Should I say something to this school?

[Nalla]

My school has a theater and so sometimes kids come to see plays or whatever, and then eat lunch in the cafeteria. Yesterday tons and tons of kids all from different schools came (I'm talking literally 15 busses full!). One school was a special needs school. The kids were probably around 8 years old, and there was seven kids to one teacher. That ratio just seems really off to me. Anyway, they're leaving and one girl wandered away from her class and over to my dog. Her teacher didn't notice, and I was half way across the cafeteria. The girl wouldn't look at me or talk to me, (I tried to get her to) but was totally focussed on my service dog (sitting on the floor with her arms around my pup ). I tried to get her to follow me back to her class but she wouldn't listen, and her class was half out the door, and I didn't want to leave her at my table while I ran and caught her class because what if she wandered off again. I asked her if she'd promise to hold onto my dog's back, and she didn't answer, but held on. I got her back to the class using the dog, and then her teacher yelled at her for wandering off.
I don't see it as the kid's fault, she obviously has some sort of disability and needs more supervision. I can't believe that class was walking out the door not noticing they left the girl behind.
With a little asking around I got the school name. Should I call and tell someone what happened? Or just let it go or what? I'm not a great judge of situations, but it doesn't seem right that they didn't notice and then got angry at the little girl when it was the staff that messed up.

 

[mechurchlady]

Big hugs for you Nalla.

Yes you should contact the school. If the child could not follow simple instructions and wandered off then it needed more supervision. They should have done a head count and made sure everyone was ready to leave as kids do wander off at times. Waht if you have been a stranger or did not have your dog. I think you are a wonderful person to help her and it was best you stayed with her. While you were getting help she could have wondered farther. You are a such a good kid.

Merry Christmas and big hugs from Laurie.

 

[bookwormde]

By your brief description I would guess that she was somewhere on the on the Autism spectrum (animals and babies are often “magnets” them). Yelling at her for “wondering off” shows whoever the supervisor was not well trained.

IF you are comfortable with expressing your concern it might help in the future. Thank you for being such a caring person

bookwormde

 

[ireland_nicole]

Please, please let the school know. If that were my child (oh wait, in another situation that was my child...) I would want to know. The school has an obligation to keep these kiddos safe. The administration of the school needs to know what happened in this instance. There needs to be a plan in case so that, quite literally, "No child is left behind." Nala, well done. I hope your SD handled the situation o.k. I think you did a wonderful job, and I'm sure the parents would thank you for it.

 

[Piper]

Yes--you should definitely let the school know. I have worked with some pretty incompetent teachers before and it unfortunately often takes an "outsider" letting the administration know about a problem before it is taken seriously.

You can bet your boots that she won't say anything--and often when another teacher reports a problem, it turns into a "he said/she said" situation where the offender puts her own spin on things. But let someone who is not a parent or teacher report a problem and it is looked at from a different perspective.

Be factual--don't add your opinions--just: this is what I observed--this is what I did--this is the timeline. I would also mention that the teacher was chastizing the child for something that appeared to be lack of supervision.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Nalla - God Bless You for caring about this child!

Yes, please call the school

 

[DannysMom]

I'm going to go with certainly report the incident, but..... from what I've seen of how school events get handled (as a parent) maybe you should report it up through proper "channels."

Do you have a good rapport with the principal at your school? Perhaps approach him/her with the report of the event and ask them to contact the other school on your behalf?

TO my way of thinking that class was not properly staffed, the level of supervision that those specific kids apparently needed should have had a smaller ratio of kids to adults, at least 1 more aide.

 

[Nalla]

I ended up doing what DannysMom suggested. I had the events lady at my school (the one who gives places permission to be at our school, schedules everything etc) call the visiting school. She said they seemed to take it pretty seriously, so that's good at least. I guess having an adminstrator from another school call them got the point across better. Not to mention she speaks much better than I do.
Thanks for all the advice and input.

 

[mechurchlady]

It is what is onside that matters, Nalla. You are a hero and a very wise girl. You helped that child and hopefully her school will change their policies. This time she went to pet the cute doggy but next time what could happen. Very proud of you Nalla.

I pin on you a Medal of Valor for your bravery and heroism.
Hugs and chocolates to one smart and brave person from Laurie

 

[Piper]

Great solution Nalla. Kudos to you. I agree with Laurie, You've done a great job!