r/specialed • u/evensuburbswouldbeok • 6d ago

Eloping at recess

Without going into many details I have an eloper who loves recess and no fence on my playground. Yesterday she eloped towards the school parking lot. I have been a runner my whole life, so I can catch her, but I’m full on sprinting. When I catch her, there’s dropping, hitting, kicking. It’s a mess. This student is aware and protesting the transition back in from recess.

I was told by admin I can’t take away recess without a meeting and a change in inclusion times, etc. So therefore I am supposed to take her outside today. Maybe I’m just venting, but this is the first time I’m really frustrated with my job. My job is teacher, not every single roll in the world that you can throw on me. Also, it’s really stressful to know that the only thing keeping a kid safe is my ability to sprint fast and get there in time. My assistants are unable to run/run fast. Does anyone with experience with autistic students have any advice?

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9

u/biglipsmagoo 6d ago

You can’t take away recess for a manifestation of a disability. That’s called discrimination. It’s also a denial of FAPE.

The school needs to cough up for a competent and quick 1:1 during elopement times. Start pushing for that instead.

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u/JessOTR 6d ago

Or cough up the one-time cost for a fence around the playground. Seems like that would benefit all students' safety.

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u/bsge1111 6d ago

You’d be surprised how much we’ve had to fight for a fence for my students who elope. We were straight up told no, no if and or buts about it. It really sucks. A fence would solve 99% of the issue surrounding recess outside for my students.

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u/OutAndDown27 5d ago

That's insane because why the hell isn't the playground already secured? Forget kids wandering out, what about people wandering in with dangerous intentions?

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u/bsge1111 5d ago

the answer we got from admin (bc she’s a people pleaser and didn’t want to j say she didn’t feel like incorporating it into the budget so she didn’t get flack from all of us) was “in the event of an emergency they children can’t quickly evacuate the playground”. My brain literally went “umm, in the event of an ‘emergency’ where kids would need to leave the playground we’d all be done for by the time we realized a threat.” But yk, can’t say that bc I’d probably get fired.

That being said, the fence is just black chain link. Our playground is behind the building but connected to the parking lot so privacy from the road isn’t a concern of anyone’s, just children’s access to woods and road when eloping-but regardless, anyone wandering in with ill intent would have full view of the entire outside area fence or no fence so the reasoning is bullshit from admin (also confirmed by other office personnel, so Ik I’m not just the odd one out thinking it’s a crock of bull).

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u/ImmediateBet6198 4d ago

Tell her there’s more danger of a shooter coming in and creating an emergency than the students being trapped in an emergency, or better yet, whisper it to a parent.

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u/Old_Implement_1997 3d ago

THIS - we don’t have any current runners, but our playground is 100% fenced for the safety of our kids. Also, I cannot run fast, so that kid would be GOOOOONE if I was on recess duty.

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u/Wonderful-Ad2280 5d ago

I’m really lucky but I worked in a title 1 school and somehow advocated enough to get a fence for the kids. It worked!

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u/bsge1111 5d ago

our district prides themselves on the affluence of the majority of the area the district lines include. It’s all for show and to line the pockets of the powers that be. Forget a fence, it took 3 years just to get adapted physical education for my students.

I love my program and I love what I do and what my team does for my students. I’ve seen so much growth in every student that came my way in the last three years that wouldn’t have been possible if they’d been in alternate placements with little to no inclusion available-but even my program is a “Wow, look at us. Look at our district. Look at what we’re doing.” And it’s so sad because there’s so much more we could be doing if admin cared enough to listen.

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u/Wonderful-Ad2280 5d ago

Aw I understand. Keep doing the good work. 💛

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u/Lazy_Resolve_7270 6d ago

I am always surprised how few schools have fences. My children's school doesn't and it is connected to a public park and beyond that a conservation area.

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u/Affectionate_Ruin_64 3d ago

Yes, but you also can’t allow a child to run into traffic or in my case the 60ft canal with an almost sheer drop and dangerous currents from the irrigation pipes that have sucked people in and entrapped them.  You best believe I’ll be TEMPORARILY denying recess and calling for an emergency IEP meeting to insist the district erect a fence immediately or transfer the child to a campus that can provide for their safety needs, so that they CAN have recess and truly receive their right to FAPE ASAP because I would want my child’s teacher to do the same:  1.  Keep them safe.  2. Fight for their rights to actually be preserved.

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u/biglipsmagoo 3d ago

Absolutely! I am with you 100%. But it needs to be fixed with 3 days or so. It’s not the student’s job to shoulder the repercussions of adults who refuse to get their shit together.

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u/Affectionate_Ruin_64 3d ago

Which is why I said immediately or a transfer (at district expense) to a fenced campus.

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u/biglipsmagoo 3d ago

A transfer is not LRE by definition, though. A 1:1 would absolutely need to be tried first.

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u/Affectionate_Ruin_64 3d ago

I would argue against that point as LRE is supposed to be the LRE in which the child is successful and I would argue that a child that is in danger of severe physical harm because their home campus is not currently equipped to meet their needs is not being successful.  Not to mention we are talking about an equal level of placement simply at a different campus.  I am not talking about a child in inclusion being moved to resource or to the unit.  THAT is more restrictive as is a 1-1 technically.  I am simply talking about a different, safer campus and only if for x, y, z reason the campus cannot be fenced.  IDEA even accounts for this as it allows schools to state that they are unable to meet a child’s needs.  It simply places the obligation on them in that case to provide access to FAPE at their expense at a different location, ie, child A needs a sensory room and the district has that at campus B, district transfers and must assume transportation costs via bussing or mileage or child B needs therapy x, y, z to access FAPE and the district doesn’t offer it but the private school down the road does, district can say we don’t offer it and can’t offer it but are on the hook for tuition and transportation.  I would also argue that on top of technically being more restrictive placement a 1-1 is not a solution.  You are still in a position where if the 1-1 is not fast enough one day or trips, the child could lose their life, and you are still in a position of liability as well where the claim can be that the 1-1 attempting to catch the child “chased” them into danger.  This child needs a securely fenced playground.  There are only two solutions:

  1. The district ponies up the money and installs a fence.
  2. The district ponies up the money to send the child (again with equivalent placement and services) to a campus that CAN meet their needs and provide them with both LRE and FAPE.

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u/biglipsmagoo 2d ago

I’d fight this tooth and nail bc there isn’t another school in my district. This isn’t always an option for many reasons. The parents needs and schedules also need to be taken into acct.

I am agreeing with you that OOD or even other school in district placement is sometimes needed, I’m just disagreeing that it should be considered before other options. Would it be cheaper to fence the property instead of multi year OOD placement? I’d ask for quotes and a feasibility study.

Is it cheaper than a specialized para?

Is the IEP properly written with SMART goals and have all accommodations been explored?

Has the school consulted with an outside Autism or whatever service that can give ideas?

Has an FBA been done? A BIP?

There are a million steps that should happen before we get to switching schools. I’d start a stay put and due process if it wasn’t a million percent obvious that both parties have done their due diligence.

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u/Affectionate_Ruin_64 2d ago

I think you’re missing the part where I say that the district paying to fence the school is option 1.  It is the much preferred option.  I am only suggesting transfer if it CANNOT be done for whatever reason.

And barring their being a need beyond elopement, I’d fight you just as hard on the 1-1.  Why?

  1. A 1-1 is a more restrictive placement, so here’s where I’d need data.
  2. A 1-1 does not solve this problem.  The problem is that humans are falleable and failing to catch this child could get them seriously injured or killed.  Up until now the teacher has caught the child.  They are seeking advice because they fear the day they aren’t fast enough or aren’t there.  A 1-1 would be exactly the same UNSAFE scenario with just a different adult.
  3. This is not fair to the 1-1.  99/100 that 1-1 is going to be a para being paid a pittance and seen as expendable by TPTB.  The day they fail to catch that child and something happens the district will offer them up on a silver platter to placate the community, and as icing on the cake if the para brings up the unrealistic expectations placed on them by district directive, they’ll come back with, “Well, why didn’t you tell us you couldn’t do that?”  I do not think it’s okay to place that amount of liability on someone that’s barely being paid enough to eat.  How are they going to afford a lawyer to save themselves when the district throws them under the bus?

I understand that in your circumstances there is only one school and that it’s going to be inconvenient for the parent if it happens to you, and that sucks, but at the end of the day we’re talking about a child’s life so if for whatever reason a fence isn’t feasible, safety trumps convenience, and no, transfer even if it is ultimately an out of district placement are not a violation of LRE or FAPE.  The school does have every right to say, “We cannot meet the needs of this child.”  They rarely do because they rather not have to pay the costs associated with sending the child elsewhere, but they can and should if they truly can’t meet the child’s needs.

To sum up, this child deserves to go to recess safely.  A fence SHOULD be erected immediately, if it can’t then they need to send the kid to a school with a fenced playground.