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As for the length of her employment, the admins aren't so sure. I, along with the other 4th grade teacher, will be retiring at the end of this year. The admins don't really want to have an all new 4th grade staff next year so provided she keeps her end of the deal, they'll probably renew her contract. If not, I'll be more than happy to forgo retirement until a replacement is found.
Let me get this straight.... You and another teacher with enough teaching experience that you are eligible for retirement, meaning you have taught for 25-30 years and are over the age of 50, have quietly sat by as you knew a new teacher, with no experience, has had at least six fourth graders have "accidents" in her classes of 1 hour 50 minutes duration? I assumed when you said that you taught 5 years at that school that you were somewhat young yourself and had little experience beyond this school. There is no excuse for you, or the other teacher, to have allowed this to continue so long without reporting it. That these are your students too makes your inaction even worse. How could you allow any child, let alone your students, to suffer like that as you just sat idly by tsking? If you are retiring at the end of this year you had no reason whatsoever to fear reporting something for fear of reprisal - they wouldn't dare fire a retiring teacher mid-year, especially in a union state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concerned Teacher
Regarding elementary teachers being plentiful, my school is in a rural, low-income district in the Appalachian region of the country. Many of our students are what we call "at risk". It's usually a struggle finding new experienced teachers in this area. Most of the population lacks the education to work in the field. Those that do usually leave for better opportunities else where (pay rate is pretty low). We've tried bringing in teachers from nearby major cities, but most of them had no interest in leaving the big city for the country. I don't really blame them either.
My last school district was in "rural, low-income district in the Appalachian region of the country," (Eastern Kentucky). While they had to get an emergency certified teacher to replace me - I taught middle school science - my friend who was the assistant principal at our feeder elementary said they received over 70 fully qualified applications for their last opening.
Our school nurse provides them with temporary clothing while she washes their original clothing. Once the student's clothes are cleaned, they are allowed to change back into their own clothes.
Your school nurse washes the clothes and they are dry in time for the students to wear their original clothes home on that same day? This sounds very odd, indeed.
I would personality like to thank everyone that has replied to this thread. You have all offered much needed advice addressing this issue. The "problem teacher" is no longer employed by this district. Her employment was terminated in late-January. For those of you that may remember from my previous post a few months ago, the school administrators made a deal allowing her to keep her position for the rest of the school year provided that no more accidents occur under her care. She failed miserably. In just two short months, she caused 4 additional accidents on top of the previous 6 from earlier this year. All in all, she totaled 10 accidents in one semester. These last two incidents were extremely horrific. The nurse is also being investigated for not informing the parents of the students.
The first incident occurred during our class field trip in December before Christmas Break. Out of the three 4th grade teachers, me and her were assigned to chaperone the trip while the other teacher remained at school to supervise those who could not attend. Both classes had separate buses and tours for the trip. I was in-charge of one bus and she was in-charge of the other. Before we left, I took both groups to restroom. I informed the "problem teacher" to make sure that she allow the students to purchase items from vending machines if they so desire and to take her group to the restroom at the end of the trip before the long ride back to school (We would return after school hours so the restrooms were locked). She said ok and we went on with the trip.
Once we returned back to school, the parents were waiting in the parking lot to pick up their kids. As the kids were departing the buses, I noticed 3 students from her group get off the bus in wet clothes while others got off crying. My heart immediately sunk. As you all probably guessed, the parents literally went off the wall in anger and demanded to know what happen. The children said that the "problem teacher" refused to let them have a restroom break and verbally abused them during the field trip. The only thing she allowed them to do was purchase water, juice, etc. The 6 other students who previously had an accident under the care of this teacher decided to join in and revealed their accident stories to their parents as well. The crowd of parents quickly turned into an angery mob and demanded to speak with the "problem teacher", the nurse, and the principle. I tried to calm down the situation in fear of their safety and explained what may have happen, but was unsuccessful. The parents got so loud that the principle had to come out and address the crowd. In the midst of all the commotion, I noticed the "problem teacher" some how flew under the radar and was making a mad-dash out of the parking lot in her car. She totally threw me under the bus (no pun intended) and left us there to clean up the mess she caused! The parents wanted my head too! In all my years, I have NEVER had to have a school security guard escort me to my car to avoid attacks from an angry mob of parents.
The next school week, I was furious and confronted the "problem teacher" and demanded to know what happen on that bus. She claims that the students were horse-playing and threw bottles at each other causing liquid to splash on them. I informed her how angry the parents were and reminded her that the students said she refused to provide restroom trips and verbally abused them (A kid claim she called them "dumb trailer trash"). I asked her why she didn't tell the parents about the horse play and she began to cry. She explained that the students have been lying on her since day one and was afraid no one would believe her. She believes that the students should be punished for messing up the bus and trying to ruin her. I told her the principal is investigating this incident and she said, (still in tears) "I hope that he understands what these kids have put me through! You (me) seem to be the only teacher that has had my back through all of this". What's ironic is the fact the I have never defended this woman.
The principal contacted the bus company and requested to see a bus camera from the bus the students were on that day. THANK GOD for that camera! There must have been some incriminating evidence of her on that footage. Interestingly enough, the bus driver is a relative of hers according to the principal.
Last edited by Concerned Teacher; 02-16-2014 at 01:01 AM..
The second incident occurred in mid-January after Christmas Break. The "problem teacher" was already informed that her contract was being terminated early because of the bus fiasco. (The admins. were writing up her termination papers to dismiss her) While two teachers were returning to their classrooms, they heard loud noises coming from the "problem teacher's" class. They went over to investigate through the small door window and claim they saw a child with wet pants crying at his seat. They listened in on the convo going on and heard the "problem teacher" yell, "Well now what do we have here?!?!?!? YOU'RE WET!!!! Well class, it seems that Billy is still a little baby and can't hold his bladder! My, my -ha ha- isn't that funny class? (Class looks in fear) I SAID, ISN'T THAT FUNNY CLASS?!?!?!?! (Students respond in a frightened tone) Ye-ye-yes ma ma Ms. Problem Teacher." The two teachers standing outside claim that they witnessed the "problem teacher" grab the child and shove his face near the puddle of his own urine. Those two teachers told me and several other teachers what they saw. When I told the "problem teacher" what those other two teachers witnessed, she explained that he just spilled water on the ground and the reason she put his head down was because the class was playing " heads-up-7UP" and told me not to worry. By the end of that day, I noticed that she put up a curtain on the door window preventing anyone from outside to view inside her room. By the following week, the admins. completed her papers and she is now gone.
Well, I'm glad she's gone but it sounds like your school is full of enablers. And you never should have tried to make an excuse for her on the bus trip - you've placed your own reputation in jeopardy.
Well, I'm glad she's gone but it sounds like your school is full of enablers. And you never should have tried to make an excuse for her on the bus trip - you've placed your own reputation in jeopardy.
Looking back in hindsight, I definitely agree with you. All I really wanted to do was prevent things from escalating even further by calming down the crowd. When I addressed the parents, I assumed the "problem teacher" would come and explain to them her version of the story, etc. She clearly had no desire to speak to the parents and instead, used that opportunity to make a quick escape out of the parking lot.
This is unbelievable. She should have been terminated (at least suspended on the spot until the paperwork was complete). ALso, she should have been arrested for putting the child's face in the urine. I am extremely pro teacher, but this situation is out of hand. The principal in this school needs to go as well.
Thanks for updating us.
Do you mind telling us what state this happened?
Ok, first, if a child in your classroom was doing this to another student and 2 other students knew about it and didn't say anything to you...what would you have done? I guess I have to say that I am applaud that this teacher wasn't reported immediately to the principal and that you and your colleague watched all of this happen for months and only did something about it when the parents caught her in the act. What was said to the poor kids that were victims of this "person"? Boy, we teach our kids that teachers are safe people to talk to if something is wrong at home but I would hope that same thing would translate to the school as well.
I'm sorry but NO child should be wetting their pants in 4th grade and to have that many kids having "accidents" should have set off all kinds of radars. The fact you wanted to report this "anonymously" just speaks volumes. I sure hope the school is providing some counseling to the poor kids in that classroom that have had to put up with that teacher, her wet pants fetish and who know what else for all these months.
Are you and your colleague being disciplined as well?
I am also very pro teacher but in this case you and your colleague were flat out wrong in how you handled this.
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