On October 29th, 2008, a Latino student in evident pain was brought to the nurse’s office by a fellow seventh grader at Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle, NY. “Joseph” (not his real name) told the school nurse, Carla Murphy, he had been playing outside during recess, slipped on the wet grass and fell with his arms outstretched onto a concrete surface. He told Nurse Murphy that “both arms hurt” and – indicating his wrists and forearms – that he was in extreme pain. Nurse Murphy, interrupted from eating her lunch, handed the boy a bag of ice and called the boy’s mother to come pick him up from school. The mother, Maritza Rodriguez, asked the nurse to call for an ambulance. Murphy refused and hung up the phone on the mother. More than six hours later, an emergency room doctor told Rodriguez, that both her son’s arms were severely fractured between the wrists and the elbows. Joseph was absent from school for more than two months and only recently returned.
According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, each year emergency departments in the United States treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries. About 45% of playground-related injuries are severe—fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations. About 75% of nonfatal injuries related to playground equipment occur on public playgrounds. Most occur at schools and daycare centers. Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries. Of them, 82 (56%) died from strangulation and 31 (20%) died from falls to the playground surface.
Given that nearly half of playground injuries are severe, one might expect that a student who appears with an unknown playground injury complaining that both his arms hurt might get more medical attention than a bag of ice and a phone call home.
For those not familiar with the various machinations of the men and women who control the New Rochelle school district, Mrs. Rodriguez’s story provides an instructive glimpse into the mindset of local school officials and how their actual dealing with parents contrast with their showy public assertions of welcoming parents into the schools and celebrating diversity. As the Rodriguez family has learned the hard way, everything is copacetic up until the point where a parent asks for something the District doesn’t want to give. Then, all of a sudden, the parent is labeled a “problem parent” and doors are quite literally slammed in their face. What she is now finding out is something many other parents have discovered – the district treats parents not as “stakeholders” or “constituents” or “customers” but rather as potential litigants. Her story also highlights what families of color – the Isaac E. Young Middle School student body is 70% “minority” students – can expect from school officials who claim to celebrate diversity but, in fact, treat minority students, especially those from the South End, and most especially those with parents who do not speak English, as a nuisance – or worse. Ironically, although the mother does not speak much English both she and her husband are legal residents, having come to the United States 20 years ago, and their children are U.S. citizens which just goes to show that even born-and-raised American children are treated like second-class citizens if their mom does not speak English.
Joseph comes from a family that has experienced its share of political turmoil and repression. His parents each emigrated separately from South America and came to the United States in the late 1980’s. They became legal residents in the United States, met, married and had two children both born here and therefore U.S. citizens. While Mr. Rodriquez is a fluent English speaker, Mrs. Rodriquez has only acquired a rudimentary facility with English and is not comfortable understanding or making herself understood in any language other than Spanish. Compounding this, her past experience with corrupt and violent authorities in her home country makes her extremely reluctant to deal with any kind of authorities in the United States.
Upon arriving at the school, Mrs. Rodriguez pleaded with the school nurse to call an ambulance to take her badly injured child to the hospital. Her requests were met with an icy indifference bordering on depravity. In a Kafkaesque moment, Rodriguez alleges that Nurse Murphy, a mandated reporter under New York State law, threatened that if Rodriguez did not leave immediately, she would “call CPS” [Child Protective Services], a threat Rodriguez understood to mean that Murphy would file a complaint with CPS alleging that the mother was not giving her child proper medical treatment. Frustrated but unwilling to accept “no” for an answer, Mrs. Rodriguez left the nurse’s office with her son and went looking for the school principal, Anthony Bongo.
Talk of the Sound readers will recognize the name Anthony Bongo as the serial violator of the New York State Clean Indoor Act currently the subject of a complaint recently referred by the New York State Health Department to the local Westchester County Health Department for review, the person who sought to use the police to intimidate the operator of this web site, the person who claims to have increased minority performance on state math tests in just two years by a whopping 50% after decades of stagnant performance – all without school district employees changing answers or otherwise cheating, and, of course, as the man in charge of the school during the infamous “noose incident” which is now wending it’s way through the court system courtesy of the NAACP, a case the District will almost certainly lose or be forced to settle for far more than the cost of a stuffed animal and a piece of rope. In that case, Mr. Bongo is alleged to have taken no action when a black employee complained that a white supervisor had hung a stuffed monkey with a noose in his office; emboldened, the white supervisor reportedly hung a total of three stuffed animals. All this about the time the Jena 6 incident was making headlines across the country. The District only took disciplinary action (a mild suspension) after the NAACP took on the case.
In response to Mrs. Rodriguez’s pleas for help, Mr. Bongo’s secretary stated that Mr. Bongo, standing just a few feet away, was “unavailable”. Joseph lifted one of his broken arms and pointed out Mr. Bongo to his mother. Mrs. Rodriquez approached Mr. Bongo for help. Clearly annoyed at having been involved in the matter, Bongo shouted past the mother to his secretary, demanding she find Mr. Martinez, the school dean and a Spanish speaker, to “deal with” Mrs. Rodriguez.
Sources familiar with the school say her account is entirely consistent with common practice at the school. Despite public claims that the school welcomes parents, school secretaries are instructed by Mr. Bongo to run interference for him by blocking parents with complaints from reaching him. In some situations. Parents in the building are often redirected to other administrators in the building, those who call on the phone are typically transferred to telephones in empty offices (the school district does not have a voice mail system so the phones ring until the parent gives up).
Told by his secretary that Mr. Martinez was unavailable, and unable to get rid of Rodriguez, Mr. Bongo asked a custodial worker to serve as translator. With a janitor serving as interpreter, Bongo told Rodriguez that he would not call an ambulance because it was school policy not to call an ambulance unless a child was “bleeding or on the floor”. He explained to her that since Joseph could walk the injuries were not serious and therefore an ambulance was not necessary. When Mrs. Rodriguez continued to insist that the school call an ambulance, Mr. Bongo gave her a note which he said would give her priority at he hospital. Not knowing any better, she accepted the note and left the building with her son. Knowledgeable sources say this sort of thing is common practice – do whatever is necessary to get a complaining parent out of the school building. The note, of course, was meaningless. Joseph and his mother sat in the waiting room outside the ER at Sound Shore Medical for over four hours before being seen by a doctor. X-rays later confirmed that both arms were severely fractured.
Asked why she did not call 911 herself, the mother stated that she was nervous as well as confused. Murphy and Bongo were telling her that her son was not seriously injured and intimated that calling an ambulance for a minor injury was not permitted or would somehow get her in trouble. She added that knowing what she knows now she would have called.
According to Mrs. Rodriguez and her son, at no point did Nurse Murphy take Joseph’s complaints of pain seriously. No one contacted the family to check on the boy’s condition.
The following day, Mrs. Rodriguez called to inform the school that her son had two broken arms and was unable to return to school. Rodriguez reports that shortly thereafter a “barrage” of phone calls from the school ensued – mostly demanding to know the name of Joseph’s doctor. It was through the many phone calls that Mrs. Rodriguez says she came to understand that Richard Organisciak, the Superintendent of the City Schools District of New Rochelle, was made aware of the incident. Likewise, that Cindy Babcock-Deutsch, President of the Board of Education and Dr. Adrienne Weiss-Harrison, the district’s Medical Director were also made aware of the situation. She was unable to recall who specifically told her this or what exactly they were made aware of, only that they knew about the situation. Rodriguez says that to the best of her knowledge, no action has been taken to investigate her complaints or address her concerns and no corrective action has been taken against any district employee.
Sources familiar with the City School District of New Rochelle say this is a familiar pattern – especially when it comes to dealing with persons of color, immigrants or those who do not speak English well or at all. The District believes, these same sources say, that any acknowledgement of wrongdoing will reflect poorly on the image of the City School District of New Rochelle, create tension with the unions and possibly open the District up to a lawsuit. As a result, the District’s default position is to assume the family will litigate and respond accordingly. This would explain Mrs. Rodriguez’ sense that she is being made to feel that she has done something wrong by complaining to school officials about the way she and her son were treated.
In an unfortunate twist to the story, Joseph’s older brother, an 8th grade student at Isaac E. Young Middle School, fell in the school gymnasium just three weeks later. “Mark” (also not his real name) was taken to the nurse. As was the case with Joseph, the mother was called and told very little, only that Mark had fallen. This time, however, the school took the highly unusual step of offering to drive Mark home. Mrs. Rodriguez asked that he be driven to the hospital but the school refused and he was driven to his own house instead. Unwilling to leave Joseph home alone with two broken arms and under instructions from doctors to avoid having him move about, Rodriguez did not take Mark to the hospital until after her husband who works at night returned home the following morning. By then, Mark’s elbow had swelled and he was experiencing intense pain. An emergency room doctor told the mother that Mark’s arm was broken. Like his brother, he was out of school for months.
The impact on the family has been devastating. Both boys were homebound for many weeks where they received “home instruction” from the District. Mark, unlike his brother, is a child with a learning disability, which had only compounded matters for him in trying to keep up at school. Doctors have told the parents Mark will likely have some long-term medical issues due his injury. Meanwhile, the medical bills are piling up and the family is struggling. The District has refused to respond to requests by the family to cover the medical expenses. The stress has become so intense that the mother reports suffering from acute anxiety and panic attacks.
The District has so far not responded to requests by Talk of the Sound for comment on the allegations by Mrs. Rodriguez but we have some questions of our own:
- Why was Joseph sent to the nurse’s office without adult supervision?
- By what authority did the school nurse make a medical diagnosis in these two cases?
- Is it appropriate for a mandated reporter like a school nurse to use the threat of calling Child Protective Services to force a parent to leave the school? In this case, is there any logic to making a threat to call CPS because the mother will not take the child to the hospital because the mother is demanding that the school call an ambulance to take her child to the hospital?
- Given that the CDC reports that nearly half of all playground-related injuries nationally result in fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations, why is the default position of the District that playground-related injuries are not significant injuries? This based on the fact that no adult accompanied Joseph to the nurse’s office, the student was given a bag of ice for two broken wrists, no ambulance was called.
- Why did the District call an ambulance to New Rochelle High School for what Principal Don Conetta described as a “minor flesh wound” but refused repeated requests to do so in these two cases where both boys suffered such serious fractures that they were out of school of months?
- The CDC reports that a study in New York City found that playgrounds in low-income areas had more maintenance-related hazards than playgrounds in high-income areas. What is the condition of the IEYMS playground when compared to higher-income areas such as the playgrounds at North End schools?
If readers are interested to ask these and other questions or express their views on this matter I am sure they would love to hear from you. The school officials responsible can be reached as follows:
Cindy Babcock-Deutsche
President of the Board of Education
City School District of New Rochelle
cbabcockdeutsch@nred.org
Richard Organisciak
Superintendent of Schools
City School District of New Rochelle
rorganisciak@newrochelle.k12.ny.us
Dr. Adrienne Weiss-Harrison
Medical Director/School Physician
City School District of New Rochelle
aweiss@nred.org
Anthony Bongo
Principal
Isaac E. Young Middle School
City School District of New Rochelle
abongo@newrochelle.k12.ny.us
[if a reader has a picture of Mr. Bongo send it along]
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Generally speaking, blog posts submitted to this site by registered users are published automatically and immediately. Given the serious nature of the allegations contained in this article, a decision was made to hold up publication to afford the District an opportunity to respond to the allegations contained in the article. Emails were sent to District medical director Dr. Adrienne Weiss-Harrison, the Superintendent of Schools Richard Organisciak and Isaac E. Young Middle School Principal Anthony Bongo. Each was provided detailed information about the nature of the allegations in this article and afforded an opportunity to respond to them Neither Organisciak, Weiss-Harrison or Bongo responded to our request for comment.
This account of events is largely based on an extensive and wide-ranging series of interviews with the mother and her sons over a period of weeks as well as documentation provided by the family including medical records and photographic evidence. We also spoke with law enforcement authorities, district employees, consulted the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, and contacted officials at Child Protective Services in preparing to publish this article.
After careful consideration and after giving the District the opportunity to respond we made the decision to release the article for publication. Should the District respond at a later date we will publish their response as an update to this article.
I was injured on 1/20/2009 in the GYM at New Rochelle HS
Please help me I need witnesses that saw the incident that occurred on January 20th at a New Rochelle vs Mt.Vernon games.
Why do school nurses
Why do school nurses overreact on small things — e.g. insect bites, “sprained” ankles, medical forms — but on big things — multiple broken bones — seem less concerned?
Because a bug bite can cause
Because a bug bite can cause meningitis or some other deathly viral disease where as a broken bone is just a broken bone! Stop this nonsense with the school nurse! It’s annoying!
[NOTE: this comment was edited to remove the use of all capital letters]
SPAM COMING FROM THIS
SPAM COMING FROM THIS WEBSITE! THIS WEBSITE PROVIDED BY BOB COX FILLED MY EMAIL WITH SPAM AND MY COMPUTER IS ON THE FRITZ. IT SEEMS BOBBO HAS SENT MY COMPUTER A VIRUS. BEWARE OF BOBBO COX AND HIS SPAM GIZMO!
[Editor’s Note: this comment was published “as is” just to highlight the mindset of commenters like RealInformation. Rest assured we are not operating a “spam gizmo” or sending readers a computer virus that causes anyone’s email to to be filled with spam. This “warning” is apparently supposed to scare readers so they will not read this site]
Neither I nor anyone else
Neither I nor anyone else I’ve spoken to has had this problem. Maybe you need a spam filter or antivirus program
If your computer is “on the
If your computer is “on the fritz” how were you able to post your comment to this web site? 🙂
To RealInformation:
There is
To RealInformation:
There is nothing wrong with your computer as a result of visiting and/or registering with this site. You are simply lying. It is shameful that individuals would use such extreme tactics in a futile attempt to censor and control free speech. Address the issue and do not distract. The reason you lie and engage in personal attacks is because you lack a counterargument and integrity. You would love to keep the truth hostage. But you know this already.
The Constitution of the United States of America lives and breathes in those who believe in it. The American Spirit can and will not be undermined by liars, cheats and thieves anymore. The reason America is hurting if because of people like you. Not to worry, the sleeping giant is slowly awakening.
There is an interesting
There is an interesting conversation going on at Westchester blog called Kitchen Table Math, the Sequel.
Read what people are saying:
Kitchen Table Math (click here)
District Policy – I have
District Policy – I have heard from several parents that when their children have had broken bones in the system, they have had to come and pick up their children and bring them to the emergency room on their own.
That being said, if the district policy is to not send children to the emergency room even if their condition warants it, then post a sign in each nurse’s offic and publicize the policy. Perhaps something like this:
“The New Rochelle School District by policy will not send a child to the emergency room or call an ambulance, except in the case of life or death. The child will be held in the nurse’s office and released to the parent. Once the parent appears, the child is in the parent’s full care and responsibility.”
If this is the policy, translate it into 17 languages and post it. When the parent arrives, hand them a printed copy of the document. Then, of course, the parent can call 911 or take the child to the hospital, etc.
In this case the policy was not clear. The parent was confused because the nurse said the condition did not warrant the hospital trip. Maybe she is uneducated. Most parents would want an xray to see the extend of the injury, so the nurse could suggest that.
It is ironic that the school asks for so much medical information about children annually, including dental, and seems to be so concerned about their health regarding nutritional eating, when children are injured and don’t get the help they need.
If there were a child with two broken arms on the playground over the weekend and the parent was hysterical, wouldn’t you help? At least call for a policeman?
Legacy ALJHS Policy
I sympathize with the mother of those two children and am not pleased by the purported behavior of Isaac Young staff under the circumstances.
That said, I can testify that the policy for broken bones was the same back in 1968, when (during lunch recess) I fell on a field at Albert Leonard, breaking a collarbone. The school nurse assessed my state and determined (correctly) that my situation was not emergent, therefore it was inappropriate to summon an ambulance. I was told that the policy in this situation was to have a parent/guardian pick me up at school to take me to the doctor’s office or the emergency room – our choice. Within this context, Nurse Murphy’s decision seems consistent, even if her demeanor (if accurately portrayed) was nothing to be proud of.
Allow me one qualification. My comparison might not quite be apples-to-apples.
The policy in effect 40 years ago may have been specifically crafted to consider the number of ambulances available in the day. New Rochelle Hospital (now Sound Shore) was far smaller then. It maintained its own fleet of three red/white vehicles plus a pair of drivers. One ambulance was ancient and used only in the direst of situations. Furthermore, one driver doubled as the elevator operator. He served as driver only when the primary driver was out on a call. Also know that an E/R intern would drop whatever he/she was doing to ride in the ambulance to the emergency. I.e., Summoning an ambulance was a big deal in those days. There were no commercial ambulance fleets as there are today. Nor did the fire department have dedicated paramedics or paramedic vehicles. The NRH ambulances were the only ones in town. I leave it to the reader to judge for him/herself whether the policy of not calling an ambulance for broken bones remains appropriate in 2009 or is now antiquated.
A faculty and system, of
A faculty and system, of morons ! A lawsuit is in order for such cruelty !
How bout a blog started by a
How bout a blog started by a guy who’s never held a job or paid a bill in his life. This cox guy is a loser trying to cause confusion and dismay and create disturbances in order to place the blame of his failures on everyone else. People like Bob Cox exist all over the place and they are able to promote their chaos and ill will like Al Queda does on Al Jazeera network. Cox is an angry man because he has been a failure most of his life. Of course everyone loves a failure to fight back against those he believes wronged him, but not when the failure thinks he has the ability to take successful hard working people and attempt to bring them down to his level. Bob Cox is a malignant form of cancer that will infestate and cause bigger problems in the future by bringing negativity to a community at a time when just the opposite is needed.
Real,
You are a registered
Real,
You are a registered user on this site and as such have a blog. Click the REGISTER link at the top of the home page to learn more. Once you get set up, you are welcome to write your own “positive” posts to combat any perceived “negativity”. Your posts will appear, as do all of them, in the upper right corner of the home page.
Whether you do or not I can assure that this web site is not affiliated with Al Qaeda or Al Jazeera.
She didn’t make a diagnosis,
She didn’t make a diagnosis, she made a judgment that the boy was not medically unstable and didn’t require an ambulance. Nurses are trained and fully capable of that kind of judgment. The boy may not have been treated kindly, but his injuries did not warrant an ambulance. Are you aware that an ambulance ride can cost between $500-$1000? Can you imagine the uproar if an ambulance had been called and the family received an unexpected bill for $1000? If the mother didn’t have transportation, they could call a cab.
“Call a cab?” Nice. Maybe
“Call a cab?” Nice. Maybe next time the kid will be told to WALK to the hospital, after all its only a 20 minute stroll up the street from Isaac.
Otherwise, a brilliant analysis, except for one small flaw. You are an anonymous blog commenter on the Internet – not a doctor – so no one really cares what you think about what is or is not medically necessary.
Can we agree that both boys
Can we agree that both boys suffered significant injuries and that the procedures followed in each case were anything but appropriate and sensitive. That is a starting point and one that Dr. Weiss ought to be able to change with little trouble.
As far as the parent is concerned, even if a fraction of this story is factual, she was treated shabbily and deserves a letter of apology from the District and an offer of whatever support she needs to ensure both boys are not left behind in their studies. Prudence to me would indicate a transfer to Albert Leonard given the notoriety of the case.
Concerning Anthony Bongo, he is not a monster as some seem to suggest, but there are questions about protocol and performance that should be addressed. The same holds true for Richard Organiscuk who needs to realize that the harsh realities we face in our District; especially among our Hispanic students, require more than photo ops and he would be better served by dimensioning the issues, rolling up his sleeves, and demanding excellence in his District. And, the Head of the School Board is not an uncaring individual either — think she and the Board need to get off their high horse and look around at their responsibility to improve the system without falling back on old mantras such as “state aid.” they too, must dimension and prioritize issues, form a strong bond with the Mayor and City Council, accept advise and support from the community even if they view much of this as divisive and unfriendly. In some, maybe many people, it is NOT — believe that there are people who love the City and are committed to its growth as well as the well-being of all of its children.
In case you have not noticed, supporting our new President goes well beyond “diversity”, liberalism, and even a good deal of his personal platform, It speaks to collegial behavior, involving the fabric of all of our community and total transparency.
Mrs. Rodriguez deserves much much more than she has gotten. If her boys need any support and tutoring count me in. I will be glad to assist.
Mr. G
Simply a coincidence?
Simply a coincidence?
I’m wondering if it is a coincidence that both ‘Joseph’ and ‘Mark’ sustained similar injuries within weeks of each other. Maybe there should be further investigations to see if they were being targeted for some reason. I know of another middle school student who recently had a cast removed for a serious wrist injury sustained at Isaac during some ‘roughhousing’. To me, the coincidences seem to be more than just playground, recess or gym accidents. Could it be that these young people are victims of some kind of juvenile prank being perpetuated on unwilling participants or possibly worse, some kind of “gang initiation” where innocent students get hurt? The young man that I am familiar with is from a lovely and dedicated family, involved in their children’s lives and education (as it seems with the Rodriguez family). For any family to be put through this is heartbreaking and for there to be more than one or two ‘freak accidents’ like this is both scary and crazy. How many ‘accidents’ happen that we do not know about and how many are just waiting to happen because people are not doing their jobs? Protecting children is job priority number ONE. The school nurse should err on the side of caution next time and shame on the principal for not taking the leadership role so desperately needed in this instance.
About 20 or so years ago I
About 20 or so years ago I was hurt while playing touch football in the NRHS gym as per our gym period requisite. Another player landed on my foot and immediately I knew it was broken.
I mentioned this to the gym teacher and he told me to see the nurse. I climbed down the stairs to the gym, got changed and limped to the nurse’s office.
She gave me a bag of ice and called my dad. (He took me to the emergency room and as per every emergency room waited a long time. Prognosis? Broken) What was the she going to do? If she called an ambulance and I went to the hospital who was going with me? Don’t children have to be released to their parents? Was the nurse going to go with him? How did the mother get to the hospital after she went to Isaac?
My point here is that your “Breaking News” story is about a practice that was no different 22 years ago. Of course I want to see children get proper care but there are so many questions to be asked to both sides on this very dramatically written story. Why did she not call an ambulance the second time?
I know I will get heat for this post but this just does not seem like a balanced story.
22 Year is a long
22 Year is a long time
First, I don’t see anything in the post that describes the story as “Breaking News” especially since the story is clearly about events that happened in October and November, Also, a quick suggestion – as a public figure I think you might want to edit your user name to reveal your identity. It’s kind of obvious anyway. 🙂
Second, as is noted clearly, story is based on her account of events. The District elected to ignore for months the family’s requests for help and chose not to respond to our requests for comment before we ran the story. So, if the story is not sufficiently “balanced” you might want to direct your concern to the school administrators who have not been responsible to the family’s concerns and elected to remain silent on the issue. I do not know what it was like 22 years ago but these days the District has a standard process for responding to these sorts of situations: (1) do nothing and hope the parents goes away; (2) if they do not go away then seek to discredit the parents and/or scare them away; (3) claim the district cannot discuss the matter due to a phony claim of “privacy”; (4) if the matter becomes public, label it an “isolated incident”
Third, that your gym teacher was an idiot 22 years ago does not make the actions of school district employees OK now. Drunk driving was “socially acceptable” 22 years ago, does that make it OK today – or back then? Racial, sexual, ethnic and religious “jokes” that were acceptable 22 years ago are not acceptable today. Smoking was acceptable and no one had even heard of “second-hand smoke” in the 1980s.
Fourth, neither you or your father ASKED for an ambulance. This is not complicated. If a parent ASKS for an ambulance for an injured child why NOT simply call the ambulance? What qualifies a school nurse or a principal to make the kind of medical diagnosis required to make a determination as to whether a child is injured sufficiently to require medical transport? Think about it. What skin is it off the district’s nose if they call an ambulance at the request of the parent? Everyone can now see that it was hardly an unwarranted request. In fact, I would say it was an entirely reasonable request. I find it hard to believe that ANY physician would advise that a child with TWO broken arms be transported to the hospital in the backseat of the family car. A broken foot is one thing but how is the child supposed to get in and out of the car with two broken arms, or brace themselves in the event of sudden stops, turns or, God forbid, a car accident?
Finally, the nurse at New Rochelle High School did not hesitate to call an ambulance when a student showed up with what principal Don Conetta described as a “minor flesh wound” – the result of a stabbing incident. Why does a student who supposedly needs a band-aid to cover a “scratch” get a ride to the ER and a kid with multiple fractures is told to take a hike.
Whether you think the story is balanced or not is entirely besides the point and really just a distraction from the central issue. Just consider the basic facts – a child is severaly injured, he clearly should have been taken to the hospital by trainined medical personnel in appropriate medical transport and was not. The rest is ancillary to the central point.
Keep it simple. Let the district ask this one question: knowing what the district knows now about the child’s condition, would have they called an ambulance?
If the answer is “yes” then the District AGREES they acted improperly, if they answer “no” then I would have to expect many parents to have some serious questions about the medical policies of the district – the “bleeding or on the floor” standard for when to call an ambulance.
In any event, what is not acceptable is the district to ignore the issue and hope it goes away. Public schools have an obligation to be accountable to the public; those that fail to be open and forthright are not deserving the trust the community places in their hands.
Wow — really amazing post.
Wow — really amazing post. Really terrible for that family. What a disgrace. Why couldn’t the school just have called an ambulance? Now the cover up is worse than handling it properly. It is really a disgrace. Thanks for researching and posting. I guess the district will settle financially with the family eventually in a lawsuit. Pathetic.
Dr. Weiss’s photo is here: http://www.nred.org/site_res_view_folder.aspx?id=6376c0bd-5605-432f-bdb9-e8a7ba54031b
I think you should post the
I think you should post the salaries of these geniuses along with their pictures.
This must be another of
This must be another of those famous “isolated incidents” at New Rochelle schools where its the parents fault that the kid broke his arms, right?
Is there any way to find out
Is there any way to find out how many children at Isaac sustained wrist injuries? And if so, how does that compare to middle schools in general and to Albert Leonard specifically? This might seem like odd questions, but I’ve recently seen another student from Isaac with a wrist injury. Although, much less severe than the others, it still seems unusual, this would be the fourth that I know of. I wonder if it is a common occurrence with boys in this age group? My son will be going to Isaac soon and I’m concerned that gym or recess is not as supervised as it should be.