Steel Valley SD School Board try to deflect blame to teachers after the removal of SpecEd restroom.

[greatlaurel]

Last edited Fri Mar 27, 2015, 10:59 AM - Edit history (1)

Diana Borges, director of pupil personnel, special services and elementary education ruled a student in the special education classroom will be required to use the faculty restroom in the bottom floor of the school rather than be forced to climb stairs to the student restroom. The teachers filed a grievance over the decision. The grievance was backed by 18 teachers, including 2 special education teachers. The teachers are being made out as selfish for filing the grievance. However, the school district removed the restroom that had been in the special education classroom for a ventilation unit. It makes one wonder what the conditions were in the special education classroom that the school had to add ventilation equipment rather than keep an easily accessible restroom for the children. The lack of investigation in the newspaper article is quite glaring.

The teachers' representative stated in the article that they were trying to get a decision that would benefit all the kids whose classrooms were on that floor.
Diana Borges admitted "the lower level used to have a small students bathroom in the special education room. But recently a ventilation issue forced the district to use that space for a ventilation unit."

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2015/03/26/Steel-Valley-teachers-unhappy-about-disabled-student-using-bathroom/stories/201503260039

The school district puts the special education classroom in the ground floor of the building without access to an elevator. Then, they remove the only handicapped accessible bathroom for students on that floor for ventilation, "recently". Another article mentions the special needs kids have to go outside and up stairs to be able to go to music and art.

The teachers, including the special education teachers, file a grievance which is supposed to be confidential, but is released to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette which used the information to make a teacher bashing story. They conveniently bury the information about the removal of the restroom in the special education classroom. The administration made a decision to force all the special needs kids to use the restrooms upstairs rather than rebuild the restroom they removed.

In addition, the little girl in the article cannot attend music or art classes, because she cannot climb the stairs to those classes. Music and art are vital to the education of children with disabilities.

Most of the comments to the article are anti-teacher and anti-union. They fail to understand how the school board has been in violation of the ADA and probably IDEA. The school board is more interested in bashing the teachers than in providing a proper education and proper facilities for all students. The people of this school district need to elect people who care about all the kids to the school board.

[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

The administration also made the grievance available to the press, in violation of confidentiality, as noted in the 4th paragraph, but I'd like to highlight that.

[greatlaurel]

3. I agree that needs to be highlighted. Looks like the administrators were trying to deflect attention

The deflection appears to have been pretty effective, judging from the comments section of the article.

[madfloridian]

10. And gave anti-teacher folks a chance to name-call.

Which was probably the intention of the board.

[Starry Messenger]

12. Easy to get that stirred up in the anti-teacher atmosphere

which is becoming permanent.

[kiva]

2. Gosh, I thought all of those teachers were selfish jerks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026419232 Divide and conquer, that's the rule.

Thanks for posting this, maybe we can talk about why school administrators would make these decisions then blame the teachers.

[greatlaurel]

4. This one is particularly disgusting, as it is clear, the teachers were fighting for the kids.

Removing the accessible restroom in the special education classroom has had to be a tremendous hardship on the children, the teachers, and the aides. Trying to get a disabled child upstairs to a restroom quickly has had to cause many distressing situations for the kids and lots of extra work for the aides and teachers.

It is just speculation on my part, but I bet the faculty restroom was already being used for the kids with disabilities, at least, on an emergency basis.

The school board and administrators know very well the building is completely inadequate and needs upgrades or replaced completely. They just do not want to do the hard work of raising the money to do it. It is much easier to just blame the teachers.

The newspaper has disgraced itself by failing to investigate the removal of the restroom in the special education classroom and the failure of the district to replace the restroom with a proper facility.

[greatlaurel]

5. One more thought.

If the administrators/school board are so unethical as to violate the contract what other unethical acts might they be willing to do? This school district needs a light of sunshine.

[jwirr]

6. Especially since they recieve fed money specifically to include special ed in their schools.

[LWolf]

7. Thank you. nt

[madfloridian]

8. A big kick. Tired of everyone blaming teachers for everything.

Sick of being called names like "selfish assholes" at a Democratic forum.

Seriously tired of it.

Thanks for your intelligent posting on this topic.

[SusanCalvin]

27. And I'm tired of teachers not being allowed to stand up for themselves

Yes, teachers are there for the kids, but teachers are people, and employees, as well.

I haven't done a scientific study, but it's always seemed to me that teachers who refuse to be doormats are immediately demonized, at least by some.

I don't think it's good for the kids to see their supposed role models being used for doormats, either.

[greatlaurel]

29. That is a good point.

The teachers here in Ohio are in a terrible situation. They are getting abused terribly. Our state is being run by the GOP thieves who are robbing our state blind to enrich themselves and their GOP donors. The charter schools in this state are criminal enterprises.
This website compares charter school performance to the public schools from which their money is being taken. It is shocking how the tax dollars are being taken without any accountability from the charter schools.

http://knowyourcharter.com/2014/09/30/news-release-new-charter-website-compares-charter-and-public-schools/

[SusanCalvin]

33. That is the whole deal with charters.

They get started as a supposed improvement and then are not held accountable. And they dump problem kids, at least some of them.

[madfloridian]

9. Looks like the anti-teacher rhetoric took hold here big time.

That's what the reformers have managed to do...our own president and education secretary among them...leading them.

Sick of being attacked when I post in defense of public schools.

[madfloridian]

11. Go here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026424646

[Wella]

14. Did you see that the school district removed the special ed restroom?

That is what started the problem.

[Wella]

13. " the school district removed the restroom that had been in the special education classroom"

This makes much more sense.

The teachers and the child's family should join forces to fight the district.

[madfloridian]

15. Yes, exactly.

[Wella]

19. A friend of mine worked in a high school

There were more female than male teachers but fewer female restrooms overall. (There weren't many restrooms for teachers anyway.) The new facilities guy came in one year and took the only women's restroom with two stalls (the rest had one toilet per) and made it into an office for himself. He already had an office, he just didn't like it. He never replaced the women's restroom.

My friend and her colleagues had a single 7-minute passing period between classes to get to the restroom and get back to the students before the bell rang. These poor women often couldn't get to pee and had to hold it through a 55 minute class and try again.

[madfloridian]

20. Lordy I remember trying to someone to cover my class so I could go...seemed so far away.

No one ever worried about teachers having a restroom break, but we always made sure the kids had one when needed.

It was often a nightmare.

[Wella]

21. I can imagine. I know at least one of my friend's colleagues ended up with a bladder infection

as a result.

I have come to the conclusion that teachers have none of the power but all of the responsibility and the blame.

[SusanCalvin]

28. Bingo nt

[greatlaurel]

30. I was deeply saddened that the child's parent was siding against the teachers.

She has been hoodwinked by the media/administrators, so she blames the teachers who are trying to force the administration in providing proper facilities with the only tool they had.

[Wella]

35. Sometimes, the only complaint that works is with the teacher's union

My friend taught in a Title I middle school: the roof was leaking, and she had to put about a dozen trashcans out to catch the water coming from different spots in the ceiling. When she complained that the children were being impacted--and Lord knows what was in that ceiling--the principal ignored her. It wasn't until she, herself, filed a union grievance about the health hazard to herself that the school started to pay attention.

[greatlaurel]

36. Spot on observation. Teachers are ignored about safety issues until they file a grievance.

As a matter of fact, safety issues are always ignored at every work place until the union files a grievance or takes other legal action. That is why union shops are always safer places to work. Management never cares about safety unless it will cost them by getting caught by the union grievance process or loosing business. School administrators are notorious for failing to fix buildings and doing routine maintenance, but they are not the only people in management who refuse to spend money on maintenance.

There was a rural school near me that would not fix the roof leaks. They finally had to close the auditorium because the walls were caving in from the water infiltration from the leaking roof. They could have prevented that problem by just fixing the roof. The students went years without an auditorium. If I were on the school board, I would be walking through every building on rainy days just to make sure maintenance was on top of minor issues before they became massive problems.

I am sure that is the situation at the Steel Valley school. The school board and administrators are not willing to spend the time and money to maintain the school building and make sure the proper facilities are in place for every child.

[Wella]

37. So much good stuff in this post.

"School administrators are notorious for failing to fix buildings and doing routine maintenance"

YES, from everything I've heard. When you have a good friend who is a school teacher, you hear lots of horror stories.

The rural school situation you talked about amazes me. If you own a house, you do routine maintenance. That means, you replace the roof every 15-20 years (or more, depending on climate). You patch holes as they occur. You never just leave the damned thing. I'm assuming no one wanted to pay to have it patched? Or maybe it was just basic graft.

I thoroughly agree about Steel Valley. I think these teachers are filing a grievance to put the school on notice. We don't even know if the faculty restroom can accommodate children with special needs. They often make teachers' restrooms small, and it might be hard to maneuver a wheelchair in there. I don't know.

[greatlaurel]

39. You are very sharp. The roof leaks were a combination incompetence and corruption, IMO.

No one can get elected to the school board unless they belong to one of the local right wing churches, are a minister, a right wing loon, or a local business person, usually some combination of those choices. The board members go along with whatever will make their business partners or relatives money. It has gotten much better, but there are still serious problems. Last fall a new member was elected who has no education background whatever, but his boys are really good athletes!

I thought the same thing as you about the teacher's restroom. Notice the administrator was only allowing this child to use the restroom. The special needs kids who have to wear diapers must get carted upstairs to get changed since the administration removed the accessible restroom for the classroom. How horrible for the kids and the staff. If the faculty restroom has more than one stall, which is unlikely, the staff would not be able to use it because adults are not allowed into a restroom with a child. Learned that in a volunteer training class very recently. I am sure that is the guidance nationwide, now, especially after the Sandusky case.

[blogslut]

16. Thanks for this additional info.

Not cool, school district. Not cool.

Pretty tired of school districts across this nation doing the bare minimum when it comes to ADA compliance. That goes for state universities and community colleges too.

[Wella]

22. I don't know how they get away with it

There have been so many court cases and it's clear that schools need to follow the law--and they just don't.

[greatlaurel]

31. It is truly shocking how many people skirt these laws.

Most people just never figure they will be impacted by the lack of facilities until they need them.

[Wella]

34. Maybe that's part of the problem

At any rate, the school district is making poor decisions.

[lumberjack_jeff]

24. My local community college has the required number of handicapped parking spots...

... right at the bottom of three flights of stairs leading to the entry doors.

[GeorgeGist]

17. kick

[liberal_at_heart]

18. K&R

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. The ADA requires either ramps or elevators.

It's unacceptable for a school to be inaccessible to its students. Both the IDEA and ADA laws guarantee it. I have no doubt that the school board would try to make the disabled kids and their parents the bad guys when they are forced to do the right thing.

That said...

If the students needed to use the staff bathroom as an interim accommodation while permanent ADA fixes were being implemented, this seems reasonable.

It sounds like the school is now trying to make the teachers look like the bad guys for using the only tool at their disposal (their contract) as a lever to get the school to do the right thing.

[LiberalAndProud]

25. Kick.

for teachers everywhere and for Mad, who reminded me of this thread.

[ND-Dem]

26. I saw the original thread on this and ignored it as i figured there was more to it.

[greatlaurel]

32. You were correct!

Thanks for your post.

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. kick