PA - School Covered Up Rapes of Four 1st Graders

[Mygirlsadie]

This is so terrible. I think of my own little first grader and he is still just so small and helpless you know there is no way he could fight off a big boy. Then I think of my boy who is in special ed and does have a IEP and how innocent and gullible he is and to think that there could be these kind of sick twisted kids in class with him and he wouldnt even know how to tell me if they tried something on him. :banghead: Our kids are really at the hands of the teachers and faculty to protect them once they enter that school every morning and if they are not doing it then our kids are at the mercy of stuff like this happening all the time and its just not right. I swear home schooling sounds better and better everyday.

 

[Pandora]

Until schools are ALLOWED to treat special education students the same way they treat regular education students in regards to the students breaking the law(s), THIS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN!

 

[SLP]

Until schools are ALLOWED to treat special education students the same way they treat regular education students in regards to the students breaking the law(s), THIS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN!

How do you figure :waitasec: ? Nowhere in the law does it allow special education students to assault or rape other students. The school could have handled this problem but they chose to do nothing.

 

[2beautifulboys]

This case is just so heartbreaking, I have a little boy in kindergarten and I cannot imagine the pain in my heart if he was to tell me "someone tried to pee in my butt". My heart would fall out with pain, I'm afraid I would commit a murder of some school administrators that same day. The confusion, emotional and physical pain that these little boys have been caused and at a place that is supposed to be safe and a place where you are supposed to look forward to attending. They may forever be changed. This school and those people directly need to be sued for everything they have or ever will have. This is unforgiveable, I wish we were close, we could rally every parent in this school to take their kids OUT of it and go on strike against the administration and teachers. Their behavior is deplorable. They abandoned these little guys, to save their butts. The very little guys they are supposed to protect.

On a seperate note, our school does have each grade K thru 4 in a seperate wing, each with their own bathrooms and no intermingling occurs, plus each classroom have their own bathrooms to in case they have to go while in class. There is alot of supervision when they are in the big bathrooms like after lunch time. I have been there plenty and witnessed the female teachers standing in each of the girls and boys bathrooms watching over kids and keeping them moving from the potties to the handwashing and out of the bathroom, then accounted for and on to the playground.

For this school to say it's not their job to protect our children is ludicrious (sp?), from the minute my child steps onto school property it is your number one job, his safety and secondly to educate him and for you to think otherwise means you are just a complete and total dumb *advertiser censored* and need to be removed from your jobs. There is no way that these same administrators or any teachers that had knowledge of this need to still be working in any elementary school.

These poor little guys, I just can't keep dry eyes thinking about them and how alone they must have felt. God give the parents strength to do whatever necessary to get these people removed from their jobs and get some good people in there that can turn this school around. This story just gets all over me and makes me furious at what was allowed to happen and the way they have denied everything and haven't done one damn thing to be helpful. I have no use for people like this....sorry but I have a kindergartner and you don't mistreat him unless you want me down your throat every day for the rest of your miserable life.....still the anger I would feel can't undo the wrong done to these little boys......

 

[opme]

http://www.allentownsd.org/Policiespdf/200s/248.pdf

"While all forms of harassment are prohibited, it is the policy of the district to establish and maintain an educational climate free from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a violation of district policy, as well as State and federal laws, and it is hereby prohibited.
All district employees and students share in a responsibility to maintain high standards of conduct and ethical behavior. Any district student who engages in conduct which constitutes sexual harassment, as defined in this policy, shall be subject to discipline which may include expulsion from school"

"Sexual harassment may include, but is not limited to unwelcome:
1. Verbal forms, as for example, sexual propositions or threats, sexually suggestive comments, sexual jokes, pressure to date, and obscene comments or noises.

2. Written forms, as for example, notes or letters of a sexually suggestive or

obscene nature.

3. Physical forms, as for example, sexual assault, intentional touching, patting,pinching, hugging, kissing, brushing against a student's body, and impeding a student's movement.

4. Visual forms, as for example, staring or leering at a student's body, sexually

suggestive body movements, displaying sexually suggestive pictures, drawings,cartoons, or objects."


The above is a direct cut and paste from the School District's policies.. this provided to all students and employess and reviewed at the beginning of each school year.. What more needs to be said... granted policies are not laws but this screams of guilt..

 

[txsvicki]

Until schools are ALLOWED to treat special education students the same way they treat regular education students in regards to the students breaking the law(s), THIS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN!

I think special ed students are treated about the same except that they may have a behavior plan, but the school policy booklet should say that the plans do not cover criminal offenses. Actually, most people with special ed kids have a horrible time even getting them tested and the services that they need in the first place, but the kids are expected to take the same tests, same pass/fail testing, and same cirriculum. If they are special ed, they may have a few modifications to the cirriculum. Alternative schools and Juvie are full of special ed kids, see Eve's post about her alternative school and the wheelchair bound boy. I think that the whole bunch, teachers all the way up to administrators, that knew of this incident and lied about calling police should be brought up on criminal charges themselves because there were actual rapes involved and they probably were just trying to cover their own rears because of their failure with all parties involved. I wonder if the boy who raped parents' were even informed so that they could get him help if any was even available.

 

[Mama-cita]

I am physically ill after reading this. I remember as a nurse in a big city Children's Hospital several years ago, I took care of an 11 year old boy who was there for a "bowel clean out". Every so often you would get these kids who for some psychological reason "hold" there poop for so long it would impact like a brick in their bowels and they would get Golytely (the same thing they give people to prep for a colonoscopy) through a tube in their nose at a high rate until their bowels cleared out. Sometimes it would take days. This particular child I remember had been assaulted by an older student at school and raped, repeatedly, and threatened. So he did not tell his parents. But the little guy couldn't keep it all in, his temper exploded, he became destructive and he completely stopped having bowel movements. It was then that he had to confess what happened to him, poor little angel. It is disgusting that this Allentown school let this happen to FOUR Little boys! What they have allowed has surely caused an irreparable scar on these little boys. I am disgusted and want to write a letter to someone! And I notice one of the articles referred to the boy, not as special ed, but as behavioral problems. That explains a lot. This just makes me so SICK!

My little boy is supposed to start K-garten next year and he is extremely small for his age. Stories like this make me want to investigate homeschooling, or taking out a second mortgage to pay for private school...

 

[opme]

My little boy is supposed to start K-garten next year and he is extremely small for his age. Stories like this make me want to investigate homeschooling, or taking out a second mortgage to pay for private school...

I know I spent the day yesterday researching my childs's elementary school she is to start attending in the fall.. it has similar policies. Again all talk and no real securtiy measures for the students in the school...

This is somewhat off topic but not entirely.......What I also found disturbing ( and maybe its just me because of my over protectivenss and my reading the stories here) was that each classroom has its own website that can be reached thru the school website and though they vary to some degree in contect.. I was able to view childrens full names, the teachers name, pictures of the classroom and students, activities, updates on field trips like the one to the zoo tomorrow... I mapped the SO's inthe area and there are several with in the 3 mile radius of the school. Is it me but this seems to be a saftey issue in my mind.. I just cant get over the school publishing this information.. to me this is putting these children at risk. Any6 perv can select a child from the website and meet up at the zoo if they really wanted it to happen...I am outraged. I am do not want my child subjected to this publication on the web.. I wont do it at home I cetrtainly dont want the school to provide this info out to the mass public and the pervs who are interested in knowing it..

 

[SLP]

I know I spent the day yesterday researching my childs's elementary school she is to start attending in the fall.. it has similar policies. Again all talk and no real securtiy measures for the students in the school...

This is somewhat off topic but not entirely.......What I also found disturbing ( and maybe its just me because of my over protectivenss and my reading the stories here) was that each classroom has its own website that can be reached thru the school website and though they vary to some degree in contect.. I was able to view childrens full names, the teachers name, pictures of the classroom and students, activities, updates on field trips like the one to the zoo tomorrow... I mapped the SO's inthe area and there are several with in the 3 mile radius of the school. Is it me but this seems to be a saftey issue in my mind.. I just cant get over the school publishing this information.. to me this is putting these children at risk. Any6 perv can select a child from the website and meet up at the zoo if they really wanted it to happen...I am outraged. I am do not want my child subjected to this publication on the web.. I wont do it at home I cetrtainly dont want the school to provide this info out to the mass public and the pervs who are interested in knowing it..

I would not like that either! The school that I am at does not have any information about the kids just the teachers names, picture and information about his/her class. I think that either they should take all the infomration about the kids off OR make the pages password protected for only the parents of that class.

 

[mysteriew]

I know I spent the day yesterday researching my childs's elementary school she is to start attending in the fall.. it has similar policies. Again all talk and no real securtiy measures for the students in the school...

This is somewhat off topic but not entirely.......What I also found disturbing ( and maybe its just me because of my over protectivenss and my reading the stories here) was that each classroom has its own website that can be reached thru the school website and though they vary to some degree in contect.. I was able to view childrens full names, the teachers name, pictures of the classroom and students, activities, updates on field trips like the one to the zoo tomorrow... I mapped the SO's inthe area and there are several with in the 3 mile radius of the school. Is it me but this seems to be a saftey issue in my mind.. I just cant get over the school publishing this information.. to me this is putting these children at risk. Any6 perv can select a child from the website and meet up at the zoo if they really wanted it to happen...I am outraged. I am do not want my child subjected to this publication on the web.. I wont do it at home I cetrtainly dont want the school to provide this info out to the mass public and the pervs who are interested in knowing it..

You should contact the school and make your feelings about this known.
Another mother recently found the same thing about the school her children attended and talked in her blog about what she did.

 

[Mama-cita]

What I also found disturbing ( and maybe its just me because of my over protectivenss and my reading the stories here) was that each classroom has its own website that can be reached thru the school website and though they vary to some degree in contect.. I was able to view childrens full names, the teachers name, pictures of the classroom and students, activities, updates on field trips like the one to the zoo tomorrow... I mapped the SO's inthe area and there are several with in the 3 mile radius of the school. Is it me but this seems to be a saftey issue in my mind.. I just cant get over the school publishing this information.. to me this is putting these children at risk. Any6 perv can select a child from the website and meet up at the zoo if they really wanted it to happen...I am outraged. I am do not want my child subjected to this publication on the web.. I wont do it at home I cetrtainly dont want the school to provide this info out to the mass public and the pervs who are interested in knowing it..

This is extremely disturbing. And it makes the case for private school or homeschooling! Please update us as to whether you contact the school, etc...

 

[SewingDeb]

I'm thinking it would be better to post about the field trips after they have taken place. The students names should not be published and the teacher should use notes home and emails to the parents about upcoming events.

The kids do love to go online to see pictures from their field trips and activities, but they don't need the exposure of having their names online.

 

[Mama-cita]

The kids do love to go online to see pictures from their field trips and activities, but they don't need the exposure of having their names online.

I understand how the prospect of seeing oneself online might be exciting for little ones, but it should only be done through a SECURE server where no one other the children, school and the kids' families have access to those pictures and info. Make the web portable accessible ONLY to people who have the correct password. Keep the pervs OUT!

 

[kcksum]

I am physically ill after reading this. I remember as a nurse in a big city Children's Hospital several years ago, I took care of an 11 year old boy who was there for a "bowel clean out". Every so often you would get these kids who for some psychological reason "hold" there poop for so long it would impact like a brick in their bowels and they would get Golytely (the same thing they give people to prep for a colonoscopy) through a tube in their nose at a high rate until their bowels cleared out. Sometimes it would take days. This particular child I remember had been assaulted by an older student at school and raped, repeatedly, and threatened. So he did not tell his parents. But the little guy couldn't keep it all in, his temper exploded, he became destructive and he completely stopped having bowel movements. It was then that he had to confess what happened to him, poor little angel. It is disgusting that this Allentown school let this happen to FOUR Little boys! What they have allowed has surely caused an irreparable scar on these little boys. I am disgusted and want to write a letter to someone! And I notice one of the articles referred to the boy, not as special ed, but as behavioral problems. That explains a lot. This just makes me so SICK!

My little boy is supposed to start K-garten next year and he is extremely small for his age. Stories like this make me want to investigate homeschooling, or taking out a second mortgage to pay for private school...

I too am a nurse and have seen the long term and immediate effects of sexual and physical abuse on kids. I work long hours and my husband works long hours to save and give my kids a private education where the numbers are lower and the teachers are held to a much higher level because WE pay their salary , not the state and not some union. We live in a smaller home, do not take big vacations, and live a much lower lifestyle in order to do this. It has proved to be worth every penny. There are NO behavioral problem children at my kids school, because they aren't accepted, period. I pay to keep kids like this boy who visciously raped 4 liitle babies OUT of my kids school. They screen closely, and if a child has any signs of past violent or troubled behavior their application is denied. If they are accepted and begin showing signs of violent or aggressive behavior, they're kicked out, plain and simple.There are no state mandated rules that say we have to let these kids continue to go to school with our kids.If I ever am faced with a financial situation that will not allow me to continue to do this, I will home school. I just don't trust our government enough to manage education in this country effectivly any longer. Articles like this one just re-inforce that.It's such a sad state for our country to be in when the constitution protects adults who allow a bully to rape little boys over and over. Not my kids, that's all I have to say.

 

[mysteriew]

I know I spent the day yesterday researching my childs's elementary school she is to start attending in the fall.. it has similar policies. Again all talk and no real securtiy measures for the students in the school...

This is somewhat off topic but not entirely.......What I also found disturbing ( and maybe its just me because of my over protectivenss and my reading the stories here) was that each classroom has its own website that can be reached thru the school website and though they vary to some degree in contect.. I was able to view childrens full names, the teachers name, pictures of the classroom and students, activities, updates on field trips like the one to the zoo tomorrow... I mapped the SO's inthe area and there are several with in the 3 mile radius of the school. Is it me but this seems to be a saftey issue in my mind.. I just cant get over the school publishing this information.. to me this is putting these children at risk. Any6 perv can select a child from the website and meet up at the zoo if they really wanted it to happen...I am outraged. I am do not want my child subjected to this publication on the web.. I wont do it at home I cetrtainly dont want the school to provide this info out to the mass public and the pervs who are interested in knowing it..

Okay, I can't find the post I was looking for. Basically from what I remember, she went to the principal and talked to him about the fact that child molesters troll for information about kids on the internet and that by showing the kids pic and attaching the child's name to the pic they could become a target. She also talked to the school resource officer. The school eventually agreed to make changes and take the stuff off the internet.

 

[SewingDeb]

I understand how the prospect of seeing oneself online might be exciting for little ones, but it should only be done through a SECURE server where no one other the children, school and the kids' families have access to those pictures and info. Make the web portable accessible ONLY to people who have the correct password. Keep the pervs OUT!

Excellent idea.

 

[opme]

I have to register my child there within the next week or so for the upcoming school year. I plan to talk with the school at that time about my concerns. While I think its wonderful for the kids to be able to share their daily activites , school trips and such with the parents via the web it is also a danger. I agree that the trips should be posted after the trip is taken but also beleive firmly that if they are going to provide this access it must be more secure. It shoudl have a password that is changed monthly or at intermittent times so that anyone who inappropriately gains access must have the new password each month provided only via the teacher to the parents via the telephone, note home or other means.. but not on the website. I do beleive we shoud encourage the use of technology but not at the cost of a safety.

 

[eve]

I think special ed students are treated about the same except that they may have a behavior plan, but the school policy booklet should say that the plans do not cover criminal offenses. Actually, most people with special ed kids have a horrible time even getting them tested and the services that they need in the first place, but the kids are expected to take the same tests, same pass/fail testing, and same cirriculum. If they are special ed, they may have a few modifications to the cirriculum. Alternative schools and Juvie are full of special ed kids, see Eve's post about her alternative school and the wheelchair bound boy. I think that the whole bunch, teachers all the way up to administrators, that knew of this incident and lied about calling police should be brought up on criminal charges themselves because there were actual rapes involved and they probably were just trying to cover their own rears because of their failure with all parties involved. I wonder if the boy who raped parents' were even informed so that they could get him help if any was even available.

We had a special ed girl here at our school who was so disruptive that every day was a nightmare. It took us 4 months to get her to a facility where they could handle her and we could NOT legally suspend her because her IEP said she could not be suspended more than 10 times (high bar there ). Every time there was an "incident" we all had to follow her BIP ( Behavior Intervention Plan). Here are some things in her plan:

1. In a low, calm voice ask Jane to follow your directive.

2. Ask Jane to follow your directive clearly and calmly three times.

3. If Jane does not follow your directive (yeah, this is about where Jane is: yelling "You have a stick up your a$$! I hate this *advertiser censored***in school! I'm gonna kill somebody! I'm leaving! *advertiser censored** you! - kicking chairs, throwing papers, books, etc. )

4. Request that Jane go to the office.

5. If Jane refuses to go to the office, move the other students to another classroom, enlist help from another staff person (we usually don't have anyone available) and deal with Jane. (There is no time limit - this "dealing with Jane" can bleed into your next class).

6. Allow Jane to write out her feelings.

7. Help Jane process her feelings and identify what triggered her outburst.

Blah Blah Blah - Oh and I was the lucky one - Jane refused to "process" with anyone but me, which of course, I was expected to do.

Oh, I could go on and on but a fight broke out during lunch and I have some suspensions to do.

The other thing I wanted to add is that many special ed kids at my site are clearly EBD (Emotional-Behavior Disorder) but are undiagnosed and not receiving services. Frankly I don't know which is worse. i.e., getting services or not.

Eve

 

[SLP]

We had a special ed girl here at our school who was so disruptive that every day was a nightmare. It took us 4 months to get her to a facility where they could handle her and we could NOT legally suspend her because her IEP said she could not be suspended more than 10 times (high bar there ). Every time there was an "incident" we all had to follow her BIP ( Behavior Intervention Plan). Here are some things in her plan:

1. In a low, calm voice ask Jane to follow your directive.

2. Ask Jane to follow your directive clearly and calmly three times.

3. If Jane does not follow your directive (yeah, this is about where Jane is: yelling "You have a stick up your a$$! I hate this *advertiser censored***in school! I'm gonna kill somebody! I'm leaving! *advertiser censored** you! - kicking chairs, throwing papers, books, etc. )

4. Request that Jane go to the office.

5. If Jane refuses to go to the office, move the other students to another classroom, enlist help from another staff person (we usually don't have anyone available) and deal with Jane. (There is no time limit - this "dealing with Jane" can bleed into your next class).

6. Allow Jane to write out her feelings.

7. Help Jane process her feelings and identify what triggered her outburst.

Blah Blah Blah - Oh and I was the lucky one - Jane refused to "process" with anyone but me, which of course, I was expected to do.

Oh, I could go on and on but a fight broke out during lunch and I have some suspensions to do.

The other thing I wanted to add is that many special ed kids at my site are clearly EBD (Emotional-Behavior Disorder) but are undiagnosed and not receiving services. Frankly I don't know which is worse. i.e., getting services or not.

Eve

There ARE limits to how many days (10 actually) you can suspend special education kids before an IEP meeting must be held to evaluate the "situation". A school district may proceed immediately though to a long-term suspension or expulsion if the IEP team determines the conduct is unrelated to their disability. If you don't mind me asking, do you get to be part of the team that draws up these IEPs and BIPs or do the kids bring these from their home campus and you just have to implement them? I would have a problem if that was the case! In my own opinion (which means very little ) you should be able to have input on their IEPs if you are the one working with them day in and day out. I have to be honest and say that I would never have the patience to teach at an alternative campus. God Bless You!

 

[eve]

There ARE limits to how many days (10 actually) you can suspend special education kids before an IEP meeting must be held to evaluate the "situation". A school district may proceed immediately though to a long-term suspension or expulsion if the IEP team determines the conduct is unrelated to their disability. If you don't mind me asking, do you get to be part of the team that draws up these IEPs and BIPs or do the kids bring these from their home campus and you just have to implement them? I would have a problem if that was the case! In my own opinion (which means very little ) you should be able to have input on their IEPs if you are the one working with them day in and day out. I have to be honest and say that I would never have the patience to teach at an alternative campus. God Bless You!

Right, SLP, 10 days and then a meeting. Even the next step is hard because how many times is the terrible behavior NOT related to their disability when they are EBD or ODD, etc.? I am NOT a Special Ed teacher and, no, we do NOT have any input into the IEPs or BIPs. They are written by their case managers on their home campuses. We do not attend the IEP meetings and I think it's ridiculous. I have been to few becase a student requested it. Don't you love all these acronyms? LOL

Thanks :blowkiss:

Eve