Child Welfare in Flathead Schools Public Comment from Jaclynn DawsonBasic psychology:
❖ Humans basic needs need to be met to further succeed.
❖ Food, water, shelter, are foundational.
❖ Kids need to feel safe at school or they won't go to the school for help if needed.
I’ve heard from a lot of different types of children who go to Rankin.
Children Need
1) Easy access to a bathroom during recess (Rankin elementary does not)
2) Access to food and time to eat it.
3) Access to shelter for all schools.
. 4) Have Yard duty + involvement.
5) Have Abuse awareness (Jed Nate Chute Foundation does not do elementary)
1) Have access to a bathroom during recess
Common sense and parents assume.
● Kids are peeing their pants. It is happening even in the 4th grade!
● If you have to go during recess at Rankin, you have to get a yard duty!
2) Access to food with time to eat it
● Children are only allowed 15 minutes to eat and then are getting kicked out.
● What happens if your table gets excused? Do you want to eat by yourself?
Are you rushed to eat from the pressure of others being excused?
● What happens if you have to wait in line to get your food or you have to go to
the bathroom?
● How about those Friday Ice Cream days? Now kids are waiting in that long ice
cream line instead of eating their rushed lunch.
● Feeling rushed while you eat puts you in flight or fight mode,
● Children are not eating. “13 boys,” in a large group went to Merisa for help but
did not get it. I just had a meeting with Merisa and hopefully kids will soon be
able to change tables at least when a spot opens up.
3) Shelter (Safe Space)
● Kids need to have at least one indoor place they can seek sanctuary. (It has to
be 0 degrees or under for the school to provide shelter)
● Try learning in cold wet clothes.
● As parents we would hopefully let our kids inside our home if they were suffering
from the weather outside; why is this not happening at school?
● The need for shelter should not be placed on the teachers shoulders during
their breaks.
❖ My schools did not provide me shelter, nor did I feel safe at school.
● I was 7 when I tried to run away and didn’t know I could get help.
● I soon realized I could not support myself, so I tried to kill myself.
● Kids need help and safety.
4) Yard Duty + Involvement
● Bullying is a huge problem both mentally and physically.
● +My son and other boys were being assaulted all the time! This is
still an ongoing problem.
Starting in the 2nd Grade for Girls:
➢ Most girls get in a giant circle where the meanest girls rule and girls say
extremely hurtful stuff. Girls are often disowning friends and doing so right in front
of everyone. This can be detrimental, life altering, and spiral a child.
➢ Girls are even resorting to scratching, pushing, and pulling hair. Yard duties will
break up sometimes, but the second they leave it just starts all over.
➢ Where large groups of kids are, ears need to be near and active.
➢ Yard duties should not just be standing there, but actively acting &
looking for red flags.
➢ Might need extra yard duties / counselors on campus.
❖ Recess should be a place to get your wiggles out and have fun, not cause more stress.
5) Abuse Awareness
● Kids need to be taught: No one should be pressuring you, touching, videoing,
seeing, or taking pics, of these body parts to you ______
● If something like this is happening go to_____
● Have ONLINE SAFETY / Training for students, and all employees
● Predator & Grooming awareness
● Empower kids
● If someone you know needs help ______
Taught Places you can get help
● If being physically abused _____
● If emotionally abused by peers, family, or friends or you just want to talk___
● Need of clothes donations ________
● If you are going hungry ____
● If you do not feel safe____________
● If you are being bullied _______________
● If you are self harming yourself ___________
❖ Children need to be heard.
❖ If children do not feel their basic needs are met at school, why would a child feel
the school could help them if their basic needs go unmet at home too, or if they
are being abused?
Who are we letting teach our kids? Homeschooling is booming!
Mrs Talley Robin 4th grade teacher at Rankin Elementary
➢ Purposely was scaring kids. Had a Pennywise demonic scary clown doll she named Georgie.
➢ She put “Georgie” on kids desk all day! Would move around the room like parents sometimes do
with an elf around Christmas time.
➢ Forced kids to do an assignment of making haunted house with no other option
➢ Against Religious Beliefs
➢ “A Pennywise doll isn't just a toy; it symbolizes childhood trauma, fear, and the corrupting
evil within the town of Derry, reflecting deeper societal issues like abuse and neglect, as
the ancient entity "It" uses the clown form to prey on children's deepest fears, with the
doll itself appearing in the movie as a manifestation of these fears and past iterations
of Pennywise.” AI