Another voice from the May 12, 2010 Board of Education meeting

Another voice from the May 12, 2010 Board of Education meeting:

My name is Valerie Knight-Di Gangi, and I am the parent of a second grader at BCS.  On behalf of my son, and all the sons and daughters at BCS I respectfully request the Board to reconsider the implementation of PBIS in the coming school year.

I have seen first hand the negative and adverse effects that a rewards program can have on a child who has exhibited “good behavior” in the past- to the point of trying to obtain “tickets” from others in order to receive a reward.  I believe that the majority of the students at BCS are “well behaved” and that what we need to do is to address the classroom and school community environment in order to achieve our goals.

One such way is to consider alternatives, such as the responsive classroom, which is already in place at Beecher Rd. School in Woodbridge.  Keeping children motivated and engaged throughout the day not only helps them to learn and become self starters, but truly helps those children who have behavior issues outside of the classroom.  Also allowing them more time to release pent up physical energy – whether it is simply standing and stretching in the classroom for a minute or two, or having five extra minutes of recess can have positive effects on learning and will reduce behavior problems in all areas of the school.

Rewards systems do not work.  Rather than spending our time and energy on programs that some have likened to how dogs are trained, we need to nurture our children and support our classroom teachers with programs that are both human and humane.  I urge you to consider other alternatives than PBIS, such as responsive classroom.  For the record, neither Orange nor Woodbridge is using PBIS, and both are implementing RTI.  I find it hard to believe that our children are less behaved than children in either of our sister districts and are in need a formal program to help them “behave.”  Thank you.

Here's what other speakers had to say:
Aimee Bogush
Emma Bogush, Student 
Paul Bogush 
Brian Laubstein