i was in the bathroom at the time and when i heard a boom on the announcements,I thought it was an intruder but it was'nt.

P.S,I am an 8th grade student at sandy run middle school.

The email is no true....it was 4 kids and at one point someone was on the intercom yelling "P Kelly, P Kelly" which is the head of discipline at our school...I also heard that (now this is a rumor...maybe) the kids were throwing things and that they were IN harms way

What school were they from originally?? Why are they now at SRMS?? Did they know each other?? The article is vague and is a fight such a big deal that it is reported in the paper?? I don't know, just asking.

As a parent of three students in UD school system. I am very upset that we as tax paying residents of UD now have to worry about our kids safety to school, in school and on the way home. Why are we responsible for taking our hard earned tax dollars to educate students from outside facilities and put our children in harms way. Have them afraid to go to school or worry while in school. And the double standard of those students being allow to just get a smack on the wrist for their bad behavior. But if one of our kids gets into trouble they are immediately suspended.
With all the cut back our school district is facing why the heck our we paying for outside residents to be educated and depriving the safety of our kids. Seriously this is a BIG issue.....
UD Concerned Parent

It is a very BIG deal. These kids come from St. Mary's Villa for Children and Families. There are approximately 7-9 children that have been allocated to SRMS and from rumor up to 40 more are expected to arrive. These children at one time have demonstrated a history of truancy, emotional disturbance, family conflict and difficulties in the community. SRMS and the UDSD failed to notify parents and students that they are expecting these students. These students didn't just walk in with the other students one day and began classes. They have also failed to put in any additional services, security and resources necessary for the safety of our children. This is a very BIG problem one that the community needs answers, solutions and safety measures in place for my children and others of the school district if they will be receiving any more of these students.

Ditto on scott's comments agree 100%!!!!!

These students were thrust into a "traditional suburban public school setting" with no guidance, support or services and expected to just blend in and thrive. This is a naive premise and does a disservice to UD students, the transfer students, and faculty and staff at SRMS. St. Mary's Villa is suppose to provide this support, and when ready, help them ease back into a traditional public school system. TThat has not happened. These children are cleary not ready either emotionally or behaviorally to be fully matriculated into a public school setting at this point. That is why, precisely , they are residing at Mt. Mary's Villa.

please read below: taken from their website:

St. Mary’s Villa for Children and Families houses a specialized learning experience for children living in our care. The classrooms provide a smaller student to teacher ratio; and the instructors are trained to address both emotional and behavioral issues within the school setting. The program assesses the children’s needs and then designs individualized plans to adequately prepare each student for public school re-entry, higher education admissions or job placement following graduation.

Some children may be introduced to classes outside of our on-site program – in local public schools. This type of placement is based on the individual’s needs and prior performance at St. Mary’s Villa.

It is my understanding that this is a money issue- apparently St. Mary's lost funding for their on-ground school so that is why these children are being sent to Sandy Run with many more to come.

This is another example of the district's 'Ready-Fire-Aim' approach to implementing new programs. Earlier this year it was the disastrous transportation consortium that threw caution to the wind and put kids' safety at risk. Now it's bringing at-risk kids who have a history of problems into the district without any notification, planning or precautions.

Where is the accountability? Who is responsible for this? Sadly, these are just rhetorical questions as they'll never be asked or answered at a school board meeting.

I am in favor of creative problem solving and taking some MITIGATED risks in light of our financial challenges. But there's little or no planning, foresight and preparation that goes into these or any other decisions.

Kyle, I have several questions after reading this - I don't see anything in your answer with regard to the question Joe asked - who and why are these students at Sandy Run? Other readers filled me in on the St Mary's connection but I wish you had a follow up story today as to what the School Board had to say or what message parents were given yesterday. Personally, I would have liked to hear more about this, such as how many came and how many are still to come.

Six months ago you were interviewing all of those school board members at election time. Did you reach out to any of them for comments? I wish you would get to the bottom of this story because based on the comments above, this deserves a follow up with at the very least, comments from those same school board members with regard to these students coming into the district.

The kids have or had a horrible child hood just give them space and everythting will be good

Charity begins at home. Take a couple of these kids in with you and then you can talk to them about their horrible lives, and you can try to make a difference. Dr. Pladus talks about the sucess stories, lets hear about how many students from St. Mary's finish UD, how do their test scores fare over the time they are in the school system. There is hard data available on these student's performance. Don't just say the bad ones overshadow the good ones. Show us the data on the good ones!!!! Then we can make a honest evaluation as to whether mainstreaming is beneficial.

I am sending part of an email circulation that seems to explain why things have changed recently.....

SRMS and UDHS have recently had an influx of kids from St Mary's because St Mary's changed their status from a "Residential Facility" to something else. Previously, most of the kids attended classes right on the St Mary's campus, with the change in status, St Mary's no longer has a "Regular Education" license, they do have a "Special Education" license. Here's the effect:

Previously
As "Residential Facility" St Mary's was able to educate and evaluate the kids emotional issues right on campus. During a usually 3 month evaluation period, Psychologist determined which kids were able to deal with a less restrictive setting, they were then moved into SRMS or UDHS. UD has had success educating several St Mary's kids in the past. However, many of the kids were deemed to have significant emotional issues that required a more restrictive setting and therefore they attend school in St. Mary's.

I do have to respond to the comment by Noah and Mary....as much as my heart goes out to these kids, we cannot ignore the fact that they just do not belong in a public school setting. Every kid has a story, some stories not so great, but that does not give them an excuse to be disorderly and disruptive, and we cannot wait for the other shoe to drop ....we could say the same thing about the kid at columbine....I am sure he had a story too.....
kyle...this definitely deserved the attention it got....it is a big deal any time there are police at any school....police and school just do not go together harmoniously