Why does it have to be so hard??

Written to the principal of Marissa's new school, after an incident between Bryan and said principal just this morning:

Mr. ****:

This morning my husband attempted to walk our daughter to her classroom, and was told he could not do so.  I have read and re-read the District's policy, as well as the paperwork sent home by [the school], and I must say that I can find no evidence anywhere that parents aren't allowed on campus to walk their children to the classroom doors.  I do see a note here where students not eating breakfast may not arrive any earlier than 8:10am, and that is the extent of it.

Thus far I have been heartily unimpressed with the way the school has been run.  To put it mildly, it has been a zoo.  On the first day of school we approached two different staff members to locate our daughter's classroom, and both of them pointed in a general area and said, "It's somewhere over there."  In both cases, they were wrong.

The school is still under construction, the students haven't been going to this school for a full week, things are disorganized and haphazard, and now all of a sudden parents aren't allowed to walk their children to the classroom doors?  Is this a prison, or a school?  Not to mention that if staff members are unfamiliar with classroom locations, don't you think the students are, as well?

My husband told you that, by law, you could not keep him off campus.  You told him, by law, that yes you could.  Is this really an attitude and tone you feel necessary to adopt when dealing with a concerned parent?  Furthermore, I would be INCREDIBLY interested if you could cite the law (and by law I don't mean Board/District policy) that would prohibit a parent from walking his child to their classroom.  If such a law exists, as you say, then I would certainly like to bring it to the attention of other local parents, as well as the state legislature.

Furthermore, you informed my husband that you would walk our daughter to her classroom on his behalf.  You did not do so.  You stood there arguing with him, instead.  I'm not impressed by your behavior, by the behavior of your staff, and I do not feel that you have our daughter's best interests, or the best interests of the students at [the school] at heart.

We will be contacting the school district and filing a complaint against the school.  We are contemplating pulling our daughter from your disorganized school, or pulling her out of the district altogether.  We had a perfectly fine experience at my daughter's school last year.  Although the school was overcrowded we were still able to walk her safely to her classroom doors, pick her up in an organized fashion, and we were treated with respect.

 

Feel free to respond to this e-mail, however, please be aware that I do not respond well to combative attitudes, and that this is my child we are talking about.  Regardless of whether or not she is at your school between the hours of 8:30am-2:40pm, she is our daughter 100% of the time, and her safety and well-being, as well as her education, are our utmost priorities.

Sincerely,

blah blah blah

I am so tired of dealing with ignorant, unimformed, hypocritical and rude staff and District workers.  I'm so tired of these schools in general.  I was hopeful that this would be a better school, and a better school year, and it's just gotten off to a rotten start.  I'm currently exploring the possibility of putting Marissa in a charter school.

After I mailed that message to Mr. Pissy Principal pants he called and apologized to Bryan.  We have a meeting scheduled with him for tomorrow, but I'm tired of the meetings, I'm tired of the fighting, and I'm really tired of having to be that bitchy parent because the school is run by clowns.

I was going to write a post about the special fun thing Bryan and I did for Marissa yesterday, but I suppose it can just be incorporated into this one.  Marissa doesn't really ask for much, but recently she asked if we could color her hair.  After much careful consideration, and reading of the school district's dress code, and thinking about the crap she had to deal with up north, Bryan and I decided it would be okay to do a streak of semi-permanent hair color in her hair.  The catch?  She got to pick the color.

We love it, and she was super excited about it.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Principal.

Comments

[amanda]

HiI love the letter you sent to the principal. Very Very well written.

[Vanessa]

Poor sweet little Marissa! What a shame that innocent children have to be subjected to a school that's run by idiots. Good for you for complaining. Some parents are entirely too passive. I'm glad to see that you are not. You're a great parent!

[Carol]

Do you know that the policy at my son's school is "no faddish hairstyles"? I can't tell you how much that pisses me off! I don't think we'll have a problem but geesh, prohibiting faddish hairstyles? Give me a break. These public schools are trying to pump out lemmings, apparently.

Good for you for standing up for your rights as a parent. I don't know what these schools are thinking. I guess they deal with so many shitty parents that they don't know a good one when they see one, eh?

Keep us posted on the outcome tomorrow. Maybe you can homeschool Marissa? I'm seriously considering it myself!

[Di]

Love the letter! I'm glad the principal called to at least apologize, not that it makes whatever happened ok.

[Cara]

Great letter and great hair! We have some new charter schools here and I wanted to learn more about them too. Although we're not ready for all that yet anyway. Good luck, hope the school shit works out!

[kb]

damn public school system. We luckily seem to be in a good one, but I've heard quite alot of complaints from other people lately. Good luck with all of that, and let us know how the meeting goes.

[rubyjade]

ok, I LOVE the hair. She looks like a little rocker! In a good way. Too cute.

[Donna]

I think you rock! I get the same shit at my kids school,must be these schools out here!Donna

[morgan]

I had a little flash back to my youth while reading your post. You are totally my mom! I have to admit that I didn't like it as a kid because the schools took their dislike of my mother out on me from time to time, but now as an adult I thank her for it. I also know I'll be exactly the same when I have kids. You are the parent you should have all the rights!Good job and let us know how the meeting goes!

[Laurie]

I am glad you wrote that letter, but what makes me mas is that you HAD to write that letter. Why do people not care until they either get called on it or think they may get in trouble (by you going to their superiors). I hate that! As a principal, he is an educated person and he should have treated you with dignity and respect as a parent of a child that goes to his school. It seems like too little too late, but I hope it gets better for you! What was the outcome of the call?

[ChickenFlicken]

Hey Lady!!

I finally get internet access at my new job only to find that you'd moved!! CURSES. Then I found you at CrazyUs, so all is right with the world again.

I cannot BELIEVE how big the Pheebster has gotten, and I love Marissa's green streak. Give 'em hell! Did I mention that I now work at an elementary school? I'd be one of those that you'd be yelling at, cause I'm the receptionist. YEAH!! It's my JOB to let disgruntled parents yell at me! High five!!

So, good to read you again, Sister.

[kelli]

Wow, I would be pissed too! Thats a great letter and hopefully he'll take it to heart. I've never heard of not being able to walk your child to their classroom. Anyway, Marissa's hair is adorable. It's cute she's already interested in hair dye! BTW. Can't wait for Gianna's shirt:0)

[solistella]

That is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard. At Big G's school, parents can walk students to class, and in fact when they're late you HAVE to walk them to class. When I picked him up for a dentist appointment, they sent two kids from the class with him to the office, and then those two kids walked back to class together.

I'm curious to know what his reasons were for not letting Bryan in. What would be the point of such a rule?

[Penny]

What the f*ck kind of a school is Marrissa going to?? Seriously. You can't walk your own flesh and blood, nine-months-in-the-womb, living legacy to her class-room? Are they out of their mind? Whoever made that rule is lucky some premenstral mother bear hasn't curb-stomped him/her. Seriously.. what are they hiding? I love that you stand up to shit like that. I love that.