I didn't have any questions, Sammyjo. I was just sharing something with the group. I don't know what the "scrolling issue" is, but it seems to me it would be awfully difficult to comment on anything that you haven't actually read. Reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield's interpretation of "The Great Gatsby" in "Back to School"....."Gatsby?.....He was.....Great!"
Who says when kids can miss school, the parents or the principal?
- Thread starter Lasher
- Start date
Well, I'm not even a parent, and this still managed to piss me off. I can't even imagine some damn administrator trying to tell me that I cannot decide what is best for my children.
Anyways, take a look at this and tell me what you think.
Who says when kids can miss school, the parents or the principal?
Parents and administrators from West Jefferson Hills School District clashed last week in a dispute over a gray area in the Pennsylvania School Code regarding excused absences.
Parents of several Thomas Jefferson High School seniors questioned the school's authority when notes excusing their children from classes to attend the viewing for a friend who was killed in a hit-and-run crash were rejected by Principal Bart Rocco. Although he conceded that the signed notes were from the parents, Rocco said he informed the parents by phone that school policy permits student absences for funerals only when they are for an immediate family member.
Despite warnings from Rocco that leaving school grounds would make them eligible for suspension, several students left the school around noon on Friday, May 5. When they returned on Monday, May 8, each student was given a three-day suspension.
Visitation was on the evenings of Thursday and Friday, May 4 and 5, and Friday afternoon. The funeral was on the morning of Saturday, May 6.
Jay Mulligan Ayers, 21, of Pleasant Hills, was a 1997 West Jefferson Hills graduate who was working as a tow-truck driver when he was killed on the Parkway West in Green Tree May 3. Karen Ganley, parent of one of the suspended seniors, said that many students claimed illness May 5 and skipped a full day of classes to attend the viewing. Ganley's son James, 19, was among three seniors who attended morning classes and presented notes to excuse them from classes after noon.
"This death really affected [the students]," said Karen Ganley. "It affected the whole community. A lot of kids took off the entire day to attend the funeral; these kids went in for half a day with a note to leave at 12. They could have lied, but I guess they were trying to be good. But look at who was suspended. I felt it was unfair that they should be punished by the school. Mr. Rocco sort of made it like they were defying him. I felt he was overriding my decision as to what is best for my kid."
Ganley sent e-mail letters to school officials, parents and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette protesting the three-day suspensions of her son and two female students.
Rocco said that while he sympathized with the community's loss, he had no choice but to deny the parents' requests for excused absence.
"Just because a parent requests dismissal does not mean that it should be granted," he said. "According the [Pennsylvania] School Code, there are legitimate reasons to be excused -- illness, funeral for an immediate family member, family emergencies. These children put in for early dismissal for noon for a viewing at 2 o'clock. They could have gone [to the funeral home] after school."
Rocco said he spent an hour with the students explaining the regulation and the consequences for leaving school grounds without permission. He later spoke with the parents by phone.
"I told the kids not to leave without my permission. They refused," he said. "That's grounds for suspension."
But even his orders for suspension were ignored. Rocco sentenced the students to in-school suspension on the next day, a Saturday. None of them showed up. He then issued each three days of in-school suspension, when they would be confined to a special suspension room instead of attending their regular classes.
"They went for one day of that and said that was unacceptable, too," said Rocco.
Finally he assigned them to two days of home suspension, excusing them from classes last Wednesday and Thursday.
"To me this is asinine," he said. "As principal of a school, I make the decisions about what is a suitable suspension. What kind of message does it send to the kids? Don't listen to your principal. ... It's parents from the '60s and '70s raising kids in the 2000s questioning authority and begging the rules."
School Superintendent Myles Stepanovich said he supports Rocco's decision to deny the absences and impose the suspensions despite the parents' objections.
"What's an excused absence?" he asked. "In most cases it's up to the reasonable judgment of the building principal. Not all of it is black and white."
"By law they're required to be [at school]," said Rocco.
The suspended seniors have returned to classes, and Rocco said the dispute will have no effect on their graduation or commencement ceremonies. But Ganley said she plans to press the board to re-examine its interpretation of the School Code.
[This message has been edited by Lasher99 (edited 05-16-2000).]
Anyways, take a look at this and tell me what you think.
Who says when kids can miss school, the parents or the principal?
Parents and administrators from West Jefferson Hills School District clashed last week in a dispute over a gray area in the Pennsylvania School Code regarding excused absences.
Parents of several Thomas Jefferson High School seniors questioned the school's authority when notes excusing their children from classes to attend the viewing for a friend who was killed in a hit-and-run crash were rejected by Principal Bart Rocco. Although he conceded that the signed notes were from the parents, Rocco said he informed the parents by phone that school policy permits student absences for funerals only when they are for an immediate family member.
Despite warnings from Rocco that leaving school grounds would make them eligible for suspension, several students left the school around noon on Friday, May 5. When they returned on Monday, May 8, each student was given a three-day suspension.
Visitation was on the evenings of Thursday and Friday, May 4 and 5, and Friday afternoon. The funeral was on the morning of Saturday, May 6.
Jay Mulligan Ayers, 21, of Pleasant Hills, was a 1997 West Jefferson Hills graduate who was working as a tow-truck driver when he was killed on the Parkway West in Green Tree May 3. Karen Ganley, parent of one of the suspended seniors, said that many students claimed illness May 5 and skipped a full day of classes to attend the viewing. Ganley's son James, 19, was among three seniors who attended morning classes and presented notes to excuse them from classes after noon.
"This death really affected [the students]," said Karen Ganley. "It affected the whole community. A lot of kids took off the entire day to attend the funeral; these kids went in for half a day with a note to leave at 12. They could have lied, but I guess they were trying to be good. But look at who was suspended. I felt it was unfair that they should be punished by the school. Mr. Rocco sort of made it like they were defying him. I felt he was overriding my decision as to what is best for my kid."
Ganley sent e-mail letters to school officials, parents and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette protesting the three-day suspensions of her son and two female students.
Rocco said that while he sympathized with the community's loss, he had no choice but to deny the parents' requests for excused absence.
"Just because a parent requests dismissal does not mean that it should be granted," he said. "According the [Pennsylvania] School Code, there are legitimate reasons to be excused -- illness, funeral for an immediate family member, family emergencies. These children put in for early dismissal for noon for a viewing at 2 o'clock. They could have gone [to the funeral home] after school."
Rocco said he spent an hour with the students explaining the regulation and the consequences for leaving school grounds without permission. He later spoke with the parents by phone.
"I told the kids not to leave without my permission. They refused," he said. "That's grounds for suspension."
But even his orders for suspension were ignored. Rocco sentenced the students to in-school suspension on the next day, a Saturday. None of them showed up. He then issued each three days of in-school suspension, when they would be confined to a special suspension room instead of attending their regular classes.
"They went for one day of that and said that was unacceptable, too," said Rocco.
Finally he assigned them to two days of home suspension, excusing them from classes last Wednesday and Thursday.
"To me this is asinine," he said. "As principal of a school, I make the decisions about what is a suitable suspension. What kind of message does it send to the kids? Don't listen to your principal. ... It's parents from the '60s and '70s raising kids in the 2000s questioning authority and begging the rules."
School Superintendent Myles Stepanovich said he supports Rocco's decision to deny the absences and impose the suspensions despite the parents' objections.
"What's an excused absence?" he asked. "In most cases it's up to the reasonable judgment of the building principal. Not all of it is black and white."
"By law they're required to be [at school]," said Rocco.
The suspended seniors have returned to classes, and Rocco said the dispute will have no effect on their graduation or commencement ceremonies. But Ganley said she plans to press the board to re-examine its interpretation of the School Code.
[This message has been edited by Lasher99 (edited 05-16-2000).]
Gingersnap
Stoopid
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I guess the principle was absent the day they studied the Bill Of Rghts.
Bossy Aussie
Really Experienced
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My daughter is homeschooled. But really, I think it was none of the principal's business.
Bossy
[This message has been edited by Bossy Aussie (edited 05-16-2000).]
Bossy
[This message has been edited by Bossy Aussie (edited 05-16-2000).]
Sorry Lasher, but I can't read your post due to the scrolling issue...but, I do believe that it is the parent's right to keep their kids home if need be. For example, there was a bad snow storm here in December. I had a hard time seeing 2 inches in front of me, and I was NOT sending my daughter on the bus, nor was I going to risk our lives by driving her to school. Some people say things like "This is Minnesota, get used to it" I'm sorry, Minnesota or not, if I am uncomfortable driving, she isn't going anywhere.
Another example, I am going to Toronto (I know you all will NEVER get tired of hearing about that) and I am keeping my daughter home from school the day before I leave. Why? Because, I will be gone for 4 days, and I want to spend some time with her before I go. We are going to spend the whole day together, shopping, lunch, whatever we decide to do. Hell, I don't care if we take an all day nap...No one is going to tell me when I can and can not keep my daughter home from school. I don't care. If it's good enough for me, it had better be good enough for the school.
On another note, a "chronic skipper" needs more help than we can give them. My sister is a chronic skipper. And was suspended for two days because of it. Not that she learned anything...not only does demanding them to stay away from the thing they dread do nothing, but my parents have no control over her, and allowed her to just do as she pleased for her whole suspension.
I could go on and on, but I won't...I hope this answers what you wanted answered.
SJ
Another example, I am going to Toronto (I know you all will NEVER get tired of hearing about that) and I am keeping my daughter home from school the day before I leave. Why? Because, I will be gone for 4 days, and I want to spend some time with her before I go. We are going to spend the whole day together, shopping, lunch, whatever we decide to do. Hell, I don't care if we take an all day nap...No one is going to tell me when I can and can not keep my daughter home from school. I don't care. If it's good enough for me, it had better be good enough for the school.
On another note, a "chronic skipper" needs more help than we can give them. My sister is a chronic skipper. And was suspended for two days because of it. Not that she learned anything...not only does demanding them to stay away from the thing they dread do nothing, but my parents have no control over her, and allowed her to just do as she pleased for her whole suspension.
I could go on and on, but I won't...I hope this answers what you wanted answered.
SJ
Skitten
Sir's toy
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Lasheer; I am a parent of two and I agree with you it should be ther parents right when your kid misses or gets early dismissals from school. I think that principal was over stepping his authoriity and making it an issue that really didn't need to be. I feel that he was trying to make it into an issue. In my opinion those kids had a right to attend a viewing of their friend and the school should be more understanding. And as long as they had their parents approval the school should not question their parent's authority they knew where their kids were going and they gave their permisssion bottom line. The school should have no authority to question a parents consent.
I have to agree with Bossy on the subject of home schooling. My SO & I decided early on that we would home school. Neither one of us felt comfortable with the idea of the local school system influencing our children's education. True, that's what it's there for, but with violence/guns, bullshit holidays, overcrowding and everything else, it's better to keep them home with attentive parents & computers, if you have the means to do it. Part of his job involves travel in the US & it would be a great opportunity for them to see as well as read. The principal of that high school was acting in a way not beneficial to his students. If his wife's mother's whatever had passed, he would have taken a couple of days off, probably with pay.
Earthgoddess
Literotica Guru
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Well Lasher that is why I too am homeschooling, granted it's kindergarten but my values and the established school values do not seem to mesh.
Yes heaven forbid those crazy hippie parents let their children grieve in a supportive environment...Bad parenting...do not treat the child as a sentient being, lock them in a room where their brains can stagnate for a few days.
Do not take up school time and have MADD come in and do a presentation, or a grief conselor...No lecture them yourself on policy and your interpretation of your dictatorship..I am sorry I mean principality.
Hell, I went to Catholic school and was excused to pray for the pope when he was shot in the late 70's...And I was Episcopalian, my Mother protested me spending entire school days in prayer as we did not hold the same beliefs as the Catholics regarding the Pope...She was told God had said I was chosen to miss class based on my obvious devotion...I did it to get out of class and get free sticky buns from the nuns,but how could my Mom argue with God saying I could miss class???
Anyone else wonder why I abandoned Christianity??
That principal better lose his job over this, this sends a message that schools are more like prisons and that principals have rights above and beyond the normal boundaries...OOPS I am ranting...sorry
Yes heaven forbid those crazy hippie parents let their children grieve in a supportive environment...Bad parenting...do not treat the child as a sentient being, lock them in a room where their brains can stagnate for a few days.
Do not take up school time and have MADD come in and do a presentation, or a grief conselor...No lecture them yourself on policy and your interpretation of your dictatorship..I am sorry I mean principality.
Hell, I went to Catholic school and was excused to pray for the pope when he was shot in the late 70's...And I was Episcopalian, my Mother protested me spending entire school days in prayer as we did not hold the same beliefs as the Catholics regarding the Pope...She was told God had said I was chosen to miss class based on my obvious devotion...I did it to get out of class and get free sticky buns from the nuns,but how could my Mom argue with God saying I could miss class???
Anyone else wonder why I abandoned Christianity??
That principal better lose his job over this, this sends a message that schools are more like prisons and that principals have rights above and beyond the normal boundaries...OOPS I am ranting...sorry
Magic Merlin
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"What kind of message does this send to the kids," says Principal Bart Rocco. "Don't listen to the principal."
Mr. Rocco, it would say to the kids that you are compassionate. It would say that the rules in this case are wrong. It would show the kids that paying homage to their friend was the proper thing to do in this situation..
Mr. Rocco, you are a bum. A pathetic excuse for a human...
Mr. Rocco, is a pathetic example of some of the public school administrators in our country today..
Pathetic...
[This message has been edited by magic merlin (edited 05-18-2000).]
Mr. Rocco, it would say to the kids that you are compassionate. It would say that the rules in this case are wrong. It would show the kids that paying homage to their friend was the proper thing to do in this situation..
Mr. Rocco, you are a bum. A pathetic excuse for a human...
Mr. Rocco, is a pathetic example of some of the public school administrators in our country today..
Pathetic...
[This message has been edited by magic merlin (edited 05-18-2000).]
Svedish_Chef
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What a crock of shit
! Not letting the kids go to the viewing of a friend, its the parents decision anyway.
Just returned from pittsburgh on the 16th. (spent two weeks with mother) and was following this story. Was some discussion of a lawsuit. Would like to know the outcome if possible. Please keep me informed. Another story, a principal suspended several 5-6 year olds for bringing firearms to school. Turned out they were pointing their fingers and going "bang - bang". What can we expect when we allow brain dead cretins to remain in a position of authority
Hurley International
Experienced
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- May 19, 2000
- Posts
- 83
WHile we are at it
FUCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!
(I am in a Fuck the World Mood)
FUCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!
(I am in a Fuck the World Mood)
Lasher, another example of the fine crop of bureaucrats who can read the rule book but can't think or apply reason to a situation.
As is typical of so many of the idiots in bureaucracy, he is certain he knows better than the parents what the parents should decide for their own kids. And he's got big brother's backing
Another example of grounds to get rid of the public school system as if the pitifully inadequate education it provides isn't enough.
As is typical of so many of the idiots in bureaucracy, he is certain he knows better than the parents what the parents should decide for their own kids. And he's got big brother's backing
Another example of grounds to get rid of the public school system as if the pitifully inadequate education it provides isn't enough.
Bigdog
Literotica Guru
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Lasher, as a parent I can tell you where all this crap comes from - MONEY! The schools receive money from the federal government based on attendance. If your child is not at school and the absence is not excused, the school does not get their per-diem. this tends to make attendance the prority of school administrators, and to hell with the well-being of the students.
The Principal of the school in question could have easily allowed ALL the students to have early dismisssal and attend the funeral, but I guess it was preferable to stand on his soapbox and quote the Education Code.
This is a shining example of the expression "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Thanks allowing me to "bark"
bigdog
The Principal of the school in question could have easily allowed ALL the students to have early dismisssal and attend the funeral, but I guess it was preferable to stand on his soapbox and quote the Education Code.
This is a shining example of the expression "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Thanks allowing me to "bark"
bigdog
R Nitelight
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Monkey See Monkey Do
You missed one.
You missed one.
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