Deny! Deny! Deny!
All content has been edited for clarity.
Next Level Denial
“I had one student who constantly skipped class. I sent an all-staff email to see if the student can be accounted for in another class but I had no luck. No response. I write the referral and contact the student’s mother to inform her of the circumstances of the referral. The mother proceeded to go Full Hulk, insisting that her child was in the classroom and that I did not see her. I explain that attendance records are legal documents and that her child’s whereabouts could not be confirmed elsewhere on campus.
She proceeds to screech at me, insisting that I should ‘Open [my] eyes while taking attendance’ and that I don’t know how to do my job and that I should be fired. I calmly explain that she’s welcome to speak with administration, then politely end the conversation (read: hang up) when she starts to spit expletives, saying I should be fired and that she’s leaving her place of work to ‘have a conference’ with me. I warn the principal, then teach my next class.
A couple of periods later, my principal walks into the room and lets me know that she handled it. The parent pounded her fists on the principal’s desk, demanded that coverage be sent to my room so that I could be present for the conference. The principal would not allow her to talk to me but instead called down the student.
The principal pulled up the security camera footage and located the student wandering the campus. The mother screeched that I did not do my job and that I should be fired. In the end, the student admitted to the entire ordeal and was issued a suspension. When they returned, I didn’t address it. I let her stew in her own stupidity for the remainder of the year (a week or two).
The only one who apologized was the principal.”
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