The Normandy School District has given one parent an ultimatum; either go to school every day and sit with your child in his classroom or send him packing! Veronica Williams, a single parent was forced to sit every day with her fourth-grader because her child has been allegedly disruptive in the past. Mrs. Williams was able to do so for a little while but out of fear of losing her job, she had to return back to work. As a result, the school suspended her son. It has been over a week since he has been allowed in school unsupervised.
I have to wonder why the child's teacher was unable to supervised a room full of children in the first place. Perhaps, the teacher is in need of some further education and training. I wonder if the school even bothered to try moving the child to a different classroom and teacher.
Supposedly, the child, 10-years old, can be allowed back to school so as long as he is accompanies by his mother or another adult; again, I have to wonder why the school is not reexamining the burden of the the child's teacher to determine where the fault truly lye's. According to Williams, the school district has claimed that her son is disruptive to the class because he acts out but his mother has stated that he does not act like this at home because he does not have any related behavioral problems.
“They told me for the simple fact if an adult don’t come sit with him he cannot come to school. I was willing to do anything with the school. Whatever type of help they were trying to give and I’m still trying to do it, but as far as someone having to sit in school with him is ridiculous. I would like for my son to be in school.”
-- Veronica Williams
“We are committed to providing students with the most productive and safe learning environment possible. We have the responsibility to ensure that the entire learning community is safe for all parties and not disrupted.”
-- Phillip Boyd, Chief Administrative Officer, Normandy School District
By this statement alone, it suggests that the child could be a threat to school safety even though the child's mother has been advised that her son was suspended on the basis that he acts out in class. I can understand if the school district is worried that there could be shooting related incident but it does not seem to be the case here. I wonder if the school district has a school counselor who the child could talk with to rule out any behavioral issues. I can understand a court order with a judge instructing a parent to attend classes with their child for a set time period which in itself sounds a bit far-fetched but it would seem that the school district needs to reexamine their faculty's inability to maintain a safe and effective learning environment for all children.
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