxic with alarming frequency and intensity. I thank God every day that my kids are >28.

Yep LJ, My two children will be 54 & 56 this summer. They both help their mother keep me in line.

 

[MrTailgate]

Yep LJ, My two children will be 54 & 56 this summer. They both help their mother keep me in line.

Those kids have it easy. Imagine @BobPSU92 and his kids needing to keep him in check.

 

[LionJim]

Those kids have it easy. Imagine @BobPSU92 and his kids needing to keep him in check.

The mind reels.

 

[Midnighter]

Were you engaged with the thread, probably in December, that went down the path of how it’s wrong to say anything to a child that is not your own? The reason I’m asking is I had a stance that was counter to most. And in your post there seems to be some weird signals and incentives in place. I personally feel we as a society need to be more self-policing. The group punishment seems to go there, but imposing it on kids when many of their parents likely exhibit bad behavior creates a weird dynamic.

Yeah, but different circumstances - that was in a public setting with an autistic child; this is at school where employees/teachers should have agency to ‘discipline’ poor behavior. Group punishment for 6th and 4th graders is the wrong answer - maybe once they’re in high school….

 

[Bison13]

I work in a public school system this is why most people are leaving, and there is no discipline for the majority of children andd especially no discipline for certain groups of children. I’ll save my political diatribe for somewhere else, but let’s just say that the policies brought forth by the party who claims to be pro education are actually hurting the majority of children in schools.

 

[Keyser Soze 16802]

When there is systemic failure, it is usually accompanied by a lack of accountability

 

[Midnighter]

I work in a public school system unless this is why most people are leaving, and there is no discipline for the majority of children andd especially no discipline for certain groups of children. I’ll save my political diatribe for somewhere else, but let’s just say that the policies brought forth by the party who claims to be pro education are actually hurting the majority of children in schools.

This is a school in an affluent area and likely the best ‘pyramid’ in the county. Yes, that is code. So - what gives?

 

[Connorpozlee]

Were you engaged with the thread, probably in December, that went down the path of how it’s wrong to say anything to a child that is not your own? The reason I’m asking is I had a stance that was counter to most. And in your post there seems to be some weird signals and incentives in place. I personally feel we as a society need to be more self-policing. The group punishment seems to go there, but imposing it on kids when many of their parents likely exhibit bad behavior creates a weird dynamic.

The thread in December was about a guy saying something to a kid with autism who startled him while he was reading a newspaper and enjoying a drink at a Starbucks. That poster (bob, right?) had no connection to that kid. At schools, employees have the responsibility to act in the best interest of each child (in loco parentis, I think). Entirely different situations to me.

 

[Connorpozlee]

I work in a public school system unless this is why most people are leaving, and there is no discipline for the majority of children andd especially no discipline for certain groups of children. I’ll save my political diatribe for somewhere else, but let’s just say that the policies brought forth by the party who claims to be pro education are actually hurting the majority of children in schools.

I will say this. At the school I work at we had 5 or 6 (depending upon how you choose to categorize one of them) student support staff members last year. We cut our discipline referrals in more than half, had no fights, and no children needing to be placed in holds. This year, two were cut out of that group and it has been an entirely different story. Last year we were much more capable of stopping things before they happened. This year we are spending a ton of time responding to things that have happened. It’s all a matter of where you want to put your money.

 

[PSU Mike]

Where I was going was twofold: (1) group punishments would seem to promote self-policing at a young age, and (2) the driver may have had an internal conflict between what policy a. said (just drive the kids home safely) and what policy b. said (you can’t discipline or even overly correct the kids). Maybe they felt unsafe and returned the kids to the place where discipline/correction was allowed/expected.

 

[Nittany1865Farmer]

Where I was going was twofold: (1) group punishments would seem to promote self-policing at a young age, and (2) the driver may have had an internal conflict between what policy a. said (just drive the kids home safely) and what policy b. said (you can’t discipline or even overly correct the kids). Maybe they felt unsafe and returned the kids to the place where discipline/correction was allowed/expected.

I would agree with this. Driver did not want to face the possibility of liability and thus, go back to the school where there would be a). witnesses besides himself if discipline was meted out, and b). he might not be able to discipline students because the school employee handbook says that is the job of the administration or designated individuals.

 

[1995PSUGrad]

My lovely, kind, smart, high-achieving, and adorable nieces all attend Bucks Co. schools (they're in 6th and 4th grades). They live in a wonderful area but I hear nothing but horror stories about the superintendent and his reluctance to punish kids who misbehave. For example, the other day three older boys were acting up on the bus and the bus driver turned the bus around and returned to the school. From there she was greeted by a parent who wanted to retrieve their kid but was told no, and that the school had to account for all kids before releasing them (to protect the driver). So, I'm told the driver was punished for bringing them back, but nothing happened to the boys. I also hear about 'group punishments' (like no recess, etc.) for the class when one kid misbehaves. What is the f'n deal? These are the sweetest kids and they hate going to school because of this.

This isn't the guy who resigned last year with an $800,000.00 severance package either....

Central Bucks School District board approves superintendent's $700K severance package

Dr. Abram Lucabaugh, who resigned as superintendent of the Central Bucks School District, will receive a $700,000 severance package after the school board voted to approve it on Tuesday night.

www.cbsnews.com

As someone who has worked in education for almost 30 years now, I would say that what you hear isn't all true and isn't close to the whole story.

 

[1995PSUGrad]

I would agree with this. Driver did not want to face the possibility of liability and thus, go back to the school where there would be a). witnesses besides himself if discipline was meted out, and b). he might not be able to discipline students because the school employee handbook says that is the job of the administration or designated individuals.

I assume that the driver was doing what he was told to do and/or following policy. There are a lot of policies out there that parents don't like and don't really understand because they try to apply the logic of the policy to their child and not to the school or the system as a whole.

I once got into a disagreement with a veteran principal who said that he wanted to make each parent feel like their child was the most important child at the school. I told him that I want parents to understand their child is not the only child at the school. He never accepted my idea and I surely don't accept his.

 

[Bwifan]

My lovely, kind, smart, high-achieving, and adorable nieces all attend Bucks Co. schools (they're in 6th and 4th grades). They live in a wonderful area but I hear nothing but horror stories about the superintendent and his reluctance to punish kids who misbehave. For example, the other day three older boys were acting up on the bus and the bus driver turned the bus around and returned to the school. From there she was greeted by a parent who wanted to retrieve their kid but was told no, and that the school had to account for all kids before releasing them (to protect the driver). So, I'm told the driver was punished for bringing them back, but nothing happened to the boys. I also hear about 'group punishments' (like no recess, etc.) for the class when one kid misbehaves. What is the f'n deal? These are the sweetest kids and they hate going to school because of this.

This isn't the guy who resigned last year with an $800,000.00 severance package either....

Central Bucks School District board approves superintendent's $700K severance package

Dr. Abram Lucabaugh, who resigned as superintendent of the Central Bucks School District, will receive a $700,000 severance package after the school board voted to approve it on Tuesday night.

www.cbsnews.com

As someone who was born and raised in central bucks (graduated from the central bucks school system) its very concerning what is going on there, leaving the politics out of it. I have family members who are teachers there and they are beyond frustrated with where public education is going and many family and friends that are great teachers are looking to retire in the next few years. They have issues with what is going on and are tired of fighting the system. It's the school districts loss that many are retiring and so many who would be great teachers are looking at all this going I don't want to step into this mess.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

As someone who was born and raised in central bucks (graduated from the central bucks school system) its very concerning what is going on there, leaving the politics out of it. I have family members who are teachers there and they are beyond frustrated with where public education is going and many family and friends that are great teachers are looking to retire in the next few years. They have issues with what is going on and are tired of fighting the system. It's the school districts loss that many are retiring and so many who would be great teachers are looking at all this going I don't want to step into this mess.

You couldn’t pay me to be a teacher but I’d coach football and lax for free.

 

[LB99]

I will say this. At the school I work at we had 5 or 6 (depending upon how you choose to categorize one of them) student support staff members last year. We cut our discipline referrals in more than half, had no fights, and no children needing to be placed in holds. This year, two were cut out of that group and it has been an entirely different story. Last year we were much more capable of stopping things before they happened. This year we are spending a ton of time responding to things that have happened. It’s all a matter of where you want to put your money.

Which brings us back to the original post and the outgoing Superintendent getting a $700,000+ severance package by the lame duck school board that rammed it through on their last meeting before their departure. This was all despite backlash from the community. It was shady as hell. Imagine how many support staff they could have employed for $700,000? Or other staff since the district was short on teachers also. What that school board did was criminal and it was all political.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

Which brings us back to the original post and the outgoing Superintendent getting a $700,000+ severance package by the lame duck school board that rammed it through on their last meeting before their departure. This was all despite backlash from the community. It was shady as hell. Imagine how many support staff they could have employed for $700,000? Or other staff since the district was short on teachers also. What that school board did was criminal and it was all political.

But now boys in girls rooms will be the norm so there’s that.