So....I received a phone call the next week from her father. How dare I refuse her essay?!?!?!?!
No, she just started. That’s not the point.
She had FOUR months just like everyone else. Not to mention she said she simply did not do it.
I’m sorry. I don’t understand the problem. She has a make-up essay and will be able to get some of the missing points back. She is being treated no different that any other student.
(At which point, I am confused. WHAT is the point?)
Turns out the point was I was trying to hold his child responsible for her own actions. I WAS A MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he hung up on me.
The next day, an Admin said he had scheduled a meeting with the father who was....get this....threatening to sue. TO SUE.
I spoke with the Admin, gave him all the paperwork I give the students and waited for the meeting.
At the meeting I explained everything we did, all the rules, showed him the paperwork (which he did not look at and literally threw it on the Admin’s desk), and about the FOUR MONTHS OF TIME for what is basically a 1.5 page paper. I even explained her attitude demanding more time and that she simply did not do the essay because she didn’t want to.
The Admin asked the student if this was all true.
Yes, but it’s not fair! She won’t let me turn in the paper late.
Admin: Have you let students turn in the paper late?
The father jumped in at this point and started telling the Admin his child was just that a child. (She was less than 2 months from her 18th birthday.) And holding a child to such a rigid standard was unacceptable.
The Admin asked if I could see his point.
I pointed out she’s a senior. One who has talked endlessly about going to college. IF she doesn’t learn how to do big projects, manage her time, and meet deadlines now, when is she going to learn it?
(WTF....since when does college teach how to meet deadlines and act like an adult? If you can’t arrive grown up, you are usually in a LOT of trouble.)
So, the Admin looks at me and asks if I can see his point.
(Well, yes I can see his point....it’s a stupid point, but I can see it...but I am soooooo not agreeing with it.) I end up repeating she had PLENTY of time but CHOSE to not do the assignment. CHOSE.
The father gets really pissed. What a mean person I am, how I must hate my students, how I must pray every night for them to fail, and I drink their tears too!
I refuse to back down. She had FOUR MONTHS and CHOSE to do NOTHING. How am I supposed to reward her for that?
In the end, the father threatens to sue us. I’m not afraid; he has NOTHING...kind of like what his kid did. But the Admin.
He changes the grade, forbids me from changing it back, and removes her from my class.
But here is the real kicker. She goes around telling everyone she can that her father forced me to give her an A. That I’m not allowed to fail anyone. Just have your parents come in and complain. You do NOT want to know what that last semester was like or how many of my Seniors refused to do the last project (the fun one) and ended up losing their admittance due to getting a D in my class (BIG GPA drop!) or losing scholarships. Because, it turns out, the OTHER Admin. back me up. They want students leaving our school with the skills to excel in college.
To this day, I just do not get it. How can you treat your kids like this. It does nothing but teach them they don’t actually have to grow up. BUT THEY DO! Eventually, they have to step into the real, adult world, and they will do so woefully unprepared. Sigh.
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