skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Jennifer Caballero ~ You drowning in the pond behind Rogers Middle School last October 2012 in Riverview, Florida will not be in vain! Your beautiful LIFE was for a reason! God doesn't make mistakes! Was it to help get EVERYONE TALKING about ESE "ISSUES" ~ which are many throughout the entire State of Florida. Will your tragic and senseless drowning around this time last year, will it make better changes at how students like you are TREATED IN SCHOOL? Will your death help with getting QUALITY TRAINING for those hired to work as ESE 1:1 Para Professional Aides? I HOPE SO!!
Jennifer Caballero ~ thinking of you and your family today!! Prayers to your mom & dad!!!
Oct 23, 2012 ... RIVERVIEW — An 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome who ... Jennifer Caballero, who went by Jenny and whose mother held her in her arms...http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/girl-with-down-syndrome-found-dead-near-riverview-school/1257809 Click to read full story.
Oct 24, 2012 ... RIVERVIEW Jennifer Caballero hid under the bleachers, away from her ... A teacher saw Jennifer — an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome ...
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/school-in-shock-after-riverview-girls-drowning/1257915
Click to read full story.
I live in Broward and if Hillsborough County Public Schools runs like Broward Public School District, you can bet NOBODY "downtown" wants to be accountable for actions that could and should have prevented the death of Jennifer, a little girl with Down syndrome.
Are schools with WATER nearby....are the FENCES checked on a regular basis? I don't care what school district, what matters is the SAFETY OF ALL STUDENTS no matter what!!
I too am a parent to a wonderful daughter with Down syndrome and I know first hand that the support of a GOOD 1:1 Para "Professional" is everything!! TRAINING is everything when it comes to staff working with students with a disability, most are not trained or even 'collaborating' with the parents, who KNOW everything about the student they are HIRED to work with 5 days a week! ~ EVERYONE IS AT FAULT for Jenny's death!
If the good character of the Brand New Assistant Principal, Mr. Livingston is what they are trying to point out, I can support that and all that he was overseeing...if it's true about his 'requests or CONCERNS' for things that needed to be done. Absolutely the DISTRICT Adminstrators and the different departments, the maintenance department that oversee that ALL the schools are SAFE!! That would include MAKING SURE FENCES SURROUNDING PONDS are secure and able to prevent children from DROWNING in those ponds that are within feet of the schools. Over the SUMMER Break....wouldn't it be safe to say that such SAFETY CHECKS would be ongoing without the school building Assistant Principal needing to even put in a 'request' for a full inspection of the campus for SAFETY of ALL STUDENTS!
What is wrong with this that everyone wants to blame or ruin the full and future career of this one man, if he if found to be of good character and WAS CONCERNED with 'things' on his new campus. I would like to know more about Mr. Livingston as a leader and his background pertaining to ESE students, he sounds like her was chosen for his new position because he was what Rogers Middle School needed!
I would like to know why the heck any and all 1:1 Para Professional Aides are not doing their jobs with caring for the individuals they are hired and receiving a pay check each week to KEEP SAFE and like Mr. Livingston said, ...."the aides need to be ENGAGED with their students"......absolutely....the teacher should have demanded that the ESE Aides DO THEIR JOBS of working with the students they were assigned to work with!
Mr. Livingston, I am sorry you are caught in the crossfire when those that work "downtown" should be on the stand with you and held accountable for so many things, training of the Aides, fences being in good repair, teachers making sure the ESE Aides are ENGAGING with the student they are assigned to keep safe!!!
The Building Maintenance department...what do their logs and records have about the repairs needed at that school to keep ALL STUDENTS SAFE?!!!
Jennifer Caballero ~ Your death will not be forgotten or in vain! Because of your senseless drowning out behind your new Middle School...I am praying that ESE students like you are treated with RESPECT and Educated with School Staff that ENGAGE with their student and that all Public School Employees make sure to keep all students safe!
Listed below are a few news articles;
Aug 6, 2013 ... The assistant principal of Rodgers Middle School, fired in the aftermath of the death of a special-needs student, was before the Hillsborough ...
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/rodgers-middle-school-firing-is-revisited/2135022
Gov. Scott to sign bill that improves special needs education, allows ...
Jun 28, 2013 ... Gov. Rick Scott is set to sign a bill making big changes to the way special education is run in Florida.
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/gov-scott-to-sign-bill-that-improves-special-needs-education-allows-parents-to-be-more-involved
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
http://tbo.ly/VPaWfM
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!!!
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
Posts
