Case
Student Lies and Parents believe him

A special education teacher went into another teachers classroom to watch her class while the teacher went to the restroom. A student was making fun of another student. The special education teacher took the student outside the classroom to address the situation. Once the situation was addressed the student went back into the classroom. The special education teacher took the other student out of the classroom to ask the student exactly what happened. Once the situation was addressed all students returned to the class. The student that was making fun of the other student was wrote up in the previous class that morning, then the SPED teacher wrote him up, and then the general education teacher sent a note to his homeroom teacher to contact his parents because he was being disrespectful in her class. The teacher sent the parents an email and they came to visit him during lunch. The student told the parents that the special education teacher grabbed him by the shirt and spit in his face. The parents went to the principal to talk with her. Then the principal talked with the SPED teacher to get her side of the story. The principal called the father to tell him what she found out from the SPED teacher. The father wanted to take the situation further. So the principal had to conduct interviews with the students in the class to see if that truly happened. All of the students the principal interviewed stated that it didn't happen or they weren't even aware that the SPED teacher was in the classroom because they were doing their work. Each student stated that the student was disrespectful to the teacher, to the students, the student hit other students, lied about other students, etc. Once this was all said and done there was no evidence this actually occurred. The SPED teacher, student, and principal had to write statements about what occurred and it had to be submitted to the assistant superintendent. The SPED teacher is very upset that this took place and now has to be sent to the superintendent. Should the SPED teacher approach the principal about talking with the parent and student?

Posted on: 10/13/15 | Views: 1207
Solution #1
Top Solution
I would not. It seems this parent is out for blood and the teacher needs a mediator. The principal already tried to do that and it did not help matters. So it is having to go behore the superintendent. If you took matters into your own hands, you could say something that could get misconstrued and be used against you. So I would just leave it in the hands of the superintendent.

At this point, I think the teacher handled the situation in the best way she could, but I think a talk with the superintendent will help settle things. It seems the parent is oblivious to their child's behavior.

I agree, a mediator is needed. You need to take care of yourself.

If I were in this situation, I would exactly do this.

I agree with this solution.

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Solution #2
Do not engage in any contact with the parent in this case. With a sticky situation like this, you may only be hurting yourself.... If for any reason there is an encounter with the parent I would make sure that there is another witness present if words are exchanged.

I agree with this solution.

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Solution #3
Hopefully the SPED teacher is a member of a professional organization and has access to legal counsel about the best way to proceed in this situation. If and when the situation has been resolved at the superintendent's level, the SPED teacher should have a candid conversation with the principle about how to avoid situations like this in the future. Many school districts have rules against false accusations of the serious nature. At the very least, the SPED teacher should speak with the principle about insuring that the student is never placed under their direct supervision.
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Solution #4
A mediator, a witness, and a neutral third party are all important when contacting these parents in the future. At this point, I would not even speak to the student without a witness. I would also certainly not pull this particular student from a classroom and talk behind closed doors. It is sad that this is what the world has come to, but this teacher needs to have a third person available (one who is not in the class, perhaps) available anytime she needs to speak with this student and they need to have a designated meeting place like the principal's office to talk.
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Solution #5
If the students and teacher was interviews and the principal made the proper connects and could clearly see that the teacher was not in the wrong. The principal should have wen to the superintendent on the behalf of their teacher and squashed the issue.

I would not do this. This is wrong.

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