| Registered User
Member Since: Jan 2003 Location: Calvert County
Posts: 97
|  Messed up 1st day of school in St Marys County...
Well gang..... I REALLY just need to RANT.
I think that the St Marys County school system needs some SERIOUS HELP. Perhaps a law suit may wake them up. But then again, only competent, PROFESSIONALS would fear a lawsuit. I suspect that this is NOT the kind of people that we are dealing with at this SCHOOL location.(Park HALL)
The first day of school couldnt have gotten much worse. Could it have?
Not only was it hot, It was confusing due to the lack of buses and/or bus drivers, according to the Park Hall Principal.
WHAT is the problem with this school system???
Now I can understand the first day of school being a bit hectic. Especially with the redistricting and all, you should expect things to be a bit off schedule. HOWEVER...my child waited 45 minutes at the bus stop this morning. The bus schedule stated that the bus would pick our stop up at 8:30 - 8:40 am. I dropped her child off at the bus stop at 8:25, and then made my way to work, as the bus stops at our stop relatively close to the time that I am required to leave to make it to work on time... WELL...My child returned home at 9:05 to tell dad, that she needed a ride to school because she thought that she had missed the bus.....The same bus that was supposed to arrive at our stop at 8:30-8:40 ish, arrived at 9:15am.
(Now I do NOT blame the bus drivers... I blame the school system. If you have a GOOD SYSTEM, things fall into line. I believe that the drivers are doing all that they possibly can do in this CHAOS that Park Hall area calls a school system.)
Now as if this was NOT bad enough to start off the School year, at the end of the day, the students on my childs bus were kept at the school, as her school bus was broken down. Question #1: Why weren't the parents called? Question #2: Why weren't children allowed to call home to notify the parents that the bus was broken down, and they might need a ride home? EVEN AFTER MY CHILD BEGGED TO PHONE HOME TO LET ME KNOW WHERE SHE WAS, The Staff refused to allow her to do so. If you ask me this is just shy of KIDNAPPING. I phoned Park Hall School at 4:30, after I got home from work, to discuss the bus issue from the morning of which I was informed by my husband.
I thought I actually got my lines crossed, and might have misread the bus schedule, and sent my child out to the bus stop too early, then drove on to work. I wouldnt have left for work if I would have known that the bus was going to be 45 Minutes late picking her up to GET to school. ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
OKAY now after all of this the receptionist was aware that the school bus was not going anywhere at the time that I had called at 4:30. Do you think someone could explain to me why this SO CALLED PROFESSIONAL could not have informed me of the delay? At the VERY least could have asked me what school bus my child was on in the first place!!! I mean, THATS why I phoned in the first place!!! These people are paid to keep track of children, and yet they cant even keep track of themselves!!! I am SURE that if the roles were reversed and their children were overdue for more than 1 Hour and 45 minutes that they would be furious to find the School withholding information deliberately!!!
Don't you think it may have been a good IDEA for her to tell me that MY CHILD WAS STILL AT THE SCHOOL WAITING ON THE BUS TO BE FIXED!!!!!??!!
NOPE, thats TOO EASY.................My child FINALLY gets home at 5:30pm. School was dismissed at 3:45 pm. I don't believe that this is all to unreasonable to expect a simple call from the school. I mean after all of this MY Husband had to LEAVE work and drive to PARK HALL School to speak with the Assistant Principal to hear from her that the BUS that my child rides left 20 minutes earlier. and that it had only 9 children aboard. I called to speak to the Principal and she claimed that they could NOT call every students parents. Excuse me but 9 phone calls is nothing for a SO CALLED RESPONSIBLE professional to make.
This school system is accountable to the parents. Letting us KNOW where our children are, and if they are going to be late, like THIS VERY SITUATION. MY CHILD BEGGED TO CALL HOME, and was told NO, by 3 teachers who teach her grade at Park Hall School.
The Assistant principal told my husband when he arrived at the school office that our child wasn't telling the truth about this. Its funny, at 5:35, the Principal told me, while on the phone that "the school cannot call every parent in this situation because the phones were overwhelmed."
Yeah, well, I say UNDERSTAND THIS: A child has the RIGHT to phone home so that the truly RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE are made aware of the situation!!!! Instead of sitting home and being concerned over the where abouts of my child, I could have driven over to the school and brought her home, simple as that. INSTEAD!!!
The school gave me the number for the bus/transporation dept, and i phoned them, 4 times. Two times, i spoke with the same person, who was supposed to call me back with info about my childs afternoon bus. Did anyone?? return any phone call? NO. I phoned to get in touch with them to find out why, and figure out where the heck my child was.....no one answered any line at all. I kept gettgin a specific "operators" by name voice mail. USELESS IN ANY KIND OF EMERGENCY.
This school system is about as accountable as dog doo-doo.
No wait, i take that back. At least I know that when a dog is fed, usually after about 15 to 20 minutes, they have to go doo-doo. So basically, dog doo-doo is MORE ACCOUNTABLE than this school system !!!
Thank you for letting me vent. I think the community deserves to know these things. Otherwise, just like a few things last year, this very school likes to try and cover its tracks, and try to get away with things that just are not so, or appropriate. Once again, this school system is trying to make excuses, and dodge their responsibility to the community.
Im a parent. I deserve to know what goes on with my child when the school has her for the day. If something goes wrong, or something unexpected that effects a major delay in her getting TO or FROM schoool rears its ugly head, as a parent I DESERVE TO KNOW, and get get EXCUSES shoved into my face. |
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