Public School District CSA Prevention Strategies?

Today I received an email from an administrator at my son's Middle School.  Here it is, verbatim:  "I wanted to follow up with you and provide you an update.  Today at our Instructional Leadership meeting we discussed Montgomery County Public Schools' Regulation  on the use of food and beverages in schools.  Although teachers cannot be prevented from using candy as a reward, the instructional leadership team (this group consists of teachers and administrators)  began a discussion about the importance of being thoughtful when using candy as a classroom reward."

Now, is it just ME, or do other thoughtful, prevention minded citizens have a problem w/the fact that our school system cannot prevent teachers from using candy as a reward?  I really don't understand the thought process behind this.  Not only is it a grooming tool, but MANY parents do NOT want their children to have candy in the first place....we have SO FAR TO GO in educating very highly educated people about the concepts of preventing violence!

Just received confirmation from a school administrator that our school system, MCPS, has a system-wide policy in which teachers cannot be prevented from handing out candy to kids in school!  I cannot BELIEVE THIS! This school system suffered negative national press recently concerning a teacher who abused 14 girls in K-2nd grade.  He'd been turned in, reported by teachers and parents alike and the principal did nothing in response.  And our Superintendent, Joshua Starr, signed a letter placed in his personnel file that allowed him TO CONTINUE TO TEACH as long as he kept the door open, agreed to not touch kids, etc.  I cannot believe the IRRESPONSIBLE adult behavior and leadership!

OMG, Brenda, this is just OUTRAGEOUS! I cannot believe it either. Absolutely, UNBELIEVABLE that Strarr allowed that teacher to continue to teach after abusing 14 girls in K-2nd! Gosh I'm thinking, what can I suggest. In the reported story was there a person/organization of conscience whose side was expressed? Don't know how recent this has been. If recent, was an online petition generated as a result of the teacher story? A good petition site is "thepetitionsite.com"--easy for people to sign, fyi. If you write it, I will help get the word out on Twitter. Do you know about this website? Let me know how I can help, Brenda! This is such distressing news!

Oh geez, Brenda, I know it's horrible how 'money' rules and not in the right way and how there is an epidemic of poor leadership across the country in our youth-serving org's! And, I'm sadly familiar with your description of the PTA. :((

I'm happy to hear you are making connections. No doubt there is power in numbers. Please keep us posted.

Chris, thank you for your support on the issue of the safety of kids in the classroom.  The kind of thing going on at MCPS isn't just going on there - it's going on in youth-serving organizations across the country.  One reason this keeps happening is that institutions open themselves up to increased liability when they institute policies they can't properly enforce.  I really believe this is a BIGGIE:  MORE liability instead of less (not kids MORE SAFE instead of LESS).  Priorities seem to always lay on the side of money. It makes me sick.  As far as I know, there's no community cohesion or activism around the idea of prevention in our school district.  Which means advocates such as myself really need to find a vehicle to FIND EACH OTHER and get connected.  I am happy to report that that is now happening in our elementary (due to similar horrible circumstances that I won't get into publicly).  If ONLY our PTA system would STOP being the money-tree for principals and start being the CHILD ADVOCACY organization it was meant to be!

Sadly makes sense doesn't it Brenda, schools under-reporting or not reporting at all to protect school's image. Such an insidious problem. Please keep us posted on how next Tuesday's meeting goes. It's nice to hear you have someone who has identified your same concerns.

Update as of October 25th:  I have a meeting scheduled next Tuesday morning to talk with the "Safety and Health Committee" Chair for MCCPTA.  She and I will be discussing the very REAL problem we've both identified in individual schools: officials are under-reporting (or NOT reporting at all) the issues that crop up day to day inside their schools (because it reflects poorly on the administrators, who want/need to protect their school's image).  I shared an example of that with her from my son's school (fist fight immediately after school last Wednesday that landed one child in the hospital and one child suspended) and then the on-going problem we're having at my daughter's school with a particular employee who can't seem to understand proper boundaries between adults and children, and other related issues.  One day I hope to meet a courageous leader who is willing to tackle these very tough, but absolutely VITAL safety concerns to help keep kids safe....all of which could be addressed in some serious and needed Prevention Policies and Procedures!