Today was...it was a day... *with update* in Just in Case

The morning started rough. I was frustrated over some mundane technology issues that had to be addressed for testing. My frustration was more about the non-communication that’s going on. I got it handled though, and we moved on with our day. Because I have the inclusion class, 12 of my kids are pulled for small group testing. That leaves me with 20 for testing with me. We are in the “cave”. A cedar block room. Fully cedar block. No windows at all. It’s about 10 feet by 12 feet and filled with tables and computers. I have one little path to walk back and forth on. I hate it. I hate it more for the kids. 8 days of testing. It’s insane. We still have 4 days left to go and it’s going to suck. Most days we are testing about an hour and a half, today was a little over 2 hours and our last day will be about 2 1/2 hours. Then we are supposed to teach after that. These kids are done and exhausted, so I hate that too. One of my students missed yesterday, so she had to make up today. She was late Tuesday, too. It was late in the day when she came back to class. They swapped us with another grade for specials, so we still get those. It was right before those when she came up to ask me a question. That’s when I saw the gashes on her face. I jokingly asked her what she had fought with. (I was expecting to hear a dog scratched her or something.) She told me her “cousin” did it. A little talking had it coming out that the “cousin” (not really her cousin, I’ll get to that in a minute) hit her, so Brenda (not her name, but I need to call her something) hit her back, and when she did, the “cousin” slapped her. She had one gash across her eyebrow, one across her eye lid, and one under her eye. Red flags flew up all over the place.

• Brief history - I taught her older brother 3 years ago. They were then in the custody of an 18 year old cousin/aunt/some sort of relationship. That was done to make sure that the state didn’t take them, so when the mom got out of prison she could get them back. A few months in, grandma came into the picture and started taking care of them. She’s not the best, she’s loud, a little rough, and a little rude, but she does her best for those kids. Her house is always filled with a mix of people, mom comes and goes when she’s not in prison, others just show up and stay for a while. It’s a very unstable home.
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Back to today: I ask about the “cousin” and find out 1. She’s not really a cousin, she’s just someone who is staying with them and 2. She’s 22 years old. What they holy hell is a 22 year old doing smacking a 10 year old? I sent her to the school nurse to be checked out. Our regular nurse was out, which I didn’t like, the sub nurse is not as thorough, and I was afraid she wasn’t going to do anything. As soon as my planning period started (a few minutes later)I raced to the office to talk to them about it. That’s when I found out that this family that is staying with them has about 6 people in it, and the dad just got out of jail and is a registered sex offender (molested a young girl). Long story short - today I had to call and report to DCFS a suspected child abuse case. I let them know I was truly afraid for her safety in that home. I was hoping they would do something to prevent her from going home, but they didn’t. I’m hoping by now someone is there checking things out. The nurse found a huge hemotoma on her head from where she had been hit. I ‘m sick with worry over her tonight. We can’t reach the grandmother, and that worries me, too. I’m afraid something bad is going on there. I’m just ready for tomorrow to get here so we can know what’s happened.

When she left, I told her that if anything happened and she felt scared or something did something to her, to call the police. The secretary told her that if she wasn’t there tomorrow, the resource officer was coming for her. I told her this afternoon I wasn’t sending a resource officer, that if she wasn’t there, I was going for her, and I wasn’t scared of some silly little 22 year old. With one final hug, she headed out.

If you are so inclined, would you send a prayer, or positive thoughts her way tonight, for safety and peace. Thanks!!

Update
There’s not much of an update. Brenda was at school today. She said nothing happened last night, but the same girl yelled at her several times. I was really frustrated that no one came to school to check on her, or visited the home. I got a call at the end of the day from a worker saying she had just gotten a car (???) and wouldn’t make it to school, but was headed straight to the home. She asked for a picture of the injury, which I sent her. I reminded Brenda that she didn’t have to take anything. She could call for help. She took another big hug before she left. So now it’s a long weekend of waiting.

Last updated April 07, 2017