We've had a bit of a crisis we've been dealing with. This week marked 6 weeks the kids have been in school. For six weeks without fail, Brody and Gracie have been hurt every single week. Sometimes multiple times per week. At first we were sometimes notified by a note but when we really started asking questions, all communication stopped. This meant I was getting my children off the school bus to find swollen eye that turned black, huge knots on the head, scratches on the face, 17 mosquito bites on one arm, scratches that had been bleeding down the entire leg, etc. Ricky and I went to view the classroom, wrote notes, contacted the principal, spoke to the teacher, etc and week after week they came home hurt. Finally at the beginning of October I was encouraged to find the school handbook online and see what the policy is for when kids are hurt at school. Sure enough, it stated that the school nurse or principal were to contact the parent any time a student is injured at school. With this new information, I wrote a letter to the school and included the paragraph from the handbook. Thursday morning Ricky and I were running some errands and were talking about maybe the school has got a handle on things and the injuries were not going to keep happening. Not even an hour later the school nurse called. She stated she was unsure how the injury occurred but Brody hurt his chin and neck. It was the final straw. This is 6 weeks of injuries. Brody and Gracie are 2 of only 4 students in their class. There is a teacher, a teacher aid, and at any given time a specialist teacher working with whichever student needs that specialized discipline. So that means there are 3 adults to 4 kids but yet my kids are getting really injured every single week at school. Gone was trying to nicely press the issue. Gone was reasoning. Gone was us putting up with the very apparent neglect. I called and left messages for an emergency ARD. I also added that my children would not be attending until an ARD happened and a safety plan was in place. I also called the Director of Special Education for the school district and left a message with her office. The teacher ended up calling me to inform me on Brody's injury and before she got into how it happened, I told her this was excessive, that they would not be back until a safety plan was in place, that I did not like them being with the Pre-K class at all, etc. This BLOWS my mind but she has known all along that changes needed to be made but said NOTHING! She also has known that Pre- K kids have been hurting my two little 3 year olds on the playground but said NOTHING! She also stated she didn't understand certain things in their ARD paperwork. I was so pissed off. I was literally shaking. To find out that she has known all along my kids are in danger and did nothing makes me sick. The more I think about it the more angry I get. There is NO excuse! Right after that, the principal called and had the nerve to state she didn't understand why I was so upset. I asked her if any other student in her school under HER care has been hurt weekly since school started and when she said no, I informed her that was the reason I was so upset. I enlightened her on the entire situation and that I was in contact with people way beyond her. Fast forward to last night, I get a phone call from the Director of Special Education. She was actually really awesome. I told her every single thing that has happened since the kids started. From Brody's lens in his glasses missing and the teacher having no clue when or where and turning out it fell out of the bus that morning but yet she was clueless until he was going home, to both kids getting hurt on faulty equipment a week apart in the classroom that they didn't remove until Brody was hurt much worse than Gracie and I had to say something, to Gracie's swollen eye that turned black, her collar of her shirt being so stretched out it fell off both shoulders, to the huge goose eggs on both their head. I told her we were not being notified, that we tried to speak to the teacher and principal but nothing changed. She knew everything. She also knew there was no negotiating my kids going back to that school until an ARD was called. She understood where I was coming from, apologized, and is launching a full investigation. It should be concluded by next Friday.
I share this to say this: I did not want Brody and Gracie going to PPCD. In fact, I was literally sick about it. I allowed others to talk me into putting them into the program because they would "benefit" so greatly from PPCD. This is the worse thing I've done. I should have listened to myself. I felt those feelings for a reason. Instead I trusted my kids were safe and well taken care of but they were not. In fact, they've been hurt more in the six weeks they've been in the school than they've been in any environment. They were in preschool 1.5 years prior to entering Humble ISD and Brody was hurt 1 time and Gracie was never hurt. Finding out and getting the clear picture of what has taken place for 6 weeks literally makes me sick and enrages me. I'm so pissed off that I know I have to stay away from that school for a while. You don't mess with my kids! You don't put them in danger week after week when you know what the problem is. Shame on that damn school!
Anyway, Brody and Gracie are currently home until that ISD can figure out there ass from a leaf and can prove and insure me that my kids are safe.
KP
