School Is Punishing Entire Student Body

Contact the district superintendent's office and make it clear that if this punishment goes forward, you will contact the media.

The school has the right to punish individuals for their infractions. They do not have the right to punish innocent students for something they did not do.

I think the teacher should start locking her drawer - she needs to take a little responsibility for her carelessness.
I'm not altogether convinced that she left it where she thinks she did and she might have lost it anywhere.
It's good you're leaving the school at the end of the year.

Keeping in mind that I am a very low-reactive, no drama person - As a parent, I'd veto that plan. You're leaving anyway so go ahead and make a ruckus.

Are they also having the other teachers, teachers' aides, housekeeping staff, and administrative staff do the writing assignment and also disallowed from having any breaks during the day? Because unless they have proof that it was a student, this is ridiculous.

I think you should take this to the school administration starting with the principal and then working up from there.

And leave out all the nonsense about not liking the teacher, that the teachers don't like it there, the laptop incident, etc. Those things are completely unrelated and distract from your point. Stick with the facts - $5 disappeared, and while that is wrong, since they have no proof it was a student, this punishment is not appropriate and your child will not be participating.

I work at a public high school, I left my Iphone in an unsecured place and it was stolen. It was MY fault for not taking care of my phone. It is utterly ridiculous for the school to clamp down on everyone. And in my opinion, this teacher has absolutely no honor at all for not taking responsibility for her carelessness. UGH!

It's FIVE DOLLARS!!! Come on!! I realize that it's the integrity and honor that the school is trying to uphold that. I get it.

Why is the whole school being punished? Why not just the class that has her?

If you don't like her and the kids don't like her? I would talk to the Headmaster and get it on record. Heck if your kids have cell phones- record her (discreetly) stating how much she hates her job and then take it to the board...I'm sure they'll have a nice chat with her about that.

Did ANY child see her put the money in her drawer?
Did she pull the drawer open AFTER she got back in class with the kids and claimed missing/stolen then?

I wouldn't blame nor punish the whole school. I would get to the bottom of it with the class.

I wouldn't hold onto the "my kid left his laptop out and no one took it" as an example of the honor and honesty of the setting, frankly. Something like that is very difficult for a child to show up at home with and have no good explanation for having it. $5? Who would even know they had it?

However, that also doesn't mean that the teacher isn't completely off the rails and probably just misplaced it, or heck, maybe a cleaning person took it, ya know?

Since you are planning to leave at the end of the term, which is just a few weeks away, I might just send a letter to the administrator setting forth all of your reasons for it (including this last bit of craziness, and including also the inappropriate way some of the teachers discuss their job dissatisfaction in front of/to the students), concluding that my children will NOT be participating in the paper writing exercise that serves no purpose to any student who isn't the guilty party, which your children are not.

ETA: I also wonder what the administration's response to a similar incident might have been if the complaintant was a student, rather than a teacher. Would the entire school be missing recess and writing papers based on a student's claim that someone stole $5 out of their desk? Somehow, I doubt it.

--
ETA2: I also am curious regarding the time line of the incident. She left cash in an unsecured drawer (in her classroom?), then returned later and it was gone. She assumes a student (from her class?) took it in her absence. Soo... who were monitoring the students in her classroom while she was absent from the room? The schools my kids have gone to have always had policies that prevented students from being unsupervised. Who was watching her class? Or was the entire class absent from the room as well and she didn't lock her classroom door? I just don't follow the story... seems like the teacher may have not followed protocol somehow... Or does the school not HAVE protocols regarding continuous supervision of the students?

In some very specific cases there is a reason to punish, for instance, a whole class if a few kids go off the rails.

This is not one of those cases.

I note that at the end you say that you are leaving after this year. That is exactly what I was going to ask you about - "Why stay at this lousy school?" I'm very glad to hear that you are removing your kids from a toxic environment.

As for the rest of this year: What would happen if a group of parents -- it needs to be a group, not just you and not just one or two -- went to the principal and said that you have all agreed that your children will not do this endless essay assignment, period? Would the principal just insist that the kids whose parents won't let them do the essays would be punished even further?

I would probably try to organize as many parents as possible to meet face to face and in numbers and simply announce that you have all agreed that you are telling your children they do not have to do this assignment. You will face a lot of blowback, and only you can decide if that blowback is going to be worth it -- your kids might be targeted by this teacher or even by other teachers for hassling in class or very harsh grading on their REAL work, which could affect older kids' GPAs. Since you are leaving pretty shortly (it's already close to the end of the year), you might not choose to do this-- OR you might decide to go out with a bang and lead the parents' revolt against this ridiculousness just because you won't be there next year....Only you know for sure. I would not want to sacrifice an older kid's GPA to make a point, but boy -- this situation would have me furious.

The fact that teachers complain to kids about working there? That's totally out of line. Teachers should never talk to kids about that sort of thing. They can bi**h all they want in the teachers' lounge, but to make that kind of stuff something they dump onto their students -- totally out of line.

Private school? As in you pay to have your kids there?

Nope. If my kids were not involved I'd refuse to comply with the extra work and warn them if they tried lowering my kids grades over it I would certainly cause them lots and lots trouble.

First, I would talk to my child(ren) to make absolutely certain they were not involved in this missing $5. Then, I would write a letter to the school informing them that *I* was excusing MY child from this absurd extra writing. If I could manage it, I'd include in the letter that this particular teacher does not appear to like the children AND that she seems to lose things easily.

Tact and diplomacy are NOT two of my strong suits. I tend to speak my mind before thinking, and the filter between my brain and mouth malfunctions frequently.

Either way, there is NO WAY I'd tolerate the school forcing my child to write extra essays on a topic that s/he is not guilty of. I would also consider trying to find other parents that felt the same way as I do and raise a huge stink about this "plan".

Not okay. Why would any students be in the classroom when the teacher wasn't present? Punishing kids on different grade levels who don't even have this teacher? Crazy. I would be contacting the principal and letting him know that I'm not paying their tuition prices for this type of treatment, and that my kid does not have the time for punishment assignments for things he hasn't done.

Don't you have control of your child's educational environment? Don't you have the right to take your child out of that school and place them in a happier better place? That school sounds awful.

I'd go withdraw my kids today. I'd start calling all my friends and my kids friends parents and start a movement. This is totally unacceptable.

That is ridiculous. How do they know it was not another student of staff member. Are they being punished as well? What a horrible lesson they are teaching. I would contact the head of school. If that didn't work, I would try the local newspaper. I would also notify the school that my child will not be doing the writing assignments. Another approach (need an organized class) would be for every single one of the children to confess.

@ Julie S - you are assuming the child who took the money (if it was in fact a child, I am willing to believe there was theft) has shared this with the rest of the class. I don't see any reason to believe this has occurred. How can a child who doesn't know who the thief is, turn him/her in?

Oh, heck no. I would be in the Principal's office first thing tomorrow morning about this. It is NOT okay to punish all of the children because (maybe) one child did something wrong. At this point, even if the teacher found the missing $5, would she admit to it? Somehow I think she wouldn't.

In any case, as a tuition-paying parent, I would absolutely flip my lid over this. Do not allow this to continue. Kids need time to get outdoors and play; that's what being a child is all about. How does the school expect the kids to behave the rest of the day with no recess?

... and what if, it was the Janitor(s) that stole that money?
She put it in an unsecured drawer at school last week....and when she returned later it was missing. When did she return? To that room?
That matters. Time line of said events.

It could be ANYONE who took her money, or she could've misplaced it.
Blaming the students SPECIFICALLY.... for her loss of $5, is capricious.

There are no witnesses.
There is no one coming forward about it.
There are no tips about the said theft. If it was a theft.
There is no basis... for blaming ONLY the students.

Again, it could have been anyone... who took her money.
Or she misplaced it.
Yet, they are punishing... the students. Only.
For something they have no clue about.

Did they even investigate this? Have the Teacher retrace her movements and routines that day?
And she put money... in an UNsecured, drawer. That is, not very smart.

It could have been anyone, who stole that money.
She was not in her room. When she returned LATER, it was missing.
Why was she not in her room?
Any teacher, cannot leave her room and the students, unattended.
And if a Teacher and her classroom leave their room together, a Teacher is supposed to LOCK that room, upon leaving.
Even a Substitute Teacher, knows that.
So, that Teacher left money in an unsecured drawer, in her classroom, and was not in, her classroom. She left the classroom unattended as well and unlocked.

Get a petition started. Have parents sign it.
Complain to the Principal.
Put things in writing.

But as you said, you are moving after this year.
That school sounds very negative and full of grumbling teachers who do not like to teach and do not like their students.

yikes. for five bucks? and pay tuition on top of it. hell no.

Momof1...first, I am totally intrigued especially since I have never seen someone on Mampedia so close to where I live! 2nd, I don't agree with this punishment. Does the school have an official Board that makes these decisions? If so, can this matter be appealed to them? You mentioned that there are a bunch of unhappy teachers there, have there been formal (ie written) complaints filed with the school? That may help back up your fight about 'disgruntled workers'. I am not familiar with the private school ins and outs but I know they have more authority to crack the whip than the public schools. Unfortunately, this level of discipline could fall under one of those gray areas that permits decisions like this. I think that is often the trade off when it comes to opting into a private setting. All that being said, I would look into some sort of authoritative body, beyond the principal and file a formal complaint with them....maybe even get a bunch of other dissatisfied parents on board as well. While I am not in a situation to throw around money, it is ony $5 and if she wasn't responsible enough to care for it, than shame on her. Good luck!

"Most of the kids can not stand her......this teacher claims......my son says this woman loses stuff that is literally in her hand" You seem rather quick to blame the teacher and believe your son. More so you show no respect for the teachers there. Do you really think it is so hard to believe that the teacher does not lose things and perhaps children like your son move her stuff around because they don't like her? You clearly send the message it is okay for your son to be disrespectful.

She knows she had five bucks, someone took it. Why you are excusing this I do not understand. If the kids don't like the punishment turn in the punk that thinks it is funny to tease this teacher. No wonder they don't want to teach there.

Dana, my daughter is a teacher. Other kids know. Even if they didn't in the beginning they would have after the first assembly on the subject. The OP claims the teacher is unpopular so after the first assembly the kid who took it would be laughing at the fits everyone else is having.

The other thing I have found out from my daughter is kids steal from their teachers all the time, heck teachers steal from other teachers. Schools tend to do nothing. For them to go to this extreme kind of indicates this teacher is being targeted by students. So if this has gone on all year, which it sounds like it has, this five bucks was the last straw.

Too bad it was money. If it had been something else, it would have turned up and the teacher would looked like the scatterbrain she really is.

Something like this happened when my son was in second grade. She accused the kids of stealing her keys. She told the kids to tell her who might have stolen the keys. She actually had them pointing fingers at other kids, in front of them. One kid who had picked up a pencil that belonged to another kid (whether on purpose or not) was pointed at and she told the class that she thought that he did it in front of him. She told the entire class that she was calling the police and that the officer was coming to the school the next morning.

ALL OF THIS without the consent of the principal. I picked up the phone at home 10 minutes after school ended, and I listened to a message from her telling me that she was calling ALL the parents to tell them to go through all their kids' stuff to look for her keys.

Turns out that she found the keys in her back-up backpack. Only then did she remember that she put them there by accident. ALL of this over her putting her keys in the wrong backpack.

I went to the principal and told her what this woman had done and how much I didn't appreciate it, especially for that poor boy she accused in the classroom and threatening to call a policeman into the room. The principal was livid.

When she got pregnant the next year and decided to stay at home, the entire school was glad. I hope she never teaches again.

My advice to you was going to be to go find another school - glad that you are.

Good God, it's $5 for goodness sakes! The administration needs to rein her in, chalk it up to a loss and be done with it...

Hi, MOM;

The school has an administration problem.
It is best that you have decided to move your child
to a different school for next year.
Good luck.
D.

well, it's silly, of course.
i can't figure out what the advantage to actually putting one's kids in a school like this would be. doesn't sound like it's somewhere i'd want my kids even it it were free.
but i don't know that i'd buy into what the kids are saying quite so much. the teachers are mean, they don't like teaching there, the kids can't stand them, they stir up trouble, continually lose stuff- sounds like a smear campaign.
so why leave them there for the rest of the year? if it's as awful as your kids say, you should cut your losses and pull 'em.
khairete
S.

Someone is on a power trip.

Do you have an option to not return next year? If you have already signed the tuition contract for 2014-15, you may be stuck. However, if you haven't, use it as a bargaining chip. Try to organize other parents to end this madness.

umm, heres a clue, the teacher has possible mental problems,a normal person doesnt lose things that are in her hands, the principal, for whatever reason, refuses to fire the teacher and or demand she get a mental checkup..bottom line, dont wait until next year to pull your kid out of the school do it now! K. h. but before you leave, askthe teacher about your kids laptop, i am willing to bet she took it, because she believes your kid took something of hers