This is an excerpt of a letter emailed to my son's teacher, the dean, principal and the founders in December detailing our experience. No one responded to us.
Good morning. I hope that each of you are well and enjoying the holiday season.
I have addressed these concerns over the 16 months that My son has been enrolled at Henderson Collegiate and I'm not needing nor requesting a meeting but I hope that going forward some positive changes would be made and my faith be restored in your establishment. These issues are not just My son's but issues that affect the entire student population across the board.
We, met with Ms. Cruz and Ms. Hanks on 12/10/19 and this email will echo our concerns and give feedback on some things discussed as we have had time to digest the conversation and some emotion has died down.
Bus Safety....while riding the bus to the YMCA after school, My son has been hurt twice due to other student's actions (1st pushing his head into the back of a seat & 2nd kicking My son in the stomach). Neither incident was relayed to us by the bus driver. The previous year it was 2 consecutive days of him being put on the wrong bus although Ms. Young in the front office was made aware on the first day that My son was on the wrong bus and that his route was not affected by the changes. Thank you for the positive changes made since that incident.
A recommended solution during our recent meeting on 12/10 was to allow an older student to sit with or watch My son and report if anything were to happen to him.
My expectation is that my child would be safe from harm at all times while in the care of your staff. I do not feel comfortable placing the responsibility of my son or any child in the hands of another child. Also, we don't want My son singled out as needing an overseer.
My recommendation would be to handle, redirect, discipline the unruly children, retrain the driver in his/her duties and responsibility to report any and all situations concerning bullying, violence, assault or injury to or from a child, have a system in place that parents are robo-called if the bus is not going to be at the designated drop off location. Place monitors on the buses to aid the driver in a safe ride for all the students and the driver as well. The elementary children should sit in the very front seats of the bus and have as little contact as possible with the older children. The YMCA offered to assist with transportation but for some reason the school did not accept the help. This would have been an excellent opportunity to transport the smaller children to the after school program that the YMCA offers, ensure that the children enrolled at the YMCA program get to fully participate with the activities planned by the after school camp and also help with some of the bus overcrowding. I'm sure that any of the parents paying for their children to attend the YMCA would not object to them being transported by the Y staff.
Food allergy safety.... My son is allergic to dairy products but on 12/5/19 he was given cheese. The previous year his father found out that his name was not on the list of children with food allergies. He alerted Ms. Young of the omission of My son's name but for some reason it took the front office staff several days to update the list. Ms. Moore did apologize and let us know that she and the school took food allergies very seriously and My son would not have an issue going forward. With the recent incident Ms. Hanks followed up after school, and again apologized for the incident.
I know that mistakes happen but this could have been a tragic one. My son did have a reaction and I was notified when he got sick.
My recommendation is that the Food Service staff be retrained on the importance of knowing the student population and their specific dietary needs. Federal guidelines are plainly laid out to guide them if they are in doubt as to how to move forward ensuring that this would not happen in the future. Possibly children with food allergies could have a color coded card or some item that would stand out alerting the food service staff of an allergy.
Lastly, on 12/10 My son had an accident in which he had a bowel movement in his pants. I was notified that although he did change clothes he did not have underwear. Approximately an hour later I arrived and took My son to the bathroom to help him dress. At that time I realized he had not been cleaned and there was stool still on him. I do realize that staff are not responsible for cleaning him or any child but please ensure they are offered the tools to clean themselves.
My recommendation would be that in cases like this the child be given wipes to clean themselves. I will be donating wipes to be used by any child if they should have need in the future. read more
