Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Dear webmaster,

Since someone chose to post an inflammatory story of Tom Wilkinson's decision to ban a special-needs nurse from Tussing Elementary, a more balanced version should also be posted.

Apparently, this nurse caused a problem with accusing some teachers of using inappropriate force to calm down another special-needs student. Both the school and Children Services found the accusation to be unfounded.

Now she ''simply wants to care for Royal's daugher.''

It's a little late for that, isn't it?


Disabled girl?’s nurse banned from school
Mother fights woman?’s removal, says she has right to choose who cares for her child
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Charlie Boss

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It can be a look in the eye or a twitch in the face, but Keira Holloway knows when her 7-year-old charge is happy or sad, uneasy or upset.

The girl uses a wheelchair and is nonverbal, so she relies on Holloway to watch her breathe, convey her thoughts to others and help her understand what is going on around her.

Now, the nurse won?’t be allowed to help the second-grader at Tussing Elementary after the principal banned Holloway from the school. Tom Wilkinson said Holloway?’s presence was disruptive.

The district has offered to provide a nurse, but the girl?’s mother wants to keep using Holloway.

''I have a right to choose a nurse for my own daughter,'' Charmelle Royal said. She would not identify the girl?’s disabilities, but Pickerington school officials acknowledge that she needs constant care.

Thanks to medical advances, students who might have been bedridden in the past now increasingly can attend school. And federal laws that require schools to provide therapy, nursing services and other resources also play a role.

''There are more kids with severe health problems in the school districts, and they need attention,'' said Sue Will, president of the National Association of School Nurses.

Mark Semer, special-education director at Gahanna-Jefferson schools, said the district has had 10 students in the past five years who needed nursing aides during school. ''There is an increased need for this service,'' he said.

School nurses tend to be employed by the districts, but private-duty nurses like Holloway are not unheard of in schools, education experts said.

Of 1,800 special-needs students, Hilliard has three who have private nurses in school with them.

''It?’s a rare occurrence because we can provide that service,'' Hilliard spokeswoman Michelle Wray said.

In Franklin County, parents can get nursing assistance from the county Educational Service Center and the Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, which can provide nurses and medical aides for students. Nursing services can be paid through Medicaid waivers, insurance or through the school district. Royal wouldn?’t say how Holloway is paid.

There?’s no easy solution for Holloway?’s patient.



By Tussing Mom

disruptive, con't.

Pickerington Superintendent Bob Thiede, Wilkinson and other school officials met with Holloway and the girl?’s mother several times during the week, hoping to resolve the situation.

''I don?’t think it?’s going to be an overnight solution,'' Royal said. Her daughter has two nurses: one who cares for her on Monday and Tuesday, and Holloway the rest of the week.

Holloway said she thinks she?’s been banned because she complained about how teachers calmed down another special-needs student in October. She thought they used inappropriate force.

Wilkinson wouldn?’t specify why the nurse has been banned, but said it?’s not retaliation.

''Absolutely not,'' he said. ''It?’s because there?’s a disruption that will not be tolerated in the school.''

He and district officials investigated Holloway?’s accusations immediately and did not find any evidence of abuse, Wilkinson said. He said he didn?’t tell the children?’s parents because he deemed the claims unsubstantiated.

By law, schools are required to contact police or Children Services when there is any claim of abuse.

Royal contacted the student?’s parent two months after the incident, spurring a Children Services investigation that also found the complaints to be unfounded.

Holloway now simply wants to care for Royal?’s daughter, as she?’s been doing for seven years.

''She has a lot of medical issues,'' Holloway said. ''She requires a team of medical experts at Children?’s Hospital and at home to assist in sustaining her life.''
cboss@dispatch.com


By Tussing Mom

The schools a smelling here.

You may view the Dispatch article with ''balance''. Unfortunately it just created more questions and more doubt that the school acted responsibly.

First the Principal refuses to give the exact reason this nurse is banned from the school other than being disruptive.

It has been established in both articles that this nurse reported an alleged abuse in October.

The parent of the disabled child claims the banning of her daughter's nurse was revenge for reporting the alleged abuse.

Now we read more information on the alleged abuse incident. This nurse reports the abuse (in her opinion) to the school district. The school administrator chooses not to inform the parents of the child or children alleged to have been abused. The school does an internal investigation and finds NOTHING.

TWO MONTHS later they inform the parents about the allegations of this nurse. After two months either these parents or the school administration decides to follow the law and they bring in Children Services to investigate (see MIffin High School and calling Childern services). In the mean time the aide involved in the incident resigns (reason given is STRESS) . Did she take part in the children services investigation?

Why did everyone wait the two months?

Who actually called Children Services?

Who remembers what happensed after these two months? What were you all doing on January 3rd 2007 at 10 AM? I doubt any of us could answer that accurately.

I am sorry but no matter how hard I try to see the school's side on this incident I keep coming back to what actually happened in October and why weren't the parents informed about an incident involving their child the same day? Is this normal procedure? Were there burses or other visible indications of an incident? Are these alleged victims able to communicate to their parents about the day's activities let along two months ago?


Normally silence in golden. In this case Silence is Guilty.

Special Ed Teacher

I teach special education-particularily children who are severe/profound or have severe behavorial issues. Spend one week in this kind of environment and you will see that this is a different kind of world. I had to be trained to protect myself and how to restrain a child so they do hurt themselves, me, or others around them. To an untrained person, what may seem like abuse is defititely not. Ever been given a black eye by a 7 year old, kicked so hard you have bruises, been stabbed in the hand with a pencil, punched in the stomach so hard it knocks the wind out of you? Ever had a student threaten your life with scissors? Sounds like I exaggerating, but this is what happened to me in just one year alone. The thing you have to remember is that these kids can't help these behaviors. My job is to try and teach these type of children and others like the girl in the wheelchair. I must make sure it is a safe environment for all involved. As a good teacher, you learn to see the signs of when a child is going to ''go off''. As mentioned, I have been trained in ''restraining methods'' to settle the child down. At times, retraining a child may have to take place once a month up to once or twice a day. It is part of the job and to an untrained eye, it may look abusive. In actuality, it is not. It is my responsibility to save the child from him or herself, protect the other children and protect myself.

Right now, I can hear you saying, these type of kids don't belong in school. Face the facts, they are. The law requires it and it is my job to teach them.

Want to know why Mr. Wilkinson can't give exact details? It's the confidentiality factor. Want to know why this nurse is most likely claimed to be disruptive in the classroom? Working with a group of kids like this is not only hard, but you have to earn their trust. Bringing in an outsider (especially one who is as vocal as this nurse has been described) sets kids off and disrupts the classroom. Weeks and weeks of work go down the drain when something like this happens.

As to whay the aide quit----do alittle research. This job has one of the highest burn out rates imaginable. There are days when my family members have told me to transfer to another position. I have a love/hate relationship to my job, but wouldn't trade it. As for an aide, yes...I can see her quitting. They don't make enough money to have to endure some of the stuff they do. I can see this aide's husband saying to just quit because it isn't worth the stress she deals with on an everyday basis yet alone to be accussed of ''abuse'' for just doing her job.

I applaud Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Theide for doing what they are doing. AND NO....I do not work in the PLSD. Believe me, if an administrator even had the least bit of suspicion of abuse, it would have been acted upon. They are required to report this by law and wouldn't risk their livlihood by protecting a teacher. But...on the other hand, these two men will go to bat for a teacher who has done no wrong.

Sincerely, Someone who knows firsthand