what to do when aide is a problem

Ima2NYM_LTR

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 2:42 pm

There is a man who works at my sons school for dismissal and aftercare who, to put it quite frankly, doesn't like my son and does not make good decisions regarding him. He is not a teacher or have any training, AFAIK. We have spoken to the school about him, but nothing changes. Luckily, my son is not in aftercare often, but that will probably be changing very soon.

My son is no angel. He does need to be disciplined at time, but this guy is just wrong in his methods.
Some examples:

1) Last year, when my son's tic would act up, a cough like throat-clearing, he would insist that my son cover his mouth- even though when he is stressed it can happen every few seconds, even when he is talking. My so would have had his mouth covered the whole time because being told to cover your mouth consonantly is stressful so it added to the tic. We were advised by his pediatrician to ignore his tic (fairly mild overall) and that bringing attention to it is counterproductive.

2) today, he wanted my son to sit in a specific spot and told a classmate to watch him and tell on him if he moved.

3) Another kid kicked him, and when my son tried to complain, he wouldn't listen.

He has also shown inappropriate movies in aftercare/vacation camp and I know other people have had issues with him.

My son usually loves all adults at school, even if he has been disciplined. He can't stand this guy.

So what do I do now that my son may need to be around him more?

amother

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 4:50 pm

I hope this is a public school and that you (and other parents) are documenting these complaints. I'd send a letter or email with read receipt to the principal and if there's no action I'd take it up to the superintendent. The school will do something about it if you make noise.

seeker

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 6:28 pm

You say there are other parents who have this issue as well, coming to the school board together has no impact?

Do you have any alternative to the after-school care? Maybe a babysitter can pick him up, or you can pay a friend's mom for a steady after-school "playdate?" I remember kids in my school days always going home to a neighbor-friend because their parent worked later or something.