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South Brunswick teachers suspended

Submitted by WWAY on Sun, 04/26/2009 - 10:07am.READ MORE:
Five South Brunswick High School employees have been suspended after leaving a mentally disabled student behind during a field trip. It happened Friday at Greenfield Park in Wilmington. Two teachers, two therapeutic assistants, and a teacher assistant who is also a bus driver have been suspended. A full investigation is underway.

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No Excuses, None

Submitted by Savvy One (not verified) on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 12:44pm.
As a parent just returning from a three-day overnight fieldtrip to Washington, DC, let me tell you, it can be done. We had around 37 kids to about 9 Chaperones, and it still was a constant head count. CONSTANT. I knew I was responsible for those children and I bet I counted literally a hundred times a day for my group. Always a teacher was at the front of the line, as well as the rear to make sure each child got to each point safely. These are 5th graders, and believe me they wanted to all go in different directions. Our teachers did a fantastic job of keeping up with ALL of the children, and we were in one of the biggest cities in America. It's called WORK, and guess what, that's what those teachers who left that child behind are PAID to do, and in my opinion they should not be on administrative leave WITH PAY. Are you kidding me? They couldn't do their job while active, why pay them to sit home??
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I just heard these people

Submitted by Guest1234 (not verified) on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 5:10pm.
I just heard these people were fired...as they SHOULD be. You are correct in that it is WORK to keep up with kids, but goodness! They should be even more cautious with mentally handicapped students. How many times do people let their guard up and something happens? Anything could have happened to this child!
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Completely unbelievable!

Submitted by JWP (not verified) on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 7:04am.
My son is 8 years old and is not mentally handicapped. He is completely able to give his name, phone number, and address...knows not to go near water without adult supervision...and is aware that, if lost, he should contact 911. Yet, I would have been absolutely livid if he were left behind on a field trip with his current 2 to 20 ratio. Here, we have a child who has none of these abilities and characteristics and the ratio was 5 teachers to 12 children. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COUNT TO TWELVE??? He could have drowned, walked off never to be seen again, or been hurt/killed by one of these nuts that keep attacking people out at the lake. I can't imagine what his parents and caregivers are feeling. I'd be ready to burn something down. I hope they fight this as long and as hard as they have to.
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When my daughter attended

Submitted by Guest3434 (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 5:31pm.
When my daughter attended preschool at the age of three and a half for speech therapy, she rode one of the short special needs buses with a driver and an aide. She was in a car seat in the front, right behind the driver. My mom called me at work to tell me the bus never showed one evening, and after calling everyone in the county including the sherrif's dept., the school bus coordinator called us back to say she was bringing my daughter home. The story was that my daughter fell asleep so the driver forgot about her and went home and parked the bus. They are supposed to sweep the bus, and at some point the aide had to get off, but no one saw my daughter? I told the coordinator either she was crazy or thought I was if she thought I believed that lame excuse, but the driver was fired and that was the end of it. Just like this group, they had twelve students between five people. If these bus drivers and teachers are so distracted or so inattentive that they can lose students in that small a group, then they do not need to be in charge. And unfortunately, the parents will probably never learn the real story unless their child is able to tell them.
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shame on you

Submitted by Guest22222 (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 5:27pm.
I am a teacher and can tell you firsthand how stressful field trips can be. .Sure, they are a lot of fun- but I ALWAYS fear I will be leaving someone behind. I can't tell you how many times I do a head count while on a field trip. It is very irresponsible of those teachers, and there is NO excuse. I can't even imagine how angry and upset I would be at those teachers if that happened to my child!
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Second that

Submitted by Guest52 (not verified) on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 10:57am.
As a parent, I find their actions totally unacceptable. As a teacher, I see absolutely no excuse for them leaving a child behind on a field trip. I am an EC teacher and we take students on two local field trips a year. One of them involves multiple short stops as it is a community service project they do every year visiting different places like a nursing home. We complete head counts multiple times during each stop (before leaving bus, during, loading, and before bus leaves). We generally have three to four buses each year on that trip. We have never left a child behind because we put them first. Every child must be accounted for before the bus ever starts at each stop. Yes, it takes time BUT it is imperative each child be accounted for before leaving. You do not leave a child behind. Our children have disabilities ranging from mild cognitive delays, visually impaired, heaing impaired Autism, to those with multiple physical and/or cognitive delays. Some of these with mental or behavioral/emotional issues can have the potential to wander off but so can a regular ed child. It is the adult's responsibility to be aware of this and keep a close eye open. They should have been suspended for their carelessness in protecting the child.
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I agree with the previous

Submitted by Guestmother (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 9:14am.
I agree with the previous posts. There should be a ZERO exception to this. There is NO excuse why 5 employees missed this child. What were all 5 of them doing that not one of them noticed?? YES, I am VERY well aware of the effort it takes to send children on field trips....including special needs children, as I myself have a special needs child (that attends a New Hanover County school) She has been on SEVERAL field trips with a higher than 12 count and the supervision was top notch! Every head counted SEVERAL times during the trip. I am sure there are 5 county residents with the credentials to have their positions with the way the economy is. Wonder how they would feel if it were their child?? Thank GOD a citizen noticed the child got left. Or we could of been reading a different news story. The school board should NOT let them return. Is this a message we will send that it is ok to leave a child behind? No worries you might lose a few days pay....but that child COULD OF LOST HIS LIFE!!!
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I agree too. I also have a

Submitted by Guestagain (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 3:09pm.
I agree too. I also have a special needs child (non verbal LF autistic), but he goes to South Brunswick Middle school... Just a few years from now he'll be going to SBHS. I just hope his current teacher will move up to the high school with him. (She used to be his elementary school teacher.) I can't begin to imagine what that must have been like for the mom OR the child! :(
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An investigation?

Submitted by Guest43 (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 8:39am.
With only 12 kids under their supervision they managed to lose 1? There is zero excuse for that, ZERO.
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That was very irresponsible.

Submitted by srb (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 10:52am.
That was very irresponsible. Thank God the student wasn't hurt. Those 5 adults should be unemployed right now! They definitely don't qualify to work with children.
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MENTALLY HANDICAPPED BOY LEFT BEHIND

Submitted by SARAFRANCES (not verified) on Sun, 04/26/2009 - 11:45am.
ALWAYS, WHEN MY SONS WERE IN SCHOOL AND ON FIELD TRIPS, WE ALWAYS DID A HEAD COUNT ON THE BUS BEFORE LEAVING- WHAT WERE THESE PEOPLE THINKING OF- THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE WORKING WITH THESE PEOPLE-
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