What can I do about my daughters school continuously turning us into DFCS?

Question

I am officially stuck between a rock and a hard place. My daughter is 6 and is in Kindergarten in Gwinnett County Ga. She has disciplinary problems and she is currently seeing a psychologist for it. Her behavior in school is pretty good but at home she has some problems. She has an older brother (7) and a younger brother (17 months) and mom and dad both live in the home. She is an amazing little girl but can go into some severe fits and hurts people sometimes. We have tried every form of discipline. Recently her school has been turning us into DFCS it seems like every week for one thing or another. I am exhausted and am not sure how to handle the situation. Her teacher is doing all the things her psychologist is saying will push Karleigh backwards rather than forwards and then looks at us like bad parents and calls DFCS for every little thing that SHE thinks we are doing wrong. Please help. I know we do not abuse our child but it seems like her teacher is certain we do.

Answer 1

Start by contacting the principal of the school and your daughter's teacher, to set up a meeting.  Invite the psychologist to join you.  Then, have an open session to get everyone on the same page with your daughter's issues.  Having the psychologist there should be really helpful, because she will shed some light on the REAL situation, and the fact that you are not abusing your child.

Answer 2

Have you talked to your child's psychologist about this?  The first step would be to give the teacher, the counselors and the principal  written instructions about how to deal with your daughter that is written by her psychologist.  I'm sure he/she can type up somethig official for you.  Sitting down and talking with the teacher and principal is not a bad idea either.  I think that would be an appropriate first step.

Answer 3

Contact the school superintendent if speaking to the principal doesn't help.  If all else fails, I transfer her to another school.

Answer 4

all teachers are required to report if they suspect anything but some take it too far sometimes. there is nothing that can be done with DFCS itself because they are required to check out everything. but i would probably speak to the principal and then maybe letting the superintendant know the situation.

Answer 5

I guess the school is wanting to know why she is behaving that way. If it is a chemical imbalance or some biological disorder you need to give the school evidence but if this is your role modeling or discipline at home you need to own it and change it.

Answer 6

Have you set up a meeting with yourself, the teacher, the psychologist and the principal of the school?  I would recommend that.  Certainly everyone involved will want what's best for the child.  I would also ask DCFS how long they plan on entertaining this woman and her false accusations.  If they repeatedly find you are doing nothing wrong, I think she can get into some trouble for making a false accusation.  If all else fails, see if she can be put in a different class and if they aren't willing or able to comply, consider switching schools.  Good luck.

Answer 7

You, your psychologist, and your teacher need to sit down and have a talk.

Obviously there is a communication problem here, teacher wants things down one way, psych. another way, your in the middle.

The teacher will bend to the psychologists wishes, if she is persuaded to do so..... a note from home isn't going to do it, and if you've got one of those old die-hard teachers, a note from the psych, won't do it either.  Only a nice long sit down with the teacher, the principal, and the psychologist will solve anything.   Oh, and if you have a DFCS case worker assigned to you, they may be a good person to have along too..... just so that EVERYONE is on the same page.

Answer 8

(First of all, I have to echo what no5no5 said.  That personal information you included really should be removed.  There are a lot of crazy people out there and they now know your daughter's name, age, school district and grade.)

On to the question.  It sounds a bit like your daughter has been labeled as a troublemaker at this school.  The fact that you're working with a psychologist is good but it's the school that's fanning the flames here.  Have you tried having a face-to-face meeting with the teacher, the principal and the school counselor?  If you have and the problems are persisting, I'd transfer schools as soon as possible and write a letter to the superintendent detailing what you've been going through.  It's the principal's job to handle problems like this.  If you do go to a new school, you need to have a meeting with them to bring them up-to-date about the issues you've experienced.  It would go a long way toward opening a line of communication that can help your daughter, not continue to hurt her.

Having a consistent record of being reported to DFCS makes you look very bad.  I hope you've requesting a letter from them that officially clears you of any wrongdoing once each case is investigated and closed.

Good luck.  I can't imagine how hard this must be for you.

Answer 9

She behaves in school but not at home?  It sounds to me like the psychologist is wrong.  If her problems are truly disciplinary, and the teacher is disciplining her effectively but you are not, maybe you need to change your strategy.  

That said, I think the thing to do is to get the teacher and the psychologist together and discuss a strategy.  Open communication is key here.  If you feel her psychologist is right and the teacher refuses to go along with what the psychologist says, you need to move your daughter to another class or another school.  

Also, just a tip--please don't put personal information on here like the location of your daughter's school.  It doesn't help us to answer the question.

Answer 10

Contact the school principal and the school board. Explain to them your situation.

Your child may need to be in a special needs class so they can deal with her in the way the psychologist wants and is needed.