William T Machan Elementary School

The school doesn't exist. It's a vacant lot.

My son is on the spectrum (high functioning). I made it clear to them of this prior to school starting, I asked to get an IEP meeting or at-least to meet/speak the team prior to school starting. That never happened. I did not meet the SPED teacher until 2 weeks after school starting (I met her by coincidence as she was at the gate greeting kids). I asked 2 times for a meeting after. Nothing has happened since school started. I have received several updates on my son’s behavior (which I understand) but when I question them what leads to my son behaving as such THEY NEVER KNOW! I can never get a straight forward answer to my questions. My son since starting school has started to urinte on himself again. He has not had an accident since getting potty trained. He has started to elope since starting school and has been attached to me more than usual. They got in contact with his preschool teacher to see if he had these behaviors in preschool, she stated he did not have these behaviors which is why he graduated from SPED PRE-K. They keep saying they don’t know why he is behaving this way.Fast fwd to today, I am bot sure what happened but he ended up “punching” a teacher. The teacher pulled me inside the classroom to tell me about the incident and tell me he was getting a referral for hitting the teacher (who is pregnant) & stated the teacher cannot be around my son anymore. I questioned what led to this incident and of course the led to ‘WE DON’T KNOW’. How can they do a referral w/o knowing what led to such behavior.The teacher he “punched” is the assistant for his home room teacher. So my question is if the teacher can’t be around him.. are they removing her from class or my son?I’d like to add that the FEW times I have had the chance to speak to the SPED teacher.. all she did was basically COMPLAIN and made it seem like my son was an inconvenience for her. Her tone of voice was always as though she was annoyed. I think she should reconsider her career. YOU ARE A SPED TEACHER AND YOU ARE GOING TO COME ACROSS SO MANY DIFFERENT KIDDOS WITH DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS AND NECESSITIES!! I am removing my kid from this school. I would steer clear from them if your kiddos are needing extra help. They do NOT help. They make everything worse.

The incompetence of the school is the reason I'm writing this complaint. The principal treats and talks down to parents as if they are students themselves. Unprofessional staff and teachers. Don't take accountability and will accuse you of being incompetent where they failed my child. The principal stated we are not certified babysitters yet everyday they keep my kid in the office and will not look into other option til it's too late. This district is racist and will not tolerate black or brown students if they have say ADD or ADHD. If you want your student to fail and be bullied by staff and teachers this is the school for you .

While this is overall a really good school the principal can be very dismissive towards concerns that are raised by parents, especially working-class parents of color. I first thought it was because I was not as involved in the school, so I made an effort to do more but that made very little difference. After 8 years of consistent experience, I feel very disempowered to change this circumstance and/or address it directly with her without it having a negative effect on my child. Although I recommend the school, in a state that has the worst public schools in the country, it's important to know what one may be walking into.

Completely horrible school, I am so frustrated with how this school condones to bullying and how they have favoritism and will let certain things slide. I would not send my children here.