11/11/11, its Veterans day! Thank a vet for the freedoms you have and continue to have.
We are STILL in limbo with Elliot and our potential switch to home schooling. I just realized I didn't get into specifics as to why we decided to do this, so...
The first day of school for Elliot this year was a Friday...great! Send them to school for 1 day, give them 2 days off, then expect them to come back Monday ready to go! Morons. Who plans these things? Idiotic administrators that's who! I've come to learn that being an administrator at a school does not require you to have any actual educational experience. All you have to do is read some books, attend some classes and presto! You get a job with a huge salary all while doing nothing beneficial for the children you are supposed to over see and guide.
Every day of the week at Elliot's school, first thing in the morning they do a thing called "Breakfast club". Elliot's classes turn is Monday mornings. Four Kindergarten classes and four first grade classes all gather in the Cafeteria so the Principal Mr. Evans (Administrator) can read them a book and build a relationship with the kids and allowing all these teachers to have "meetings". Trying to teach them that just because he's the Principal, he's not a bad guy. It doesn't however mean he isn't an idiot.
So, day one, or rather day 2 of school, but first day of Breakfast club...Elliot needs to go to the bathroom. Not uncommon. There is a bathroom right there in the Cafeteria, great! Elliot goes off to the bathroom, leaving his "friends" behind, its day 2 of school, he knows NO ONE in school yet. After going in and doing his business, he emerges from a stall to find not 1, but 2 exit doors from the bathroom. Now let me interject right here and let you know that Crystal and I had no idea this "breakfast club" business was even going on. We thought he was in school, with his teacher, learning...in a class room, safe, watched over, protected. Back to the bathroom, Elliot isn't sure which door he came in, he's 5 remember, the bathroom is a mirrored image of itself, doors on the south wall, doors on the north wall, stalls and sinks on the east and west wall, confusing for some adults no doubt. Elliot takes a stab at the right door and finds a door that leads him outside...unlocked. This is the bathroom that the kids are able to use while on recess. Elliot walks out expecting to find people, door closes behind him...locked. He's now 5 years old, trapped outside a building he's been too twice in his entire life. No one around, school is already in session. Elliot realizes he can't get back in and starts to cry, scarred out of his mind no doubt, he's never been anywhere by himself, ever...HE'S 5! He ends up wandering around the building for 10 minutes. The idiot principal and his staff of 1 helper in the cafeteria oblivious that he has been in the bathroom for going on 15 minutes now, clueless. Elliot wanders half way around the building, nearing the main road now, when finally a teacher from another class looks out and see's an out of place small boy wandering around the school crying. Thankfully she realized something didn't look right and brought him back in.
We end up having a meeting with the Principal in the following weeks and I express my concern that he almost let my child become a statistic. Kyron Horman ring any bells? It does for me! His response during the meeting was "gee, I've been doing this for 8 years now and I've never had any child do this, we will have to look into this". Really? that's all you've got? "its never happened before" is your go to response? Time to pull Elliot from their clutches and give him a much better education. One that focuses on him and not making sure the other 22 kids in his class are following along.
I sent an email a couple weeks after the meeting to the Principal:
Mr. Evans,
It's been a few weeks now since we had sat down to discuss my son Elliot's issues in class.
During the meeting we had brought up our concern about Elliot (or any other child for that matter) being able to get outside during breakfast club and wandering half way around the school. I was hoping you might be able to share what steps you've taken to ensure this never happens again with my son or any other child whose care and protection you are intrusted with while they are in school there.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
3 Days later I got:
Good morning Mike,
We are doing two things that I think is helping with security. We are closely monitoring who uses the restrooms and see that they return to the gym and the outside doors to the restrooms will be unlocked during breakfast club – If a child were to go out the wrong door they can still get back in the building.
We appreciate your concerns in regards to security.
Ken Evans
Principal
Yacolt Primary
So, what you are telling me is you are doing what you should have been doing all together by watching the children whose safety you've been entrusted with, but now you've gone and unlocked an exterior door allowing any predator to walk in and have their way with kids in the bathroom, unseen by anyone???? Where do you get one of these Administration degree's, I'm willing to bet I could challenge the final exams in all the classes and get me a degree in a matter of weeks!
Great, now I'm going to be mad all day thinking about this crap again.
