During Wednesday’s Carroll County Board of Education meeting, multiple parents of Manchester Elementary School pre-k students described their children’s recurring encounters with one violent classmate, who cannot be easily removed from the classroom because of “restorative practices.”
It is truly a heart wrenching read. However, this news is not a surprise to many parents in Carroll County or to those who have seen what TRULY happens inside the walls of CCPS schools. I applaud the courage it took to confront the board. Realize though, the school administration, central office, and board are not going to change unless you FORCE them to change. There are only 2 institutions in the state that can do that. One is the Maryland Legislature who has demonstrated that they are unwilling to deal with repeat violent offender of any age, so you will get no relief from them. The other institution that can force change on CCPS is the courts. The Board of Educations counsel, lawyer Ed O’Meally, attributed the problem of student’s lack of expulsion to a piece of legislation. My counter is the the MARYLAND CONSTITUTION which states in Article VIII SECTION I "The General Assembly ... shall by Law establish throughout the State a thorough and efficient System of Free Public Schools". I believe the constitutional rights of the victimized students are being violated. How can those students possibly be receiving a thorough and efficient System of Free Public education if they are constantly living in fear of being brutalized while in school. That should be sufficient grounds for Ed O’Meally to challenge the law in court IF he truly wanted change. Since he has not, I would encourage the parents of the victimized students to sue CCPS for violating their children constitutional rights by failing to provide a thorough and efficient System of Free Public. There is no way this is occurring if the victimized students are living in a constant fear of being victimized. In addition, I would encourage the parents to go to the Department of Juvenile Services and file a peace order against the out of control student. You can file a peace order for your child if they have been the victim of one or more of the following acts (an active that causes serious bodily harm, an act that places you in fear of immediate serious bodily harm). I firmly believe getting punched in the back of the head qualifies. If siccessfully, it may not get the out of control child out of school, but CCPS will be forced to keep that child away from the victimized children. Lastly, I would courage those families to sue the parents/guardians of the out of control student in CIVIL court. Parents can be held responsible the action of their children. This may be a novel court case, but I do think there is merit to forcing people to take responsibility for the behaviour of their children. Realize CCPS and the Board are not going to make meaningful change. Try to take charge and have someone make them.
Thank you for sharing this blog. I was one of the speakers at last night's Board of Education meeting. We MUST stop all the bullying. It's harming SO many kids.
It is truly a heart wrenching read. However, this news is not a surprise to many parents in Carroll County or to those who have seen what TRULY happens inside the walls of CCPS schools. I applaud the courage it took to confront the board. Realize though, the school administration, central office, and board are not going to change unless you FORCE them to change. There are only 2 institutions in the state that can do that. One is the Maryland Legislature who has demonstrated that they are unwilling to deal with repeat violent offender of any age, so you will get no relief from them. The other institution that can force change on CCPS is the courts. The Board of Educations counsel, lawyer Ed O’Meally, attributed the problem of student’s lack of expulsion to a piece of legislation. My counter is the the MARYLAND CONSTITUTION which states in Article VIII SECTION I "The General Assembly ... shall by Law establish throughout the State a thorough and efficient System of Free Public Schools". I believe the constitutional rights of the victimized students are being violated. How can those students possibly be receiving a thorough and efficient System of Free Public education if they are constantly living in fear of being brutalized while in school. That should be sufficient grounds for Ed O’Meally to challenge the law in court IF he truly wanted change. Since he has not, I would encourage the parents of the victimized students to sue CCPS for violating their children constitutional rights by failing to provide a thorough and efficient System of Free Public. There is no way this is occurring if the victimized students are living in a constant fear of being victimized. In addition, I would encourage the parents to go to the Department of Juvenile Services and file a peace order against the out of control student. You can file a peace order for your child if they have been the victim of one or more of the following acts (an active that causes serious bodily harm, an act that places you in fear of immediate serious bodily harm). I firmly believe getting punched in the back of the head qualifies. If siccessfully, it may not get the out of control child out of school, but CCPS will be forced to keep that child away from the victimized children. Lastly, I would courage those families to sue the parents/guardians of the out of control student in CIVIL court. Parents can be held responsible the action of their children. This may be a novel court case, but I do think there is merit to forcing people to take responsibility for the behaviour of their children. Realize CCPS and the Board are not going to make meaningful change. Try to take charge and have someone make them.
Thank you for sharing this blog. I was one of the speakers at last night's Board of Education meeting. We MUST stop all the bullying. It's harming SO many kids.