Does Skyline school bear any responsibility?

[sorrell skye]

I think parents who have children attending a school that does not have a policy to call when children are absent without notice should call the school every morning and have the school verify that their child has made it to school safely and now is in class. I don't think it would take too long before a school would assign someone the duty of cross checking notified absenses to class attendance records and calling parents of unnotified children that have been recorded as not in class.

If it were me, I would have a meeting with the school board & notify them in person that my child would NOT be returning to Skyline in the fall, due to what I perceive as lax school security (i.e. apparently not following their own school handbook regarding student sign-out procedures & not following the school district's notification policy regarding student absences).

Does that sound harsh? IMO, no - not when it comes to the safety of my child.

When my youngest daughter was in elementary school (a highly rated school in my area) there was an incident of extreme violence on the part of one 6th grader against another 6th grader. Based on the reaction of the school principal (who wanted to sweep it under the rug), I chose to withdraw my daughter from that school district.

In retrospect, I should have contacted the school board & requested that the principal be removed from his position. That was years ago, and I was green. If I knew then what I know now...

 

[RubyRed]

I think parents who have children attending a school that does not have a policy to call when children are absent without notice should call the school every morning and have the school verify that their child has made it to school safely and now is in class. I don't think it would take too long before a school would assign someone the duty of cross checking notified absenses to class attendance records and calling parents of unnotified children that have been recorded as not in class.

When my children were in school ( Canada ) parent volunteers did this. When the teacher took attendance at 9 am as soon as the office had the report, usually by 9:15, we called parents who had not called their children in sick etc. We did the same thing at 1pm because children within walking distance could go home for lunch, if the parents' opted to do this.

When I lived in Tennessee the school was 100% buses. If my child was kept home sick the school never called to report them absent. We were to send a note the next day. In my opinion the minute I saw my children safely on the bus, they then became the responsibility of the school. Never did the bus arrive at school, with the kids left to fend for themselves, while school started later. That just never happened. Once the bus arrived, they went to class and attendance was taken. The school took the children's safety very seriously. I never felt concerned.

I just don't know everything that went wrong at Kyron's school but several things obviously did. Too many procedures were not followed. A hard lesson for them to learn, but I do feel they bear some responsibility, a child went missing under their watch on an extremely chaotic day, when protocol was tossed to the wind. jmo

 

[wondering1]

I think parents who have children attending a school that does not have a policy to call when children are absent without notice should call the school every morning and have the school verify that their child has made it to school safely and now is in class. I don't think it would take too long before a school would assign someone the duty of cross checking notified absenses to class attendance records and calling parents of unnotified children that have been recorded as not in class.

ITD, but even if I agreed, how would that change anything in this case? TH took him to the school and watched him walk toward his classroom. She could have walked him into the classroom, but didn't. And honestly, if that's the truth, I think it's a completely reasonable thing to do. So should she have left and called the school on her cell from her car and verified that he actually walked into the room?

 

[goatman]

I am lazy and haven't read this whole thread ( I know I am a terrible person!

But here are my feelings regarding the School and Kyron missing.

A. There was no sign-in sheet, how different would things have gone if EVERY child and visitor had to be signed IN and OUT of the school that day?

IF TH is guilty, would she have done 'it' if she had to sign Kyron out? Umm, in my opinion no.

IF TH isn't guilty, then something *unknown* happen to him. HAD there of been a sign in/out sheet, that would have definitely narrowed down the possibilities of someone taking him from inside the school.

B. What frustrates me about this whole thing is that I wish the school (I know pipe dreams) would just come out and say something like "yeah role was taken at such and such time and Kyron was marked absent at that time".

C. A call home b/c he was absent, IF TH were guilty would have greatly narrowed down her time to do 'it'. IE, the first suspicious thing that she would have done that day would have been to ignore/delete the message. OR she would have had to raise that alarm that he was missing earlier. (For example, the school calls home at 12:00pm or even cell phones- all the parents cell phones THEY know THEN that he is missing).

 

[RubyRed]

B. What frustrates me about this whole thing is that I wish the school (I know pipe dreams) would just come out and say something like "yeah role was taken at such and such time and Kyron was marked absent at that time".

.

sbbm
According to the sheriff’s office, the stepmother saw the boy walking toward his classroom as she left the building but officials with Portland Public Schools said Horman’s teacher never saw him in class which started at 10 a.m. The teacher marked him absent.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/95669809.html

 

[goatman]

sbbm
According to the sheriff’s office, the stepmother saw the boy walking toward his classroom as she left the building but officials with Portland Public Schools said Horman’s teacher never saw him in class which started at 10 a.m. The teacher marked him absent.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/95669809.html

BUT the students were in groups to tour the other displays before this time...

So there had to be a role call before that right? At least to put them in their groups to go tour.

OR did she just point to kids and say "you, you and you this group, you you and you this other group". Grouping the kids would have had to been done that morning right (at least telling them which group they are in)? WHEN did she become responsible (ie no parents) for ALL of the children in her care? IF it was at 8:45am why was he only noticed absent an hour and 15 minutes later?

That was what I was getting at.

 

[sorrell skye]

And what about the kids' whose parents were unable to attend the SF - were those kids just left unsupervised & on their own to roam the halls or the school grounds until the so-called *official* start of class @ 10:00 a.m. when attendance was claimed to be taken?

 

[human]

BUT the students were in groups to tour the other displays before this time...

So there had to be a role call before that right? At least to put them in their groups to go tour.

OR did she just point to kids and say "you, you and you this group, you you and you this other group". Grouping the kids would have had to been done that morning right (at least telling them which group they are in)? WHEN did she become responsible (ie no parents) for ALL of the children in her care? IF it was at 8:45am why was he only noticed absent an hour and 15 minutes later?

That was what I was getting at.

I don't know why the time the attendance was taken is such a big deal. It sounds like Portland schools have electronic attendance as we have in our school district.

I note what children are in my classroom and since I have an assistant, she calls the absent children's homes. Not everyone on the list of people allowed to pick up the child. Just the parent's number. Of course, I am in a low income school, so some of the parents no longer have phones.

Either I or my assistant enters the absence into the system when we have time. The reason for absence is given, if we get a hold of the parent. Sometimes that is at lunch time. We email the cafeteria on the lunch count. Sometimes we email the cafeteria several times because children arrive late or go home sick.

I would GUESS that the teacher took attendance in her classroom and then entered the data into the system at 10 AM. I just don't see the significance of the 10 AM time. that would just be the electronic entry.

 

[sorrell skye]

Again - regardless of when teachers took attendance on June 4th, or when class *officially* started that particular day, what about the kids' whose parents were unable to attend the SF (i.e. unable to accompany their own child(ren) during the SF until 10:00 a.m.)?

Were those kids left unsupervised or allowed to just roam the halls or the school grounds until they were expected to be in their classes @ 10:00 a.m after touring the SF exhibits?

 

[Donjeta]

Again - regardless of when teachers took attendance on June 4th, or when class *officially* started that particular day, what about the kids' whose parents were unable to attend the SF (i.e. unable to accompany their own child(ren) during the SF until 10:00 a.m.)?

Were those kids left unsupervised or allowed to just roam the halls or the school grounds until they were expected to be in their classes @ 10:00 a.m after touring the SF exhibits?

It is my understanding that those kids were expected to be touring the exhibits in chaperoned groups along with all the others from 8:45 onwards.

I don't know what they were supposed to do before 8:45 if they didn't have parents there. Presumably whatever they usually did after getting off the schoolbus?

I'm not sure that having official attendance taken at 10 means that nobody counted the kids who were before or after. IMO it should be an automatic, instinctive thing done several times per day, even if no records are written. Just a simple "is everyone here?"

 

[jadejazzkayla]

I don't know why the time the attendance was taken is such a big deal. It sounds like Portland schools have electronic attendance as we have in our school district.

I note what children are in my classroom and since I have an assistant, she calls the absent children's homes. Not everyone on the list of people allowed to pick up the child. Just the parent's number. Of course, I am in a low income school, so some of the parents no longer have phones.

Either I or my assistant enters the absence into the system when we have time. The reason for absence is given, if we get a hold of the parent. Sometimes that is at lunch time. We email the cafeteria on the lunch count. Sometimes we email the cafeteria several times because children arrive late or go home sick.

I would GUESS that the teacher took attendance in her classroom and then entered the data into the system at 10 AM. I just don't see the significance of the 10 AM time. that would just be the electronic entry.

bbm...human. I'm jumping off of you post as you are a real live teacher.:blowkiss: There are two critical times in your senario.

1 - the time you noted what children were in your classroom.

2 - the time your children's attendance was electronically recorded using the information you gathered earlier. (whether that be moments or hours earlier).

----------------------------------------------------

In our case, we need to know....

What time did Miss Porter "note" what children were in her classroom?

What time did Miss Porter electronically enter the results? Was it before or after the horman's called the school to say kyron was missing?

What, if any, excuse did Miss Porter electronically enter into the system (for kyron)? Was this done before or after kyron was reported missing?

and most importantly, if Miss Porter electronically reported kyron absent before the horman's called the school - was either the absence or the excuse (if one was noted) modified after that time.

 

[gliving]

Search for Kyron Horman: Scared Parents Keep Kids Out of School

Terrified parents in Portland, Ore., have begun keeping their children out of the elementary school where second-grader Kyron Horman vanished after an early-morning science fair.
The 7-year-old from Portland, Ore., has been missing for five days.

Nearly 40 students failed to report to Skyline Elementary School Tuesday, five days after Kyron was last seen walking toward his classroom. He never made it.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Media/kyr...ts-kids-school-boy-vanished/story?id=10864503

 

[craftybatchy]

sbbm
According to the sheriff’s office, the stepmother saw the boy walking toward his classroom as she left the building but officials with Portland Public Schools said Horman’s teacher never saw him in class which started at 10 a.m. The teacher marked him absent.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/95669809.html

Pardon me if I am having a brain fart but ..... Official start time on June 4 was 10:00 am. TH and K were in the classroom sometime between 8:15 - 8:45 am. TH states that she and K said goodbye after which she left him in the hallway at 8:45. If school did not officially begin until 10:00 am, wth did she leave him to wander around until 10:00 am. That is a hella lot of time for a child who was reportedly showing some evidence of disorganized thought processing to be without direct supervision.

Statements from both CH & TH suggest that the Tree Frog project was a bigger deal to the two of them than it was to K himself. I wonder if K was not so much interested in the project/science fair things and had tired of whatever tensions had arisen between SM and Daddy. KH & DHY have both described K as shy. Being that there was a talent show after lunch, it stands to reason that K was nervous about participating.

All in all, a busy day for a little guy who did not cope well with transitions, showed an aversion to noise, might have struggled with social confidence, and was being ragged on at any given opportunity for bringing home the wrong color of card. Who is to say that he was not thinking something along the lines of *to hell with this, so busy in here no one will notice if I take off, I am outta here ....*

:banghead:

 

[gliving]

CB the official start time for school that day was 8:45. Kyron's regular classroom studies began at 10:00.

The 8:45-10:00 time period was set for students and their chaperons to tour the science fair.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

CB the official start time for school that day was 8:45. Kyron's regular classroom studies began at 10:00.

The 8:45-10:00 time period was set for students and their chaperons to tour the science fair.

There might have been some parents who weren't acting as chaperones but wanted to tour the SF with their own child/ren. I haven't seen any information indicating that parents had to leave the building when the bell rang.

The circumstances in the school that morning sound chaotic, to say the least. I'm sure that there must have been an informational handout or newsletter feature about the procedures for the day. I would love to see how the school expected to deal with the increased numbers of people in the building and a different-than-usual schedule. jmo

 

[Billylee]

posted by gliving in the second case review thread:

During police interviews Sunday, a student said he last saw Kyron later that morning near the south entrance to the school. That was the last time the boy was seen, Staton said.

At some point that morning, Kyron's teacher, Kristina Porter, marked the boy as absent. But it wasn't until 3:30 p.m. -- when his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, met the school bus -- that she discovered Kyron had been absent from school.

Nora Schreiber, a Skyline parent and volunteer, said the school has three main entrances and one secure exit. Two of the doorways are near the main office and are monitored, while a third on the north side of the school is not. Kyron's classroom is adjacent to that door, which opens onto a rear parking lot.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...on_horman.html


Question: what does monitored mean? camera? physical person acting as a door monitor? Question 2: The secure exit, is that the South Exit? And does that door always remain locked from the outside? And does that door sound an alarm if opened from the inside? Do we have that info somewhere already?

 

[Billylee]

Does anyone know if there is an assigned teacher/staff parking area and where it is?

 

[SurfieTX]

Front entrance (and I do believe what is referred to as the main or "south" entrance") of the school.

 

[SurfieTX]

Side view with some of the parking lot.

 

[passionflower]

Dear Skyline School Community and Neighbors:

Many of you are aware that on May 2, 2010, more than 125 volunteers from Sunset Presbyterian spent the day at Skyline School doing inside and outside projects. With the help of several Skyline parents, students and neighbors the amount of work that was done that day was truly amazing. In a continuing effort to support our school and complete the work started on May 2nd, Sunset Presbyterian volunteers will be returning on Sunday, August 29th for “Skyline Service Day”. Here are some of the projects that we will be doing:

* Finish painting exterior metal handrails.
* Finish painting trim in two classrooms.
* Paint one wall in the library.
* Clean out and reorganize “volunteer” room and “locker rooms” in basement of school.
* Landscaping around the school.
* Track maintenance

This will be our 10th and final year as Skyline parents and we are thrilled to partner with Sunset Presbyterian church for Skyline Service Day. This has been a difficult last few months for our Skyline staff and families, and we want to make sure that our school looks especially great when our kids return to class in September. As the project leaders we are seeking additional volunteers for the day from the Skyline community. In addition, we are looking for donations of water and snacks that we can provide to the volunteers during the day. If you are unable to volunteer we are also seeking monetary donations to help fund the purchase of supplies (paint, equipment, bark dust, etc.) needed for the day.

If you can help out in any capacity please contact us at maggieschweinfurth@comcast.net. Thanks so much!

Maggie and Bill Schweinfurth

http://srnpdx.org/current_newsline

was TH ever a volunteer???