GUILTY OH - Barb Williams for child abuse, Hancock County, 2014

[K_Z]

I did not mean to quote you in disagreement.. Just because you mentioned IEP.

I have family members that have children with IEPs. They range from speech issues to autism issues.

My thing is no one should know what is going on with this child. His record should not be public record. I don't care what his issues are because at this point I have to wonder if they are because this woman is such a witch. IF she will do this in the hall completely unprovoked, what the heck has she done to this child before. He could have issues related to being abused or feeling scared and fearful in her class. I have seen this kid interviewed a few times and he seems pretty normal for a 6 yr old.

I think that this kid's issues are made up by this lady. I think she is the problem and she is the problem alone.

As you know, the IEP process takes lots and lots of information into consideration, not just one teacher's opinion. There is neuropsych and other IQ testing, school day observations in several settings (classroom, lunch, recess, music class, etc), medical and social work evals, etc. It's a group process, with group concurrence as to the plan. It may be that this child doesn't meet requirements for an IEP, in which case alternative methods will be employed by the teachers and principals. Behavior contracts that spell out exactly what management techniques will be employed for certain behaviors. Etc. It's for the child's best interests and protection that a formal evaluation be conducted. Lots and lots of kids are on IEP's for behavior management secondary to ADD/ ADHD, and EBD.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

As you know, the IEP process takes lots and lots of information into consideration, not just one teacher's opinion. There is neuropsych and other IQ testing, school day observations in several settings (classroom, lunch, recess, music class, etc), medical and social work evals, etc. It's a group process, with group concurrence as to the plan. It may be that this child doesn't meet requirements for an IEP, in which case alternative methods will be employed by the teachers and principals. Behavior contracts that spell out exactly what management techniques will be employed for certain behaviors. Etc. It's for the child's best interests and protection that a formal evaluation be conducted. Lots and lots of kids are on IEP's for behavior management secondary to ADD/ ADHD, and EBD.

I do know that but I also know the weight of the teachers input. Especially a teacher like this.

I also was in a meeting where people were trying to convince me that my child needed special treatment. What she needed was a new teacher. The teacher she had was horrid. AS soon as they switched her class she was fine and she excelled. Kids know when a teacher does not like them and will act accordingly.

 

[blue22]

This teacher will absolutely be fired, no question in my mind. She lost it, and she assaulted this child. There is no excuse for that. None. They have to go thru the process, because she is union—and it’s really misleading that the media reports are conveniently overlooking this requirement. The superintendent could not fire her on the spot, or even TALK about firing her (that would be a threat) in the suspension letter, due to union rules that require due process. Even if she had been arrested on the spot, she still would have been put on administrative leave (same as “suspension”), pending due process.

Make no mistake—she WILL be fired. This is on videotape, with lots of witnesses. She is done as an educator, and most likely will have a hard time ever getting any kind of job again. My best guess is that she will eventually be charged with assault and battery, but that it will be finally settled after a year or 2 as a misdemeanor assault, since she probably has no record. Community service, probation, and anger management classes. There may be a provision for her teaching license to be revoked, also, but that would be largely symbolic, because she will never be hired again as a teacher. (Or volunteer, or para, or any job involving children.) I doubt she will do any jail time. She will fight to keep her pension, I expect, but that could go either way-- she may lose it, she may keep it. She might try to resign before they fire her, but I think they won't accept a resignation. They will put this one thru due process, IMO.

Having said that, this child pretty obviously had serious problems at school if the school was scheduling an IEP meeting for him in May of the Kindergarten year. Holy cow-- nobody starts IEP proceedings in May. How in the world would they be able to do all the evaluations in the required amount of time?? (IEP meeting comment from the school documents in the pdf—principal’s comments. Name is blocked out, but on my computer I can clearly read Ian’s name every place it was blacked out).

Typically, public schools will not start IEP proceedings for specific learning disabilities until the beginning of 3rd grade. However, severe behavior and classroom management difficulties will prompt an IEP evaluation earlier than 3rd grade. As in, formal evaluation for ADD/ ADHD/ EBD (emotional and behavioral disorder), so that the district can implement behavior contracts, and hire a “sitter” (para) to be at a child’s side throughout the school day.

I strongly disagree with these parents parading this child onto talk shows and interviews. If the parents wanted to do the interviews, so be it. But putting the child on their lap on camera is exploitation, and extremely poor parental judgment, IMO. The child is obviously loved and supported, but I believe it is highly inappropriate for them to involve him in the media circus. It also conveys the message that no matter what he does, he will always be “right” in his parent’s eyes, and the school and teachers will be “wrong”. That undermines the authority of any school or teacher this child will ever have. These parents have done this child a tremendous disservice by parading him around in the media, IMO.

BBM. Actually it's quite common to start with the IEP process this early. Many children start early intervention with districts at age 3. If they do to preschool in the public system, they often have a plan laid out. They simply have to wait for the IEP process until kindy starts. Once it starts, they are good to go. With all that said, IEP does NOT mean there are serious behavioral issues. Dyslexia, speech problems, hearing or vision problems, autism, any learning disability. All of those present themselves early, and are targeted to treat early. My niece started IEP half way through kindy last year, because she was having speech difficulties. It's not just kids with behavior issues. In fact, the vast majority are on IEP for learning issues, and not behavior.

 

[blue22]

The sheriff IS working with the family. It was in the articles.

And yes, I am worried about long term repercussions for this child having this hashed out in public. I've seen enough cases where parents make a case for their child and take their child to the media, and the town turns against them while strangers fight for them.

I very strongly sense this is exactly what will happen to this child. He will be a media hero but his town will treat him like a pariah.

I guess we'll see. Yes, I'm more worried about the future of this media circus than I am about that one little incident of teacher anger.

Because this is like a deja vu for the 100th time with a case like this that I've seen. The public doesn't seem to understand the damage they inflict in cases like this. The media understands it, but they don't care. Smells like money.

When you have a case like this with a child, there is no call to parade them in front of the cameras although it feels good and feels like revenge at the moment. The child (or teen, whichever the case may be) will suffer far more than they suffered from the original incident or wrong they suffered. Am I the only one with long term memory?

edited to add: On camera, AGAIN. The dad this morning acknowledges Ian wants nothing more to do with this, and is tired of talking about it. Out of the mouths of babes. I hope they follow his lead and let him retire from the media attention.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/16/teacher-suspended-kindergartner/9171701/

"One little incident."

Come on. Nothing little about it. I doubt this child has had one angry incident with this teacher.

 

[screecher]

"One little incident."

Come on. Nothing little about it. I doubt this child has had one angry incident with this teacher.

Agree. The parents requested a move to a different classroom last fall. After just a couple of months with her. The principal denied request. I seem to recall (sorry, can't find link) the superintendent or someone, saying they like to honor (my words) requests made by parents for particular classrooms.

Also, this teacher supposedly has approximately 30 years under her belt. 14 years with the current district, wonder where she was prior to being hired by this district. Very curious why she left prior assignments.

Oh. And why wasn't the black hole in the video addressed? The part where she took the kid out of camera's eye?

Hmmm....

 

[screecher]

...

My thing is no one should know what is going on with this child. His record should not be public record....

That's actually my "thing" too....

I agree ScarlettS. This 5, 6 year-old victim being sleuthed in this thread is beyond...I don't even have words for it.

As for the second quote, well one would never think "That's actually my "thing" too" by reading your posts. This thread is about "Teacher caught on camera grabbing kindergartner by face" not a kid's peeing all over the place, or leaving his classroom. Or an IEP.

It is about a woman who has issues.

 

[mikkismom]

School documents shed light on Riverdale teacher incident

http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/...ents-shed-light-on-riverdale-teacher-incident

 

[human]

I wonder why the school denied a change in classroom? Perhaps the others were full?

If the child had issues of wandering, why was this not addressed?

In light of all of the school shootings, I would hope that a wandering child would be taken seriously.

I agree that starting an IEP in May is beyond bizarre. There is no time to get all of the testing done on time. ADHD and ADD are not situations that allow for an IEP.

Speech can stand alone for intervention. But with cognitive and motor, they have to be paired with each other or speech. These are Federal rules.

I am not sure what the qualifications are for a behavior IEP. Special education is difficult to get because the costs are incredibly high with little reimbursement from the Federal govt.

It is good there are cameras. They protect the teacher and the child in that information can be seen instead of he/said she/ said.

I wish all schools would be trained in dealing with children in non punitive ways. There are positive methods that work with almost all children.

There are some that are so damaged, such as with attachment disorders, that so far there do not seem to be a lot of strategies that work.

We could turn the world around if we could learn to work positively, and that means that the administration of the school is in this as well. There should have been some kind of help for the teacher and the child,

 

[K_Z]

I agree ScarlettS. This 5, 6 year-old victim being sleuthed in this thread is beyond...I don't even have words for it.

As for the second quote, well one would never think "That's actually my "thing" too" by reading your posts. This thread is about "Teacher caught on camera grabbing kindergartner by face" not a kid's peeing all over the place, or leaving his classroom. Or an IEP.

It is about a woman who has issues.

BBM.

I'd like to respond to this.

Reading and commenting on the documents attached to, and contained within, a mainstream media article is not "sleuthing" anyone. The information is plainly contained in the documents attached to nearly every story on this situation.

If someone didn't want the information out there, then it should not have been released to the public. IMO.

 

[JeannaT]

I am intrigued that according to the counselor, he seemed to be unable to recall the incident that same day it happened. I think as a counselor she would be able to tell if he was just too terrified to talk - in her opinion, he seemed unable to recall it. That's such a window on this situation, and might explain why he has trouble following expectations - he truly simply can't recall them.

I have seen kids like this - who if you ask them what did you do at cub scouts this afternoon they are literally unable to give you a correct thumbnail response. They are unable, when a story is read aloud to the class to give you an idea of what the story contained.

That's a big clue, in my opinion, and hopefully will be explored in his IEP - a general inability to remember and verbalize an incident that happened recently that nearly everyone would have been able to remember.

And it sheds light on why, on first hearing the incident explained by the school, the parents were unalarmed until they saw the video. It's likely they asked him hey what happened when Ms. Williams yelled at you today outside the bathroom? and then they got pretty much a shrugged shoulders and blank stare.

And it also sheds light on why he's now bored with this and doesn't want to discuss it anymore. He simply doesn't remember it.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I am intrigued that according to the counselor, he seemed to be unable to recall the incident. I think as a counselor she would be able to tell if he was just too terrified to talk - in her opinion, he seemed unable to recall it. That's such a window on this situation, and might explain why he has trouble following expectations - he truly simply can't recall them.

I have seen kids like this - who if you ask them what did you do at cub scouts this afternoon they are literally unable to give you a correct thumbnail response. They are unable, when a story is read aloud to the class to give you an idea of what the story contained.

That's a big clue, in my opinion, and hopefully will be explored in his IEP - a general inability to remember and verbalize an incident that happened recently that nearly everyone would have been able to remember.

And it sheds light on why, on first hearing the incident explained by the school, the parents were unalarmed until they saw the video. It's likely they asked him hey what happened when Ms. Williams yelled at you today outside the bathroom? and then they got pretty much a shrugged shoulders and blank stare.

And it also sheds light on why he's now bored with this and doesn't want to discuss it anymore. He simply doesn't remember it.

I gotta say this is starting to really upset me. MAybe he could not recall it because he was TRAUMATIZED!!!!!!! Or maybe he did not want to talk to the counselor and was afraid of telling on the teacher. She just assaulted him. He could be afraid of retaliation. Please stop trying to lay the blame on the child or look for ways this could be his fault or diagnose some disorder that you are pulling from the air. IF a grown person did this to you last week I am sure you would not be too worried about defending them.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

""I was loud, in his face, and I pushed him back. I feel like I was over the top/edge. He's pushing me over the top/edge and my kids over the top/edge. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do with it," said Williams, according to the school documents."

HE DID NOT DO A DARN THING!!! He was just walking down the hall. Anyone who defends this person is out of their ever loving mind.

 

[JeannaT]

I gotta say this is starting to really upset me. MAybe he could not recall it because he was TRAUMATIZED!!!!!!! Or maybe he did not want to talk to the counselor and was afraid of telling on the teacher. She just assaulted him. He could be afraid of retaliation. Please stop trying to lay the blame on the child or look for ways this could be his fault or diagnose some disorder that you are pulling from the air. IF a grown person did this to you last week I am sure you would not be too worried about defending them.

I'm not blaming anyone, Scarlett, and I can tell that any opinion other than what you agree with is extremely upsetting to you.

Maybe you should skip and scroll over those you don't agree with?

I trust the counselor's "take" on this more than I trust yours. I think a school counselor can ferret out when a child is too traumatized to speak or if they simply are unable to recall an incident.

Just so this doesn't get ugly, I'm going to stop responding to your constant attempts to pick a fight.

Peace.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I'm not blaming anyone, Scarlett, and I can tell that any opinion other than what you agree with is extremely upsetting to you.

Maybe you should skip and scroll over those you don't agree with?

I trust the counselor's "take" on this more than I trust yours. I think a school counselor can ferret out when a child is too traumatized to speak or if they simply are unable to recall an incident.

Just so this doesn't get ugly, I'm going to stop responding to your constant attempts to pick a fight.

Peace.

Not all school counselors are of the same caliber. IT is not about your opinion it is about the fact that you seem to want to put the blame for this on the child. And it is not his fault. Not at all. Not in the least. This is a victims site. We don't blame victims here.

 

[Flutterby80]

I don't care how naughty a child is, if you think growling at him and threatening to "tear you apart" is appropriate, you don't belong in a profession that involves children. So all of this discussion of the child's possible behaviors/impairments/parents is moot IMO. In the end, what does it matter? He's a small child and she assaulted him. That's the simple truth of it.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I don't care how naughty a child is, if you think growling at him and threatening to "tear you apart" is appropriate, you don't belong in a profession that involves children. So all of this discussion of the child's possible behaviors/impairments/parents is moot IMO. In the end, what does it matter? He's a small child and she assaulted him. That's the simple truth of it.

Can you imagine if this was a parent who treated this child this way? They would be in jail already.

 

[screecher]

IMO, Barb Williams needs to be assessed. Have her take a battery (no pun intended) of tests. Have her seen by a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a mental health counselor...you know, the works.

Perhaps the woman REALLY does have a legitimate reason for being REALLY nasty to kids.

I still want to know what she did to the student when she took him to the blind spot. Was she asked? If not, why not?

My guess is she realized she was being recorded, which pissed her off even more than she already admitted to, and did more nasty things to the student.

Yeah, that woman REALLY needs to be assessed.

 

[MissJ]

There are some people out there teaching who should not be teachers. I was slapped by a teacher when I did nothing wrong. I was regularly bullied by another one because I was smaller than the other kids and had health issues. I never told my Mom about the slap because she would have gone to jail for attacking the woman. My actual teacher at the time told the slapping teacher she had better never touch me again. I was terrified of school because of things that were done to me and other kids.

 

[Cailin Rua]

First he was a horrid brat who drove innocent teachers to justifiable assault, now he's a "poor child" whose parents need to drop the whole thing. For his own good, of course. If I was prone to conspiracy theories I'd say that sounds like school district spin.

 

[human]

I truly think not only should the teacher be held accountable, but the administration as well.

I cannot understand why this child was wandering with no assistance and why the child could not be moved to another room. There are more issues here.