Open Letter to a Public School
Dear Mr. Principal and Mr. Superintendent,
As a follow up to both our discussions earlier, I would like to touch base so that we are all on the same page.
- We could not afford to send Son T and Son D on the D.C. field trip. While it has been mentioned there are fund raisers, I would like to point out that I work from home and we don’t believe in tapping struggling relatives for support on this sort of thing.
- It wasn’t until a school staff member - who shall remain nameless confirmed to me that finals had been done prior to the D.C. trip and that the kids were doing word search and soduku puzzles the bulk of their day, that we decided to do something more educational and beneficial with our kids. The staff member said they “felt sorry for the students because it was like they were being punished for not being able to go on the trip.” I certainly didn’t want my kids to feel worse about their not going then they did already.
- It’s not clear to me what type of “note” is needed by the school to relieve the boys of further punishment associated with this field trip episode. Only one boy was seen that week by the doctor for pinkeye - and while the other two did get pinkeye, we used the same prescription since it was the same thing. I saw no point in paying $70 each to take the children when we already knew what was wrong and had the proper treatment here at home. However, I would be happy to provide a note from home should that be sufficient.
I will safely and honestly admit that we did keep the children out longer then was needed for the pinkeye diagnosis - but our decision after we’d confirmed what the kids had told us about how their days were being spent.
If you were unaware of the word search and soduku lessons, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate the timing of finals and perhaps design something a little more interesting for the kids who can’t afford to go rather then punishing them for being poor.
As I stated to Mr. Superintendent earlier on the phone, I am currently looking at options to enroll the boys in private school or home school, however, if we decide this is not the best option for the kids, we have one more who will be in 8th grade next year and will likely not be going on the D.C. trip either. We don’t feel we can do for one what we couldn’t do for all and more then likely this will become an issue again, if not addressed beforehand.
With that said, please advise me of the time the boys will be required to serve in their detention tomorrow, as I plan to serve that time with them. It was my decision to keep them home and if they are going to be punished, I will be right there with them to show that they don’t have to carry the brunt of the consequences themselves.
Please let it be known that I certainly don’t wish to be a problem - however, I feel that someone must speak up on behalf of the kids who are not financially able to participate in some of these expensive activities. My kids do enjoy some luxury items because of my job as a gadget reviewer, but that’s the extent of their pleasures.
Son T does have a 2:00 orthodontist appointment in New Castle tomorrow, so I will work around that as best I can to see to it the kids pay their dues, this time.
Best,
Gayla McCord
Perhaps I am being “ultra sensitive” perhaps I am being overly dramatic here - but for my kids to serve even 10 minutes of punishment over a decision *I* made and for telling the truth, I believe is teaching kids that the truth doesn’t set you free - it lands you in detention!
This post is a follow up to previous posts that began with:
Expensive Class Trips and Those Left Behind
More Expensive Class Field Trip Drama
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Parenting
11 opinions for Open Letter to a Public School
Noreen Crone-Findlay
May 29, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Excellent letter, Gayla. If you choose to have your other child attend this school next year, then perhaps you could organize an alternate activity day with other concerned parents. This way, the kids who opt out of expensive field trips could have a local field trip or special workshop (local artist who does papermaking or some other kind of neat thing) so that they get something great, too.
Given that the economy is in disarray, this is going to be a growing concern. Chances are good that next year, there will be many more than 19 kids who can’t afford expensive trips.
Since the school was incapable of coming up with a creative option for the stay behind kids, then perhaps the parents could brainstorm with the kids to see if there is something that could be equally appealing and inspiring for them.
A day long rock band camp, perhaps? Dance moves workshop? Wall climbing? Orienteering? sculpting? Painting? eco studies? Learn how to do stand up Comedy? Dog grooming? film making?
Having been a homeschooling parent, I discovered that there are a million ways of educating, illuminating, inspiring and igniting the imagination and expanding the creativity of our young ones.
Erin
May 29, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I’m sorry. That is really terrible, the school (PTA maybe?) should have found a way to help pay for those who couldn’t afford to go. And if that couldn’t be done they should come up with more creative things that suduko puzzles to keep the kids busy during that week.
Marye
May 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm
That is ridiculous Gayla. When did the school system become the custodian of or children?
I would tel them to shove their dentention and kiss off…
in the most gracious, sweetest Christian manner possible.
But this is why my kids are homeschooled. I can sleep with the principal to get what I want.
:)
Indiana Schools Punishing Kids for Being Poor | Random Bits | A View from the Isle
May 29, 2008 at 6:39 pm
[…] Open Letter to a Public School […]
QueenVelveeta
May 29, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Gayla, I love it when parents “threaten” a school that they will pull their kids out of school and homeschool or enroll in private school. Hey, that is music to a teacher’s ears. By all means, take your kids out TODAY. Statements like this make parents look like idiots. Hope this helps.
Gayla McCord
May 30, 2008 at 4:14 am
QueenV - in a school that is as small as ours - one who relies heavily on kids who can increase the istep scores - like mine - and in a school that gets a great deal of government funding because of programs my kids participate in, three kids being pulled in such a public way could be very upsetting.
Perhaps it wouldn’t upset a “teacher” as much in the beginning, but we are talking about a school that can’t even get it together to give the teachers a viable contract. Our teachers worked all of last year without one.
At the last school board meeting, the overall consensus was simply an “oops - we better do something” - and this only came after one teacher got a group together and wrote a letter to the editor.
It’s not just the kids who are suffering her - it’s the entire school. So by stepping up and doing my part - even if only “threatening” to take my kids to a private school or home school, if done in a very public manner could help get this school back on the right track.
Randa Clay
May 30, 2008 at 7:29 am
I don’t see it as “threatening” to take your kids out of school, but rather stating the obvious- you can give your kids more than the public school does by homeschooling them. I’m sure they couldn’t care less whether your kids are there or not - that much is obvious from this whole situation. Ridiculous.
Jess
May 30, 2008 at 10:23 am
I think this is fabulous. Kudos to you for taking the “punishment” with your kids. And kudos for addressing it with the school.
suni
May 30, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I think it’s good that you are speaking out about this. It isn’t fair to the kids for them to be punished for a DECISION you made that was due to you wanting to make sure your kids didn’t feel left out. You don’t “look like an idiot”. You look like a concerned parent who wants the best for her kids.
Rose
Jun 5, 2008 at 8:35 am
The school becomes the custodian of the children when they get paid based on attendance. When your kids sit in the classroom and do sudoku puzzles all day, the school gets to meet budget. If they talked more openly about it with the kids, maybe they could turn it into an economics lesson :)
Homeschooling is a great option. I hope you look into it further.
free soduku
Jul 23, 2008 at 3:02 pm
[…] We could not afford to send Son T and Son D on the D.C. field trip. While it has been mentionedhttp://www.supernannyrules.com/open-letter-to-a-public-school/Buku Sudoku - GameplanetWe found the game failed to re-ignite our interest in Sudoku, but as with […]
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