Volume 2 Issue 2 - Ronald V McGuckin and Associates
Contents
1. Help the butterflies by planting milkweed seeds in your flowerbeds Butterflies are bio indicators that scientists look to for signs of landscape quality and habitat loss Don t print everything If you don t need it don t print it Have children work on dry erase or individ val chalkboards more and avoid using so much paper Evaluate the curriculum Are there additional ways to incorporate environmental sensitivity and educa tion into the classroom Evaluate student activities Are there other ways to introduce students to environmental studies or to increase environmental sensitivity Encourage parents to car pool or use public trans portation when coming to your school Have a parent meeting or training on how they too can be green at home Start small Don t try to make all these changes at one time Turning your classroom Green one step at a time will make a huge difference in our future Who s mistreating children Learning Stations in Your Classroom A recent USA Today article sites a Admini stration tor Children and Families summary which illustrated that of the cases of child abuse and neglect reported to the ACF in 2005 40 of the children were mistreated by their Mother 18 by their Father 17 by both Mother and Father and only 11 by a non parent This summary shows that children are 6 times more likely to be mistreated by one of their parents then by a non parent and are twice as like2. Satety Men in Child Care and many others He has written several publications and a Pre service Manual for Texas providers based upon mandated standards in Texas Licensing Regulations To learn more about Tym Smith or to see what products and services he may be able to offer your program please visit his website tymthetrainer com is unfamiliar with how to accommodate a disabled child is illegal However if a disabled child presents an unsafe environment tor him herself other children or your staff dismissal would be permitted The unsafe environment must be real and not imagined or sup posed trom prior experience with other children with the same or similar disability Each child must be evalu ated on their own merits and circumstances If your program is publicly funded educational institution such as a school district or a Head Start program you are also required to comply with IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA does not allow for the dismissal of a child for unsafe behavior if the unsafe behavior is a direct result of or a manifestation of the child s disability In circum stances where a program is subject to IDEA s regula tions a program would be required to do everything necessary to provide the child with an individualized and appropriate education The decision to dismiss a child should be left to senior administration and owners and in most cases the administrator owner should c
3. the public policy exception is the most widely accepted exception According to the January 2000 edition of Monthly Labor Review 43 states recognize the Public Pol icy exception to at will employment doctrine The 7 states that DO NOT recognize this exception are Alabama Florida Georgia Lou isiana Maine Nebraska New York and Rhode Island This ex ception prevents terminations tor reasons that violate explicit and established Federal or State public policy For example it would be considered a wrongful termination it an employer were to tire a child care employee who reported sus pected child abuse where the em ployer felt there was no such abuse The employee was simply following public policy and the termination would be deemed un just The second major excep tion to the employment at will doctrine is known as the implied contract exception Basically there is no contract in place how ever an employer makes oral or written representations regarding job security and the courts view it as an implied contract This is often seen in cases where em ployee handbooks contain state ments that an employee will only be terminated for just cause or references to employees as attain ing permanent status It may also involve oral statements made by the employer to an employee that as long as you do a good job we will keep you on staff 38 of our 50 states recognized the implied contract e
4. Start using CFL lights CFL light bulbs are 70 75 more efficient than the incandescent light bulbs we currently use Recycle paper And only use recycled paper in your classroom Most newsprint is made of between 70 100 new fibers trom virgin trees Recycled paper uses 60 less energy to make than virgin paper Each ton saves 7 000 gallons of water and 17 trees Plant a pollinator garden on your playground or in your flowerbeds Yellow blue and purple flowers attract bees while red and orange attract Hum mingbirds Pesticides pollution and habitat de struction are taking a toll on our birds and insects that pollinate about 80 of the world s tood supply Get your kids outdoors more often The best way for us to protect our resources for the future is by helping children develop an appreciation for the outdoors Use Organic food in the classroom Avoid serving foods that are labeled Natural equal Organic and these toods may still have nasty Natural does not stuff in them Plant a Tree Even better plant several trees Trees are like natural air conditioners They lower the temperature filter air remove carbon dioxide ab sorb storm water and provide shade and beauty A single tree will absorb a ton of CO2 over its life time Use re usable cups and plates instead of dispos able cups and plates Think twice before throwing something away Ask yourself can it be re used or recycled
5. referred to as a greenhouse gas because it allows sunlight to enter the atmosphere similar to the glass of a greenhouse and it keeps the heat inside This warms the planet You can use the following tips to help do your part to keep the world a greener place Turn off your classroom lights and restroom lights when children are not in the room You may also consider installing motion sensors to activate lights when needed Shutting off the lights cuts carbon emissions by reducing electricity use Work with the children to turn the water on and off when washing hands instead of leaving the water to run continuously The average taucet releases about 3 gallons of water a minute The average person wastes about 30 gallons of water a day Check your toilets daily to ensure that they are not running continuously This is a common problem in our classrooms and toilets can run for days until maintenance can tix them Take action yourself Move your thermostat closer to the outside tem perature Do not open windows when the A C or heat is on Moving your thermostat just 2 degrees closer to the outside temperature will save over 500 lbs of carbon dioxide trom entering the atmosphere in a year Completely shut down computers chargers and printers Un plug them trom the walls when they are not in use Even when computers are in a shut down mode they are on stand by and still pull elec tricity Trade in your light bulbs
6. some of our client s centers At one child care program the owner was dealing with a clique of three 20 something staf members The staff members were gossipy untriendly and were so busy with everyone s business that they were not performing their jobs adequately The owner felt that it the young women were separated they would be better able to focus on the assigned tasks and would be better employees Following the reassign ment to different classrooms and even different sites one of the young women s mothers contacted the owner and complained that her daughter no longer liked work since she is not in the room with her best friends Further DEALING WITH HELICOPTER PARENTS the mother of the employee claimed that the owner had no business reas signing her daughter and should move her back to where she was happy The owner was shocked and appalled by this mother s presumption that she would have any intluence over her grown daughter s employment status She was further appalled by the em ployee s lack of humiliation or embar rassment at her mother s actions As an employer you are only re quired to discuss matters of employ ment with the employee or their attor ney at law It is important to include at law when referring to an attorney because a parent or spouse could claim to be an attorney of tact With the upsurge in meddling parents and spouses it has become important to inform em
7. specific language designed to meet new national accreditation standards As always the MPPM 4th Ed comes with a CD for fast and easy edits and personalization To order Download an Order Form from SAE E com or call 215 785 3400 Visa MC Accepted By Janice A Nieliwocki You may have heard the term at wil ployment but do you really know the implications and ramitications it has with regard to the employ ment relationship Fundamentally the At Will employment doctrine states that in the absence of a contract or collective bargaining agreement an employer may terminate an employee at any time for any reason or no rea son and in turn the employee may do the same that is leave the employment at any time for any reason Sounds simple enough but things are often not as simple as they seem So whether you are the em ployer or the employee it is beneficial to understand how the At Will employment doctrine can affect the hiring and firing process The origin of the employment at will doctrine can be traced back to the late 1800s where it was first mentioned in a legal treatise entitled Master and Servant written by Horace C Wood Although Wood cited four American cases which supported his statement about at will employment it seems as it Wood took some liberties and wrongly described at will employment as already being accepted by the I e courts Within a short time various courts were citing the rul
8. TheChidereP rdesou XPERIENCE 200Z Alonuor lt O z CD NO TE Sp C D NO A Quarterly Journal tor Childcare Providers Discussing Legal Administrative amp Professional Issues On the Inside Helicopter Parents Page Strategic Planning Page 2 The Role of the Facilitator Dismissing A Child Page 3 Going Green Page 4 Guest Contributor Tym Smith Children s Book Corner Page 5 A Color of His Own By Leo Lionni Child Abuse Statistics Page 5 Learning Stations Implementing them in your classroom Page 5 A look at At Will Employment Page 6 Where in the World Page 8 By Dawn K Martini Since you are all employing Gen eration Y folks you are probably famil iar with a new trend called Helicopter Parents Generation Y is detined as persons born between 1977 and 1991 These are young people who can not remember a world where there were not home computers cable tele vision and the internet Helicopter Par ents are the parents of these Genera tion Y er s who hover over their chil dren and micro manage their lives They complete their children s college applications follow up after job inter views to inquire on their child s per formance and call their child s em ployer to ask about any manner of em ployment related issues from discipli nary actions job reassignments pro motions raises and the like We have seen helicopter parents at work in
9. ach Station You can also simplity or mod ity skill levels at each Station to better suit the children and their ability or developmental level Successtul incorporation of Learning Stations into your pre school classroom is achievable Simply assess your classroom situation determine how Learning Stations will best work for you make the necessary moditications and get started on the road to a fun and rewarding experience O O oO E A a teeth e a E ER E a ENS aches Qn SP Qn en Qn gro an ens QED lt nS WD Qn are Qep Qn5 eo 2 Q 4 p SoL DOC aoc od 0C oq 0C oC DOC wo 36 SR Z QILD Wot ela H DOC oO Q 2A awe D DOC e C BAAN Mr SOM SOW DO SOE Sa NON SOe SA ye PENON Soren Ora ero HE WO CADE Ov Ae OBS ov X AO NARO Ww EVO TN RO lez KO on e LO NRO m VO ra O O 6 oO O s fo ra ra f ra BISA DOC Seno 175 00 nO Qn soe BOC DOC 5 IRO NENO re O O m E A AIP QAseNO QE pa ei Model Personnel Policies for Child Care Agencies FOURTH EDITION Special Introductory Pricing Available to Preferred Ronald V McGuckin and Associates Clients Preferred Pricing available on orders paid in full in January and February 2008 Regular Price after Feb 29 2008 will be This latest edition of our popular Model Personnel Policies for Child Care Agencies includes new policies addressing never discussed issues including Cell Phones Internet Access Helicopter Par ents Spouses and
10. ded in the Model Personnel Policy Manual Fourth Edition available now by downloading and completing an order form trom our website childproviderlaw com Publisher Ronald V McGuckin and Associates Post Office Box 2126 Bristol Pennsylvania 19007 215 785 3400 Childproviderlaw com Editor Dawn K Martini BS Ed Contributing Writers Ronald V McGuckin JD Dawn K Martini BS Ed Jason D Dalton JD Janice A Nieliwocki BS Guest Writer Tymothy Smith Copyright 2006 RVM amp Associates All rights re served Reproduction in whole or in part without permission in prohibited The Experience provides information about current developments trends and issues lt does not offer solutions to individual prob lems and it should not be construed as legal or pro fessional advice or opinion You should obtain competent legal advise for an individual issue or problem WHEN DISMISSING A CHILD IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO By Dawn K Martini You have the right to dismiss any child with or without cause from your program if the reason for dis missal is not based on any of the federal state or local areas of protections Generally these areas include race color creed religion gender national origin and disability Some states and or local governments also protect sexual preference or sexual orientation and a few states also protect marital status While the latter examples are usually not at issue with the childr
11. e in his treatise and the rule became accepted law Many believe that it simply retlected the laissez faire attitude of the times From that point forward courts basically viewed the employment relationship as being on equal grounds In the absence of a contract there were no obligations attached to employer or em ployee Employees were allowed to leave jobs they no longer wished to occupy and in turn employers were able to discharge employees they no longer wished to employ Over the last several decades how ever the courts and legislatures have begun to view the employer employee relationship in somewhat of a different light The first challenges to the status of at will employment came during the Industrial Revolu tion as employees formed unions and gained protec tion against certain employment actions The tederal courts have also added protection with the passage of the Civil Rights Act and subsequent laws including the American with Disabilities Act which protected c asses ot individuals and prohibited Continued on page 7 Continued from page 6 terminations based on race relig ion creed gender age national origin disability pregnancy and veteran s status And although the at will employment doctrine still remains intact in most states courts are now addressing termi nations that may seem unjust There are three major judi cial exceptions to the employment at will doctrine The first known as
12. e their participation more free and easy Often when projects are lead by insiders such as senior management and or owners employees and parents are reluctant to speak up and offer their suggestions for fear of being wrong or say ing something that goes against the agenda of the man ager or owner With the independent third party running the meeting employees and parents tend to relax and engage more freely in discussion and offer up more ideas An independent Facilitator can act as a moderator throughout the Strategic Planning meetings moving dis cussions along in a timely and purposeful way When issues become heated overly deliberated and or unpro ductive the Facilitator s role is to take control of the meet ing and reel everyone in and back on task If an insider were in the position to cut someone oft or to stop discus sion of a point other team members may see that person as having an agenda or taking sides which ultimately cur tails the creative process Overall the Facilitator s role is to move the Team along not to be the expert who writes the Strategic Plan for the organization The Team members are the ones who know the organization and will be the best resource for ideas and plans on how to move the organization for ward A good Facilitator works to bring out the ideas and thoughts of the Strategic Planning Team with minimal in terterence In many cases facilitators will also be the recording Secretary for
13. en they may become an issue if the reason for dismissal can be tied to the parents membership in one of the protected classes You should be sure to include in your Contract tor Services Fee Agreement a statement that reserves the right to dismiss a child tamily at any time in the agen cies sole discretion You should again restate this pol icy in the Agency s Parent Handbook Your Contract tor Services Fee Agreement and your Parent Handbook should also state your policy regarding a retund of pre paid tuition and or security deposit when a child is dismissed Generally you have the right to set policy in this area as long as your policy does not go against the law or public policy it should be enforceable as a part of your contract You need to be particularly caretul when dis missing a child who suffers from a disability This area presents the most exposure to potential liability for the agency Dismissing the child because you or your staff Our Guest TYM SMITH Tym Smith is a friend and colleague from Dallas TX who will be contributing his wealth of expertise in the Early Care and Education tield with us in many up coming Issues As a tormer teacher center director and regional manager for one of Texas largest most influential child care compa nies Tym offers practical and hands on experience you our audience Tym trains thousands of child care professionals throughout Texas every year on topics including Supervision
14. is book be a positive addition to story time it can serve as a valuable teaching tool in your classroom By Janice Nieliwocki The previous two issues of 7he Child Care Provider Experi ence addressed Learning Stations for the preschool classroom If you ve been keeping up with the articles you already know that Learning Stations are individual areas set aside in your classroom for small group interactive learning Each area is equipped with teacher developed materials and activities de signed to teach or reinforce a specitic skill or concept They can be of various formats and can be designed using a cur riculum theme or children s book as the central focus Several related stations are set up simultaneously and children in small groups rotate through the various stations You also know of the far reaching benefits you can expect to experience once you ve incorporated Learning Stations into your preschool curriculum What you may be wondering however is how to successtully implement Learning Stations into your particular classroom environment Every classroom situation is somewhat unique and comes with its own set of circumstances which you will need to assess prior to incorporating Learning Stations into your curriculum Keep in mind that most circumstances can be easily addressed and with a little ingenuity and some simple alterations and moditications Learning Stations can comple ment any preschool classroom Y
15. ly to be mistreated by their Mother than by their Father Surprising Disturbing CHILDREN S BOOK CORNER By Janice Nieliwocki Now that the new year is underway why not start it off by reading Leo Lionni s A Color of His Own at story time This charming tale about a chameleon who longs to fit in will delight toddlers and preschoolers alike The story begins with the young chame leon s realization that he is unlike the other ani mals in the animal kingdom because he lacks a color of his own In order to remedy the situa tion he decides he will simply stay on a green leat so that he will no longer change color However much to his dismay as the seasons change the colors of the leaves change and ultimately so does the young chameleon The chameleon is forlorn and saddened until he is betriended by an older wiser chameleon They stay together and even though their color will forever change their friendship endures and neither taces lite alone The chameleon s saga is clearly conveyed by the author s simple yet concise text The art istry interesting bold and colortul easily cap tures the reader listener s attention and is the ideal accompaniment to the story As new triendships are made and old ones rekindled with the start of the new school year Leo Lionni s A Color of His Own exemplities the value of friendship and demonstrates how lite can be easier with a companion by your side Not only will th
16. onsult with legal coun sel before taking action For a sample Dismissal Policy and Contract tor Services Fee Agreement visit the Publication section of our website download the Publication Order Form and purchase Model Forms for Child Care Agencies and Model Parent Handbook for Child Care Agencies CHILD CARE PROVIDER RETAINER PROGRAM Ronald Y McGuckin and Associates is proud to announce the expansion of this program With the recent addition ot Atomey Jason D Dalton we have been able to open the retainer program to a limited number ot new clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey The Child Care Provider Retainer Program otters special discounted rates to Private Child Care Agencies Corporate Agencies Head Start Programs FamilyHome Based Providers and School Age Programs Over 25 years ot Experience Representing Child Care Providers For Information about how to Become a Retainer Client Please Contact Dawn Martini at 215 785 3400 20 Tips tor GOING GREEN in the Classroom By Tymothy Smith To be GREEN means to conserve natural re sources and consume consciously to reduce our impact on this big blue planet we call home If everyone does something it would have a tremendous impact on our world and the legacy we leave for future generations Carbon Dioxide gas CO2 is the major cause of climate change in the world Humans are emitting mil lions of pounds of CO2 gas into the environment CO2 gas is
17. ou may want to begin by first taking a look at the physical setting of your classroom Because Learning Stations require small groups of children to rotate trom one Station to the next you will want to place the Stations in a format so that transi tions run smoothly and chaos is kept to a minimum This may simply require the rearranging of furniture or just using a por tion of your classroom for your Learning Stations Perhaps a more daunting challenge is incorporating Learning Stations if you are working with a large number of children in your classroom But don t be discouraged as there are several options you may wish to consider Although found the ideal number of workable Learning Stations at any given time to be three a fourth Station can be added You may want to con sider making the fourth Station a related art activity Another option you may wish to consider when working with a large number of children is to simply divide the group in half allow ing halt of the children to participate in supervised qu et play while the other half of the children work with the Learning Sta tions with the understanding that upon completion children will switch activities This may require extra supervision so you may want to utilize volunteers An additional concern often arises when implementing Learning Stations with younger children or less mature children This can usually be remedied by providing additional support and supervision at e
18. ployees that you will only address employment related concerns with the employee or their designated Attorney at Law This includes sending out copies of personnel records Certainly in emergency situations you will discuss the employee with the person s listed on the employees emergency contact torm This is lim ited to health related and or crisis management situations for example the employee is in a car accident in the parking lot the employee has a seizure in the classroom etc The employee s emergency contact would also be able to call in emergency situations to in form the employer that the employee is unable to report to work The Continued on page 2 Strategic Planning The Facilitator By Dawn Martini As you begin the Strategic Planning Process it is help ful to consider using an independent third party in the role of Facilitator Someone who can be objective critical and impartial The Facilitator s main function is to move the Strategic Planning Team through the Process How this is done depends on the Facilitator s personal style A good Facilitator can adapt their personal style to fit the mood and character of each group with which they are working in an effort to yield the best final product The benefits to having an independent person func tion in this role can be seen on many ditterent levels As an outsider the Facilitator is less intimidating to the em ployees and parents on the team which may mak
19. the group so Team members are tree to think about and discuss issues without the pressure of keeping accurate notes and then typing and editing the notes into report format for review and use at the next meeting While it is important to select a Facilitator with experi ence and cursory knowledge of the Early Care and Educa tion field he she need not be the leading expert in all things child related Their expertise should be in the area of the Strategic Planning Process To tind a Strategic Planning Facilitator email Dawn at dawn childproviderlaw com Next Issue Setting the Ground Rules Continued trom page 1 Helicopter Parents employer would then correspond by letter with the employee related to leave benefits and continua tion of employment as per the personnel policies It the employee were to be incapable of communi cating the employer would communicate with whoever is designated as next of kin If the person is married it would be their spouse if the person is an unmarried adult it would be their parent or other designated adult In all other non emergency situations it is ap propriate tor the employer to say in a tirm manner that they will not discuss the matter that the par ent spouse should not call the program again and then promptly end the conversation The employer should then meet with the employee and reaffirm the policy with them A new personnel policy addressing Helicopter Parents Spouses has been inclu
20. this type of petty silly unprofessional stuff occurs in our world all the time In the 11 states that recognize the good faith exception this scenario would be illegal The 11 states are Alabama Alaska Arizona California Delaware Idaho Mas sachusetts Montana Nevada Utah and Wyoming Despite these relatively recent judicial and legislative ad aptations at will employment is generally alive and well Contract employees those that have a con tract for employment or are cov ered by a collective bargaining union are no at will employees Terminations tor contract employ ees can only be carried out by the terms outlined in the contract When terminating at will employ ees those with no contract em ployers need to ensure that the firing cannot be deemed a wrong ful termination First employers need to make certain that no Fed eral or State public policy is being violated Second employers need to make sure there is no sugges tion of an implied contract either from an employee handbook that could be misconstrued as such or verbal statements made by the em ployer to the employee suggesting terms of employment Finally employers in the 11 states that recognize the good faith exception should determine if the termination is tor just cause and is not being carried out with malice or in bad faith If employers use profes sional sense and make their em ployment decisions including ter mina
21. tions for job related and or job performance related reasons the employer should remain well within the at will employment pa rameters To be sure all employ ers should consult with local legal counsel when terminating any em ployee For information on Person nel Policy language and an At Will Employment Acknowledgment Statement please email us at dawn childproviderlaw com Ron Dawn and Jan will be traveling to the following cities for Local State Regional and National Conferences on the dates indicated We welcome you to attend the conterences Information has been provided so you can contact the organi zation conducting the training conterence If we are going to be in your state or area we welcome you to contact us about coming to your program or organization to do a private training The cost of bringing us in to your pro gram or organization is signifi cantly reduced because we are already traveling to your area We certainly don t mind adding a day or two to our travel schedules to work with you Contact us at 215 785 3400 to see if we can visit your pro gram when we are in town Jan 25 27 Chicago Metro AEYC Chicago IL For infor mation go to Feb 9 Pinellas County Early Childhood Association Clear water FL Feb 14 16 Virginia Associa tion tor Early Childhood Educa tion Norfolk VA For informa tion go to vaece org Feb 22 23 Child Care Asso ciation of Sussex Coun
22. ty PA Mar 12 14 National After School Association Phoenix AZ For into go to naaconter ence org Mar 14 15 CITE Conference New Brunswick NJ For infor mation go to cite org Mar 14 16 National Child Care Association Annual Lead ership Conterence Long Beach CA for information go to nccanet org Apr 3 5 California Associa tion for the Education of Young Children Long Beach CA For information go to caeyc org Apr 17 19 National Associa tion of Child Care Professionals New Orleans LA For intorma tion go to naccp org Apr 20 24 National Head Start Association Nashville TN For information go to www nhsa org May 1 2 Pennsylvania Head Start Association Harrisburg PA
23. xception as of Jan 2001 The 12 states that DO NOT recognize this exception are Arkansas Florida Georgia Indi ana Louisiana Massachusetts Missouri Montana North Caro lina Pennsylvania Rhode Island Texas and Virginia In these 12 states the only recognized contract is one that is explicitly entered into by both parties whether in writing or by verbal agreement The last exception known as the covenant ot good taith and fair dealing exception is only rec ognized by 11 states as of January 2001 It is the least recognized exception by the courts because it strays significantly trom the tradi tional employment at will doctrine It basically means that an em ployer s decision to terminate an employee is subject to a just cause standard and that termina tions made in bad faith are pro hibited Under the good faith ex ception terminations and other employment actions that are not based on job related factors would be considered illegal For example an employee has worked for a child care direc tor tor many years and their chil dren begin to date as they know each other trom High School The young man breaks up with the young lady who is the director s daughter and the Director takes her frustration out on the em ployee mother of the young man and demotes her to a classroom and or schedule that is untavor able or terminates her employ ment As many child care protes sionals have experienced
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