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Jenny's death is one of two that has rocked the exceptional education department of the school district.
Elia calling for dismissals after drowning of Riverview student
TAMPA -- Two aides should be fired and the principal and assistant principal should be removed from their positions at Rodgers Middle School in the aftermath of the drowning of a special-needs student.
..."That's if Superintendent MaryEllen Elia has her way. She will recommend to the Hillsborough County School Board next week that Principal Sharon Tumicki and Assistant Principal Shawn Livingston be dismissed from their jobs at the Riverview school...."
Jenny's death is one of two that has rocked the exceptional education department of the school district.
Last January, Isabella Herrera, a second-grader with a neuromuscular disorder, died a day after having a medical issue on a school bus on the way home. Neither the driver nor the aide called 911 as she turned blue and stopped breathing.
The school district is in the midst of an examination of many of its policies and procedures in the Exceptional Student Education department, and the former director of the ESE area sought a transfer to another department.
rshaw@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7999
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Click here to be directed to the FULL ARTICLE: http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-news/2013/jan/09/3/aides-expected-to-be-disciplined-in-death-of-girl-ar-602048/
Click here for another article to this story: http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/nov/01/drowned-riverview-girls-mom-blames-school-ar-550529/
The mother of an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome who drowned last week after walking out of a crowded school gym said teachers and aides are to blame for her daughter's death.
"I think it was negligence from them for not offering (extra) care for children with special needs," said Elizabeth Rosas, the mother of Jennifer "Jenny" Caballero. "If they had had more care for my daughter, this would have never happened."
She wants investigators to find out exactly what happened at Rodgers Middle School in Riverview on the afternoon of Oct. 22.
"I want everything to be cleared up," Rosas said. "I want justice. I don't want the same thing that happened to my daughter to happen to another child because of poor care."
Jenny was in a gymnasium at Rodgers Middle School in Riverview on Oct. 22 when a student alerted teachers that the girl had slipped out of the gym.
An overall review of the ESE department also is under way.
Hillsborough school board members criticize Wieland's transfer
Click link here for full story.
http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2013/jan/08/3/memeto1-school-administrator-transfer-criticized-b-ar-600796/
Wieland, who had been the general director of exceptional-student education, requested a transfer last month after her department was rocked by the deaths of two special-needs students and the arrests of two district employees on child-abuse charges.
Reading the comments listed after each of these articles is GREAT READING as well. Comments that could be true of any school district!!!
I wonder how this is affecting all the FLORIDA Districts "ESE Departments" and their "Policies".....hmmm I wonder if this will HELP the entire STATE and our ESE Education! Particularly for the Disability Specific TRAININGS of the Unique Aides or Para Professionals or whatever job title used for the person working the closest to our person needing 'assistance'.
We can only HOPE it does!!!
A mother pleaded with school board members for ESE review after her daughter almost died - click to read full story.
Here is another story of an ESE Parent that went to School Board Meeting after School Board Meeting...each time speaking on behalf to CHANGE THE WAY Special Education handled 'things'.....hmmmm this reminds me of someone we have here in Broward County that was doing the same thing before her son 'aged out of the school system'....and yet nothing changes here too.
Parents of Students receiving Special Education Supports and Services, we need to band together and support each other and SPEAK UP about what is really happening or NOT happening with our Children's education! After all, isn't about EDUCATION?
It's about Educating our Children! It's about our Children being safe while attending school. It's about having QUALIFIED teachers and staff that work with our Children.
The 2 deaths that have happened in the Tampa area are a WAKE UP CALL FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY and how Children with Special Needs are Educated!! If 2 deaths have occurred in one School District in Florida, you can bet this is happening across the Nation!
Click here for full story about JENNY in Riverview
"Jennifer had been at the school for about six weeks, Cobbe said. She had very limited verbal skills and could speak only Spanish. Earlier in the day, she had hidden beneath the bleachers and had to be coaxed out by the physical education teacher, Cobbe said.
The girl often would run away and hide when she heard strange voices so the sheriff's office had Jennifer's mother walk with searchers, calling out her daughter's name through a bullhorn. The father called other friends and relatives to make sure none had picked up the girl from school."
She was in a class with 20 Special Needs Students with 6 (SIX) AIDES and the little girls classmates TOLD them that they saw that 'Jenny' walked away....and the SIX....1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 adult aides there to WATCH 20 STUDENTS and not one of them was WATCHING Jenny leave the area as well? Someone should have been paying better attention so they could have at least RUN AFTER HER!!!?? I can't stress enough to those that DON'T HAVE A BEAUTIFUL CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO WATCH our precious children 24/7! I guess with the 1:3 RATIO for that class of 20 still wasn't enough eyes for Miss Jenny!!
I have sat in on many IEP meetings for families with a child with Down syndrome, having much discussion about the need for an aide for our kiddo's. Parents concerns seem to be viewed as being overly protective or something other than a real concern of our parents for their child's safety while at school. The "IEP team professionals" that work for public school districts more often than not, want to disregard parents pleas for help to make sure their son or daughter is watched more closely because the parents KNOW their child WANDERS OFF and RUNS QUICKLY when they do wander off. Parents KNOW their child the best, parents are the EXPERTS on their child at IEP meetings. IEP meetings many times end without the parents knowing exactly who will be responsible for the safety or our children once they come to school. Many times parents are not allowed to talk or communicate with the child's aide....if they do finally get one. Parents concerns need to be taken seriously. Our children's lives depend on Adults keeping them safe!
Attending advocacy trainings with speakers telling us to make sure you get it written on the IEP about needing an Aide, but for whatever reason our Public School Districts are getting very clever to make sure parents are not able to get 'it written into the IEP document' that their child needs the support of their own aide. This is real folks, safety of ALL students when they leave home to attend school everyday is a real issue more and more today! When certain individuals with certain types of 'special needs' like Autism and Down syndrome, they are more likely to WANDER OFF or LEAVE a classroom or the school campus.
Having had to call the police on a couple of occasions myself because my sweet little girl with Down syndrome was 'missing' for more than 6 minutes was the most helpless feeling a parent should ever have to go thru. I know how blessed and lucky we were that my girl was found, but in this most recent case in Riverview, Florida with Miss Jenny....her parents worst nightmare came true.
I am so sad and so sorry for her parents, family and friends to know that Jenny will not be coming home from school today!
Prayers to Jenny's family!!
{{oxoxox}}
Click here for full Bay News 9 article on: Answers sought in Down syndrome girl's death
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